Loving Through It All

If I speak in the tongues of men and angels but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. -I Corinthians 13:1-8a

I originally taught on this in the spring in my senior high youth group at Christ Community. What began as an experiment I called my "Love Her" experiment became a practical way for the people in our (or as I like to say "my", as the family in which I am a part is "mine") youth group to live out this passage. I had spent months dwelling over this and other passages, eagerly awaiting the week that I would get to share what was on my heart. My outline took many different forms, until the Sunday came. Since then, I have found myself coming back to this passage again and again.

Jesus calls us to first, love God, then love people, and especially love our enemies. In the last couple months, I have delt with having to love the people I know in tough situations. Starting with graduation night, I found myself weeping at the sight of what was going taking place. I originally did not want to go because I knew what I was going to see. However, a few of my friends convinced me to go, and I was deeply saddened by what I knew to be the last time I would see many of my classmates for a long time.

What I saw that night has only continued on campus. When I first met people, I could not tell if they were the drinking type, and it was hard to tell for the first couple weeks. During this time, most of the parties are dry, but that soon changed after two or three weeks. What really drove me back to this passage was seeing these people that I met and had become friends with do the things in which I do not agree. Like Donald Miller says in Blue Like Jazz, we can learn to love the person without supporting what they do. I have learned to live this out, because love is what distinguishes the Christians from the world. If it means that my friends trust me enough to ask about my faith, great. But I am not going to impose it on them. I just hope they will ask me, or someone else who loves them, and I pray that courage will cover each party to ask and answer.

Another reason I keep returning to I Corinthians is that it is the way we prevent rejection. When someone does something against us, we tend to close up and shut that individual out. However, love keeps no record of wrongs and lets the person back in, without guilt, without shame, covered in grace, clothed in mercy. Hopefully, this will lead to the person seeing more of Jesus, and seeing more of their sin. For as we move into the light, the things in the dark are revealed. So what's the best way to get this way? Love every single person you know - whether you like them or not.