I started translating 1 Corinthians 13 again this morning. It just happens to come next in my on and off morning translation through 1 Corinthians. In a way, it feels kind of redundant because I just did this recently when I do a new edition of "The Path," but here it is again, and I can't help but think it's both one of the most quoted passages in the Scriptures, and one of the most ignored for that, especially the first three verses.
In the first three verses Paul explicitly says that a person could speak every language, even angelic ones, know everything, see and understand every mystery, have the kind of faith or trust to relocate mountains, give everything they own away and even hand over their own body to be burned, but for all of this he says that if they do not possess love, they have nothing, are nothing, and it helps them nothing at all. Not one thing. According to Paul, it doesn't matter what you say, what you do, or what you know, if you do not possess love, it's all worthless and for nothing, and so are you.
There really can be no overstating the profound implications of Paul's statements in these three verses because they coincide with John's explicit statement in his first letter, "The person not loving doesn't know God, because God is love." Why is it all worthless and for nothing without love? Because whatever else it may be, it is worthless without the God who is love. It is good for nothing to anyone if it isn't born from God who is love. This is why the two most important commands in the Gospels are to love God with everything you've got and to love your neighbor as yourself. Add to these His instructions to love your enemies, and just to love one another as He loved us. If it isn't born from love, it isn't born from God, and if it isn't born from God than the action, word, or thought is worth nothing. As John also wrote, the person who makes their home in love, makes their home in God, and God within them.
What is the mark, the indicator that someone is genuinely operating from God, or the Spirit of God? Love. What is the sign that their religion or beliefs or practices are valid? Love. What is it that God wants most of all from us? Love, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, non-judgment, and these are the things which Jesus Himself explicitly taught. The person who doesn't display love isn't a disciple of Jesus Christ, no matter what they say.
The foundational nature of Love in one's faith and practice cannot be overstated because if it isn't present, if it can't be seen in that person, then nothing they say or do is originating from God and they should be at best ignored and guided back to it, and at worst actively opposed for the deceiver and liar that they are.
Virtually everything else can be tossed to the wayside in terms of belief structures as far as God is concerned, but this one point is absolutely mandatory, that what we do, what we say, and who we are is born from love and possesses love, because if it doesn't, then we don't know Him.
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