The storyline of the 1970 movie, Love Story, with Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal, revolves around an upper-class young man falling in love with a middle-class girl. Against his father’s wishes, they date, marry, and build a life together. After a fight and separation of several hours, the two reunite. He tries to apologize and she stops him, saying, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” At the end of the film, he repeats this phrase to his estranged father. I remember thinking at the time: “That makes no sense at all.”

There seems to be a great deal of confusion over what love is. Some believe it is sex without commitment in marriage, while others think it is only a passionate emotion. But the most accurate explanation of love is found in I Corinthians, Chapter 13. God’s description starts with, “Charity [or love] suffereth long, and is kind” (vs. 4a). When someone is difficult, love with great kindness, endures the irritation for a long time. “Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up” (vs. 4b). It is natural to demand our rights with others and exalt ourselves, but real love demonstrates humility toward the one we love. Love “doth not behave itself unseemly” (vs. 5a). The idea here is that love does not go beyond what is appropriate or lose control. Love simply behaves very well. Love “seeketh not her own” (vs. 5). When love reigns, we put the needs and wishes of the one we love ahead of our own. “[Love] is not easily provoked, [and] thinketh no evil” (vs. 5b). Love is not being easily irritated, nor is it suspecting another of wrong doing without proof. Instead, love will think the best of others and demonstrate great patience. Verse 6 says: love “Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.” Here, the Lord is making a contrast between sinful actions and qualities of virtue. Love takes no pleasure in vices, but is overjoyed when the one loved exhibits good and godly characteristics. The description ends by saying love bears, believes, hopes and endures “all things” (vs. 7). No matter what comes, for better or worse, love endures it all. Even in poor treatment, injustice, selfishness and more, love can prevail if we allow God’s love for others to live in us.

Sound impossible? Real love doesn’t come naturally. It’s supernatural. We need God’s strength to exhibit genuine love. Let’s pause right now to ask for His power to live in love the way we should.

A pastor was once privileged to lead a church large enough to have a bus route, evening Bible institute, and assistant pastor to work with the teens. It wasn’t long after the assistant pastor arrived that he began to see glaring chinks in the senior pastor’s armor of daily righteousness. This senior pastor frequently lost his temper with adults who sought to minister with him. He often yelled at, or refused to speak to, co-workers, frequently had his wife in tears, sometimes slammed bus children into the wall when they misbehaved, and alienated virtually everyone around him. Nonetheless, he was a tireless and fairly capable worker. But, sadly, after awhile it didn’t matter how hard he worked. He became ineffectual and lost his ministry.

While the above is somewhat of an extreme example, there is a vital lesson for all of us to remember from this true account. In I Corinthians 13:1-3, the Apostle Paul warns believers that spiritual ministry without love is utterly meaningless and unprofitable. He explains that having the miraculous gift of speaking in an unknown language, but doing so without love is nothing more than meaningless noise. If without love, Paul said, “I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal” (vs. 1). Paul explains that if he had the capability of “prophecy [meaning eloquence in proclaiming the truth], and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge and…have all faith…and have not love, I am nothing” (vs. 2). Some in Paul’s day who possessed these miraculous gifts needed to know their show of ministry had a hollow ring. Then, and now, one might think great abilities make them important, but God measures His servants not by talent, but love. Unless we have love, we are in reality a big zero. In verse 3, Paul adds, “though I bestow all my goods…and give my body to be burned… it profiteth me nothing.” That must have been a shocking statement to some who were being impoverished and martyred. Unless they did so with real love, they would receive no eternal reward. This should also speak to us today. No matter how much we work or sacrifice, God will not reward us unless we are permeated with love. These sobering truths should cause us to rethink the condition of our heart. Above every other quality or capability, love reigns supreme. Verse 13 tells us the greatest capability is genuine love.

Why not pause right now asking the Lord to help you grow, and consistently demonstrate real love to everyone.

As a youngster, I attended a one-room country schoolhouse from kindergarten through eighth grade. Amazingly, one teacher taught students in all grades in the subjects required by the state. Every year the teacher organized an elaborate Christmas program. At her discretion, she would dole out parts for skits, and place each student exactly where needed on the stage for the final song. As I think back on it, she always did a masterful job.

