Bible Verse of the Day

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.  1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ESV

Can you come up with a definition for love (that accurately describes what love is) in two or three sentences?

It’s not an easy task. No matter how we define love, our definition always seems to be lacking. Trying to define love can be like describing chocolate to a tribesman in sub-Saharan Africa who has never heard of nor tasted chocolate before. We may have trouble defining it, explaining it, and even finding it, but we know deep down inside that we need it.

In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul wrote one of the most famous descriptions of love. Notice that he does not give a dictionary definition but instead a description of love displayed. Continue Reading →

Bible Verse of the Day

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ESV

In 1 Corinthians 13 we find one of the most quoted sections of scripture—a beautiful description of love. But to get the complete picture, we need to understand the background of the people who were reading this.

In Corinthian culture, sex and love were often viewed as inseparable. If you grew up in this culture you were exposed to all types of belief systems and all kinds of religions and spirituality, especially the pantheon of Roman gods. The biggest and most obvious of all, though, was Aphrodite— her temple was the most prominent religious fixture in the city sitting atop the acropolis, some 1500 feet above the city. No matter where you were in Corinth you could see the temple of Aphrodite. Aphrodite was the goddess of love, but what kind of love? She was the goddess of eros love, or erotic love. In other words, she was the goddess of sex. Continue Reading →