Sunday: The Essentialness of Love
Daily Lesson for Sunday 9th of August 2026
Last week we touched on the theme of love as seen in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. We need to explore Paul’s words here in even more depth.
Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Summarize what he is telling us about love.
Image © Jim Howard at Goodsalt.com
Paul is not saying that tongues (1 Corinthians 13:1), prophecy, understanding, knowledge, faith (1 Corinthians 13:2), and benevolence (1 Corinthians 13:3) are useless. They are useless only if not driven by love.
The kind of love Paul is talking about is not expressed in such sentences as “I love strawberries” or “I love my friends” or even “I love my spouse and children.” Neither is he talking about the kind of love that one sees in movies. And no, it is not erotic love, although this passage has been commonly used in wedding sermons.
This love cannot be reduced to affection, or charity, or virtue, or benevolence. Yet, they all represent it to a lesser or greater degree. This love is a special grace bestowed upon us by the Spirit. Indeed, love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 is the Spirit-given motivation that leads us to act with affection, charity, virtue, and benevolence. It is a total commitment of our actions, feelings, and thoughts toward Christ and our neighbors.
Read Matthew 24:12. What warning does Jesus give us here?
That is why agapē love is so essential and necessary. In the power of Christ, we cannot let love grow cold in our homes, churches, and neighborhoods. We have the example of Christ on the cross, dying for us. What better and more powerful expression of this kind of love could there be? Though of course we could never equally express that kind of love, by God’s grace we should strive to reveal it in our own lives to whatever degree we can.
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What are some times when, indeed, an expression of this kind of love could have made a powerfully positive impression on someone who needed this love more than anything else? |
In my comment on “love” last Tuesday, I noted that the statement, “God is love” is an identity statement. It defines who God is. God just does not do loving things, he is love itself. For some of us, this is just a study in semantics, but it becomes important when we start thinking about how we are motivated and express agape love ourselves. It is our relationship with God that enables us to act with self-sacrificing love.
Is there a difference between doing good deeds, and acting in self-sacrificing love? Yes, there is.
You may do a good deed, like giving a homeless person a few coins or a meal, giving up a seat to an age-challenged person, or cleaning up the local environment on cleanup day, Essentially, you are giving out of your surplus and does not disadvantage you. You may do it out of a sense of civic duty, or because it makes you feel good to be kind. There is of course, nothing wrong with that and the whole charity industry lies on those sorts of actions.
Self-sacrificing love comes at personal cost, where you intentionally give of your time, set aside your goals for the good of others without any expectation or reward or repayment. Examples include parents working extra hours to pay for their children’s education, donating an organ for a sick person, giving up a holiday so that someone who desparately needs one can take a break. Such love comes from personal commitment and is focused entirely on others rather than oneself.
We Christians, of course, know self-sacrificing love comes from God. But, we should avoid judging the works of others as good deeds rather than self-sacrificing love. Many reject the God of dogma and doctrine but accept the Principle of Love. We are not to judge.
Significantly, if we have truly given our lives to God, we identify with him. That is what salvation is about.
Thanks, Maurice. We are in no position to judge whether or not others are acting in self-sacrificing love or not. Consider the widow that gave her last penny. Jesus knew that she sacrificed all that she possessed. Other only saw a woman dropping a small coin in the offering box.
Dear Maurice, I politely disagree with your statement-” God just does not do loving things, he is love itself” One has to be careful that we do make an idol out of love.
To my understanding, ( given the weakness not only of the English language but human language as a whole) when we say “God is love” we are seeking to describe an attribute of God that is so amazing and truly indescribable that the only object for which in our minds some type of comparison could be launched: is God Himself.
Ellen White I think in the book Desire of Ages describes the shock and total amazement of Lucifer when he realized that Jesus was coming to the Earth to live and die on mankind’s behalf. To him it was an incomprehensible mystery.
I am wondering how we could make an idol out of agape love? Certainly human types of love can be put on a pedestal, but the love that is the essence of God seems so connected with God that are appreciation of it is really for God Himself. Even when humans demonstrate this love it should point us back to God.