As the Apostle Paul explained the role spiritual gifts played in establishing the newly formed Body of Christ, he explained that God was sovereignly placing believers where He needed them to be. Paul put it this way: “But now God hath set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him” (I Corinthians 12:18). The uses of miraculous instantaneous gifts, or abilities given by God, were particularly needed prior to the completion of the Scriptures. If we can imagine how difficult it would be for us to know what God expected of us, what to believe, or how to function with only a written record of the Old Testament, then we can better understand why these miraculous spiritual gifts were so needed. Once the Bible was complete and began to be more widely circulated, the Lord desired all believers to place their focus on God’s Word (II Timothy 3:16-17). Until that was possible, these gifts played a major role in establishing the saints on a solid spiritual path. Paul specified these miraculous spiritual gifts as being ones of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, discerning spirits and tongues (I Corinthians 12:7-10). The Holy Spirit distributed these gifts “to every man severally as he will,” or “as it hath pleased him” (I Corinthians 12:11, 18), to equip every local assembly with what they needed to function properly until receiving a completed Bible. With these gifts in place, they were able to reach lost souls in any language with the gospel, know sound doctrine, discern false doctrine, and have supernaturally enabled men capable of teaching truth for today. It was a marvelous divine provision.

While the application is somewhat different today, God still sovereignly works to place individuals in every assembly with the needed abilities to minister, so that every saint is contributing a needed aspect of ministry. This is what Paul meant when he referred to us as being “fitly joined together… according the effectual working…of every part” (Ephesians 4:16). What are you contributing in ministry in your local church?

People seeking a better life have come to America from all over the world. Our country has become a “melting pot” of different cultures that have been blended together into one people. The idea of a melting pot comes from a large kettle of stew where various ingredients are added until a wonderful blend emerges. We, who know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, have become a part of a far greater melting pot of people. I Corinthians 12:13 says, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” For several thousand years, the Lord has been taking sinners saved by grace from all over the world and placing them into the Body of Christ. By identification with the Savior, we have become one.

This concept of all believers, regardless of age, color, or previous culture, being blended into one body of believers is more than a doctrinal fact. Our Savior intends for it to have several practical results. We are never to assume the attitude “…I have no need” of another believer (vs. 15-21). Just as a body needs every part: an eye, foot, and ear, we all need every believer. Just as each physical body part is “necessary” (vs. 22), we are to see every member of the Body of Christ as necessary for us to function properly and to be whole. An ear may seem less beautiful than the eyes, but both are truly beautiful when we understand how important each one is to our ability to function in a whole capacity. Similarly, we are to see every believer in “comeliness,” or beauty, because they too contribute something critical to the function of the Body of Christ. God has “tempered” us all together with mutual need. Therefore, the desire of the Savior is that there “should be no schism in the body” (vs. 25a). The word “schism” means a split, division, or gap. We must endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit so that no “schism” exists between believers. Finally, believers are to “have the same care one for another” (vs. 25b). This means we are to nourish, protect, comfort and build up one another.

We should each ask ourselves: “Am I functioning with other believers the way the Savior intends?” What action can you take today to demonstrate the proper attitude toward other believers?

We’ve probably all asked a small child, or an elderly friend: “Do you remember me?” When our youngest daughter and family moved away to Wisconsin, they, of course, took our oldest grandchild. For the first year and eight months of his life, we saw this grandchild every day. We became so attached to him, and his parents too, that our hearts just ached with missing them so much. One of the things that bothered us was the concern that our young grandchild would completely forget us. After a couple months, my wife and I were able to go visit them. When we saw him, we asked, “Do you remember Grandpa?” “Do you remember Mimi?”

It is noteworthy that when the Apostle Paul gives his instructions to the Body of Christ about observing the Lord’s Supper, he adds an instruction twice. In I Corinthians 11:24-25 he tells the saints to partake of the symbolic bread and drink “in remembrance of me.” Surely there is something deeper here than an occasional reminder of the Savior during what could become a religious ritual. Yes, we are to remember the agony He endured for us as His body was broken and His life-blood was spilt to purchase our eternal redemption. Indeed, we must remember this is the foundation for our forgiveness of sin and eternal life. But this writer believes there is something more intended in these words: “…in remembrance of me.” The Lord warned Israel, when they obtained their Promised Land and began to enjoy abundant prosperity there, they would “…forget the Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:10-12). Jeremiah tells them “…my people have forgotten me days without number” (Jeremiah 2:32). Surely the instruction in the Lord’s Supper to observe it “…in remembrance of me,” is also given to help us not forget the Lord in our daily life. Just as we long for our children and grandchildren to remember us with affection, the Lord longs for us to remember Him. He wants us to remember Him when we wake each morning, eat a meal, face a problem, experience prosperity, face a decision, prioritize, deal with temptation, read our Bible, work through difficulties, or go to sleep. He wants to be foremost in our thinking and in our lives. He longs for us to remember Him with loving affection and come often to Him for regular fellowship.

Perhaps today the Lord would ask each of us: “Do you remember me?”

Let’s choose to remember our Lord frequently throughout this day.