Esther 8-10
1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13
Psalm 37:1-11
Proverbs 21:23, 24
"And yet I will show you the most excellent way."
1 Corinthians 13 is a very well known passage from the Bible. It is read at weddings, it is studied in church, it is written about at length in studies. And for good reasons. It describes in detail what it means to love each other. Love is patient, kind, selfless, humble, gracious, honest, trustworthy, hopeful, strong, enduring, eternal. This is what love looks like.
For me, it's easy to focus on this chapter by itself. But the last sentence of chapter 12 really struck me: "And yet I will show you the most excellent way." Then there is an entire chapter on love, how if we don't have love, then we have nothing, we know nothing, we are nothing. Love is the most excellent way that Paul was talking about. The most excellent way for what? Chapter 12 is all about spiritual gifts and unity in the body of Christ and how these gifts can benefit the entire body. Paul was saying that all these spiritual gifts and our efforts at making them work together in the church (the body of Christ) mean nothing if we do not first and foremost love one another. Without love at the center of all that we do, everything will fall apart.
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