Thanks Maurice, as we discuss Love in detail ” Agape type- unconditional/ Selfless and sacrificial”, the essential drive for all Christian Life. Just found other types of love including Eros,Philia, Storge, etc, from your say” parent working extra for his kids 🤷, Is that the agape type or the storge type?????
Thanks 🙏
I think we lose meaning if we maintain strict categories. While the Greeks recognised four kinds of love, it is probably safe to say that there is often a lot of overlap. If we are practising “Eros” without “Agape” I suggest that we have not really understood the intent of “Agape”. Categorisation should help our understanding but should not inhibit their application.
I will let you decide how to answer your question with than in mind.
Paul demonstrated the “essentialness” of love in spiritual maturity among the believers in the Corinthian church. Love is the backbone of genuine spiritual maturity. The Corinthian believers exhibited numerous spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 1:7) but displayed behaviours of spiritual infancy (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). This was the case because love was lacking in their dealings. Love is more important than spiritual gifts. Love determines how spiritual gifts are used and for whom. Love is the only medium through which God operates. God saved the world by love (John 16:3). Our Christian immaturity is openly displayed by a lack of love.
It is extremely reflective how Jesus illustrated the “essentialness” of love when He comes.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ (Matthew 25:34-36, NIV).
On another occasion, Jesus warned about what will happen when He comes to those who use their spiritual gifts without the true spirit of discipleship (love).
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:21-23, NIV).
Impressive works without having a relationship with Jesus are meaningless. Similarly impressive spiritual gifts are meaningless if they are not exercised in love. In all these things, God looks beyond religious activities, but at character. The Story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37) told by Jesus provides a true portrait of love rather than religious formalities. This week, in our small ways, may we become the Good Samaritan to someone.
The Lord intends that the church be a society of mutual love. The Lord wills that every child of God should love Him deeply and also love others. This type of love remains a true badge of each disciple of Christ, surpassing all other forms of recognition or even eloquence. Jesus declared, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Without love, even the most eloquent speech or acts of charity are meaningless, as they lack the divine essence that makes them valuable. Paul reminds us that “if I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong” (1 Cor. 13:1), and that even if we give everything we possess to the poor, without love “I gain nothing” (1 Cor. 13:3).
Christians are therefore encouraged to immerse themselves in 1 Corinthians 13, highlighting that love is the greatest motivator and the key to genuine faith and connection with others. Indeed, “the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13). The church desperately needs to nurture true love for God, which will in turn naturally lead to love for humanity that Christ died for and loving God and others remains the greatest mission field. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19), and Jesus makes the connection clear: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Matt. 22:37–39).
While God delights in the prayers of the righteous, the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Him (Prov. 15:8), and ultimately, without love, even the most sacrificial acts are of no worth to God. Love is therefore not an optional virtue in the Christian life; it is essential to genuine worship, authentic discipleship and effective mission. As Scripture reminds us, “Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Cor. 16:14).
My prayer for today is that God provides wisdom for us to understand that love, courage to practice it, and protection from those who wish to abuse our love.
Amen!
I am confused by today’s lesson, commenting that the love in 1 Corinthians 13 is not erotic love, even though the passage is used in wedding ceremonies. I always use this passage when performing a wedding, though eroticism never even crosses my mind or anyone else’s while I am reading 1 Corinthians 13. I like to put the names of the bride and groom in place of the word love, and it has always been meaningful to them. Not sure why the lesson author thinks eroticism is the only kind of love in marriage. Or did the author mean, 1 Corinthians 13 is not about erotic love, even though it is suitable for a wedding?
Thanks William, the context of 1 Corinthians 13 is not about erotic love though the same reference can/ has been used in marriage wedding before.
Note : ” And no, it is not erotic love, although this passage has been commonly used in wedding sermons.””
Yes 👍
Thanks Mwesigwa!
Maybe the author is trying to make the point that the love in I Corinthians 13 is not exclusive to marriage. Our human perspective can take us there.
However, I don’t see any issues with using the passage in weddings. Surely we want couples to aim for that kind of love.
