"Conditional" Love
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, 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” (NIV) 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Today, love is a thing based on conditions. The world is saddled with conditionality. Everything we do today for others, most of the time, we expect something in return. We help people in need and expect that by all means, that individual is able to help us when we also need it. It has become the order of the day in today’s world because we don’t care for one another anymore. The heartbeat of the people around us is not important anymore. Their worries and fears, we don’t want to hear anymore. Where are the Christians? We have allowed todays virtues (modernization) to crush us so much so that we are simply forgetting who we are.
Today God is reminding us of our basic virtue which binds and holds all others. It is what sustains the Christian in the face of tribulations. It is the very nature of God (Rom 5:8, 1Jn 4:16ff). The Bible says that God so loved us that He gave His only begotten Son… (Jn 3:16). His love for us calls us to love Him and others (Mk 12: 30-31). We Christians must celebrate with the first century Christians this primary virtue of the Christian as is stated in 1 Cor 13 - as the more excellent way to live in this modern world full of beliefs that are contrary to scripture and which are unacceptable to God.
Hymn:Love Divine
Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven, to earth come down;
fix in us thy humble dwelling;
all thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation;
enter every trembling heart.