A Rubric for Christian Love
7/21/25 Bible Thought (1 Corinthians 13)
You can’t be spiritual without loving others.
This is the argument of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. In the previous chapter, he outlined all manner of spiritual gifts and how God works through the body, but he also foreshadowed a more excellent way (1 Cor. 12:31). That excellent way is the way of love.
With this, we must remember that throughout 1 Corinthians Paul has been rebuking the church.
As we turn to the famous love chapter, the apostle didn’t suddenly change his tone and praise them for their great lovingkindness! This letter was written to straighten out believers who apparently weren’t loving others well.
No matter how spiritual they claimed to be with their various gifts and miracles and all the things he referenced in the previous chapter, now the apostle says,
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor. 13:1).
Even more so, having great prophetic powers, understanding mysteries, having astounding faith, or even good works towards the poor, all of these, apart from love, are nothing (1 Cor. 13:2-3).
We can go through life and do all sorts of “Christian” things, but if we miss loving others, we’ve missed everything.
The one distinguishing factor that Jesus put forth regarding his disciples was love:
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35).
Before doctrine, before holiness, before miracles, before anything else, the disciple is to be characterized by love.
Is this not best exemplified in Christ Himself?
He loved the church so much He gave Himself for her (Eph. 5:25-26). His love is beyond the bounds of knowledge! (Eph. 3:19.). So, if we claim to be His followers and He is the perfect expression of love, then certainly we ought to be known for love as well.
In 1 Corinthians 13, we find what is essentially a biblical rubric for love in verses 4-7. If we want to know what love looks like we look here.
Love is described in these ways:
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends” (1 Cor. 13:4-8a).
Now, “Love is patient” and “Love is kind” certainly look good stitched on a pillow or printed on a wall hanging but we must remember, again, that the apostle is taking this church to the woodshed.
The point of this passage is to reveal to them what they are not and what they ought to be striving for. In essence, you aren’t kind, but you should be because that’s what love is like.
We might think we’re loving people, but if we measure ourselves against the biblical standard where do we stack up?
Do we envy others? That’s not loving. Do we boast about ourselves so that we look better than others? That’s not loving. Do we try and get our own way? That’s not loving. Do we get resentful and “keep score” in any of our relationships? That’s not loving. Do we celebrate when others fail because it makes us look or feel better? That’s not loving.
As soon as we start evaluating our lives according to God’s Spirit-inspired standard found in 1 Corinthians 13 we find that we all need grace, and we all need to grow.
Let us then review this chapter regularly to ensure we are fulfilling the Christian mandate to love, and to remember that true love isn’t measured by our definitions but by God’s Word.
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