Yes, at the end of paragraph 5, he needed to add a relationship between a husband and wife. After all, Christ does relate our relationship with Him as a bride and groom. Very thought-provoking question William.
Love for God is the foundation of love. Jesus considers us his bride, so I believe 1Cor. 13 demonstrates to us God’s love with application of how that love can be demonstrated in marriage and everyday living.
Can it be that we see the matter of ‘’God’s Love’ and ‘loving our fellow man’ from a too narrow perspective? By considering that all spiritual gifts are given by God, and accepting that God is Spirit/Love, we cannot separate the gift’s nature and its purpose from their source – the Spirit of God – as the ‘Spirit’ and ‘Love’ are synonymous.
Therefore, the purpose of God’s Love residing in us, [as I understand it], is for the ‘purification’ of our spirit in order for His Spirit to express HIS Love. This Love does not expresse ‘our’ love to others – as Maurice stated: ‘all hugs and pats on the back’ -, but rather God’s all-encompassing, creative Love which expresses the full spectrum of His Glory – Justice, Wisdom, Mercy, and Grace – this is His LOVE – Matt.3:10-12; 1 Cor.3:11-15.
One cannot say: I love “unselfishly’. Either I love or I do not, as God’s Love is inherently selfless. There are no two types of Love in God’s Love, only God’s Love! Only God’s Love can inspire us to love others. When we love with our own ‘love’, we cannot be ‘selfless’, as it is ‘self’ which expresses its own type of ‘love’.
Why does Jesus Christ direct us to love God with all our heart, so fulfilling/meeting the demands of the law and God’s message to the prophets? Is it not because by focusing on loving God with all our being, we have the foundation to interact/return His Love to Him, so allowing His Love to build up our new nature to form His Image within us for the purpose of His Glory? Mark 12:30-31
It is implicit in the act of “loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and strength” that, doing so, finds its expression in the way we interact with others and life in general. Our born-again nature has begun a new life – nothing is the same any longer – as our new life is lived in the Spirit of God in Christ – His Love – having received and accepted His Love which cannot do any other than love others and so work out our Salvation. Rom.5:5; 1 John 4:12-14.
Please respond to the question at the end of Sunday’s lesson.
What are some times when, indeed, an expression of this kind of love could have made a powerfully positive impression on someone who needed this love more than anything else?
I remember Maurices answer a few years back. He said that post right hemicolectomy after the removal of his colon cancer that the think better than words for the post op pain is someone being in the room and not saying a thing, and also when his wife held his hand without saying a thing. I know that method works.
I quibble with a few words in the lesson today. I don’t like the concept of love as a motivation. I think that limits agape love. The best word I can use (keeping in mind that language is limited) is a force that fills and directs you. In the case of God, this filling is 100%. For us humans, we need to grow into it more and more. But it’s not an external thing, really. We need to be filled with God’s spirit to have it.
Also, though I suppose there are times where we need to “strive”, I think “striving to love” is just going to lead to loving actions. Better than mean actions for sure, but I don’t think that’s God’s ideal for us. Better to abide and the love will flow out.
The lesson asks: “What are some times when an expression of this kind of love [agapē] could have made a powerfully positive impression on someone who needed this love more than anything else?”
The treatment of Haitian immigrants in America during the 2024 presidential campaign provides a sobering example. False and inflammatory claims were made that they were eating people’s pets, yet much of the broader Christian community did not strongly condemn this dehumanizing rhetoric.
This should cause us to ask: What happens when political loyalty becomes stronger than our commitment to truth and to the dignity of people made in God’s image?
Christian love does not require us to agree with someone’s politics or behavior. But it does require us to reject falsehood, contempt, and the demonization of others.
Paul says, “Love rejoices with the truth.” (1 Corinthians 13:6.)
It is easy to love those who think, worship, and vote like we do. The real test of agapē is whether we can love and defend the dignity of those who are different from us—even when doing so is unpopular or politically inconvenient.
Biblical love is more than a beautiful concept. It is a test of Christian character and a reflection of Christ.