Lesley Wilson June 15th 2014 - LOVE "the most excellent way"

During the week, one of my daily readings was chapter 13 in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, in which he qualifies love as “the most excellent way”. Paul’s description of love in verses 4-7 perfectly represents Jesus, who is love, and the way He behaves toward His people:(4) Love is patient . . . kind . . . does not envy . . . (or) boast . . . is not proud. (5) Love is not rude . . . self-seeking . . . easily-angered . . . (and) keeps no record of wrongs. (6) It takes no delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (7) It always protects . . . trusts . . . hopes . . . perseveres. (8) Love never fails (never runs out or dies).The rest of the chapter explains that there will be no need of gifts such as prophecy, knowledge and tongues “when perfection comes” (perfection = completion); that for now we know (and perceive only in part and a poor image at that - “as in a mirror, darkly”). As far as “seeing in a mirror darkly” goes, in Paul’s day mirrors were burnished metal (if you had one - probably only if you were well off), otherwise you might catch your reflection in water. The polished metal gave an indistinct image, blurry and ‘deep’; water, which is never still, gives a fractured, rippling picture back to the viewer. For us, even given our modern mirrors, we look at ourselves through distorted lenses (possibly not wholly happy with our features or, maybe, vain about what we see, both of which are distortions in their way). What God wants us to see in our mirrors is His image/imprint – the likeness of His Son, Messiah Jesus. He wants us to see our capacity for love: acceptance, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness.Basically, sin is a failure to love. What did Jesus say to the Pharisees when they ‘tested’ Him on the commandments? “The first and greatest commandment is this: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart . . . soul . . . mind; and . . . your neighbour as yourself.”   You shall love… God, others, yourself. This means that when you look in the mirror, you have to apply to yourself all the above elements of love that Jesus treats us with, starting with acceptance of who you are and where you’re at right now. You don’t have to be perfect – not on the outside (which is really only wrapping paper), nor on the inside (the real you) - before you can love yourself. God sees a different ‘real you’ from what you see and He wants you to co-operate with Him to bring that into the open.Looking into the mirror, be it the mirror of God’s word, the mirror of people’s responses to us, or the bathroom mirror, can present us with ‘kairos’ moments, if we care to take up the opportunity to actualise the way God sees us – i.e. great lovers!When the present age is rolled up, when heaven and earth become one in the age-to-come, shalom (wholeness, completeness) will eliminate what is imperfect/incomplete now. Until then, we hold to faith hope and, most of all, love - the most excellent way. God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – takes great delight in you and rejoices over you with singing (Zeph. 3:17b). Rejoice with Him in what He sees in you, His delight. BlessingsLesley Wilson