1 CORINTHIANS 13
Love

What if I could speak all languages of humans and of angels?  If I did not love others, I would be nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  What if I could prophesy and understand all secrets and all knowledge?  And what if I had faith that moved mountains?  I would be nothing, unless I loved others.

What if I gave away all that I owned and let myself be burned alive?  I would gain nothing, unless I loved others.  Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or 5rude.  Love isn't selfish or quick tempered.  It doesn't keep a record of wrongs that others do.

Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil.  Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting.  Love never fails!  Everyone who prophesies will stop, and unknown languages will no longer be spoken.  All that we know will be forgotten.

We don't know everything, and our prophecies are not complete.  But what is perfect will someday appear, and what isn't perfect will then disappear.  When we were children, we thought and reasoned as children do.  But when we grew up, we quit our childish ways.

Now all we can see of God is like a cloudy picture in a mirror.  Later we will see him face to face.  We don't know everything, but then we will, just as God completely understands us.  For now there are faith, hope, and love.  But of these three, the greatest is love.

1 JOHN 4:7-21
God Is Love

My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows that we have been given new life. We are now God's children, and we know him.  God is love, and anyone who doesn't love others has never known him.  God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life.  Real love isn't our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven.  Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other.

No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is truly in our hearts.  God has given us his Spirit. That is how we know that we are one with him, just as he is one with us.  God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. We saw his Son and are now telling others about him.  God stays one with everyone who openly says that Jesus is the Son of God. That's how we stay one with God and are sure that God loves us.

God is love. If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us.  If we truly love others and live as Christ did in this world, we won't be worried about the day of judgment.  A real love for others will chase those worries away. The thought of being punished is what makes us afraid. It shows that we have not really learned to love.

We love because God loved us first.  But if we say we love God and don't love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don't love the people we can see?  The commandment that God has given us is: "Love God and love each other!"