The Language of Love - Grit & Grace
“1 Corinthians 13 was not written with a wedding ceremony in mind. It’s not meant to give us warm, fuzzy feelings. This chapter is Paul’s word of rebuke to a church marked by great miracles and charisma, but by little maturity and character.” Rich Villodas
The language of love. I’ve known for a while that this section of scripture had nothing to do with weddings. Why does the quote above seem so jarring to me, though? Honestly, I guess it’s because wedding ceremonies are where I hear these words most often. The link between 1 Corinthians 13 and weddings has been cemented over the years. We all have memories that are triggered by certain things. Something picked up by our senses that is forever associated with a situation or event. I’m what you’d call an audio/video word person, so the things my heart and mind join together are usually words with corresponding sounds or images. My love for Instagram suddenly makes a lot more sense. So does my spouting out random movie quotes and song lyrics at the mere hint of just about anything.
In love with love.
We’re in love with the love chapter. As with anything you read, especially in scripture, context is key.
1 Corinthians 13 finds its context in 1 Corinthians as a whole, but especially in 1 Corinthians 12:31. After spending an entire chapter talking about spiritual gifts, we are told to eagerly desire these greater gifts. “And yet I will show you the most excellent way.” Apparently, there’s a better way – a far better way – I should pay attention to. It’s so much better that it’s considered the most excellent way.
Love.
This is the way.
Love isn’t a gift. It’s the way, the most excellent way I’m called to live. That’s why love must be pursued.
As I’ve read through, studied commentaries about, pondered, prayed, and wrestled through 1 Corinthians 13 over and over again, I’ve discovered that it’s not a love versus all the other gifts scenario. In the same way 1 Corinthians 13 finds its context in what comes right before it, love is the only context for our gifts. The gifts we are given are no use without love.
It’s more than just being motivated by love. Love is what my whole life should be given to, not just the things I do. My gifts should function in love. Think of it as the operating system, not a software add-on or computer language. Love is now, and forever, and the concrete expression of it is found in Jesus. God is love.
What was the issue for the Corinthians back in the day – opposing views of spirituality, religious trappings versus Christian ethics and the supremacy of love – is still very much an issue for us today.
The language of love.
The characteristics of love that are listed in this chapter are by no means exhaustive, and Paul starts his list with tongues. It’s just where the Corinthians were struggling at the time. I find it fascinating that the tongues of men are as big an area of struggle for humanity today as it was then. Words matter.
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love,
I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”
1 Corinthians 13:1 NIV
Okay, not going to lie. Want to see the first image that pops into my head when I read the last part of this?
You laugh, but it’s actually a pretty accurate picture of what it looks like when I use my words without love.
If we don’t have love when we are speaking, articulately or not, whether it’s the tongues of men (earthly languages) or the tongues of angels (celestial languages), this is what we sound like.
The eloquence of my speech doesn’t make it beautiful. Love does.
When I choose not to actively seek someone else’s benefit with my words, then my words are empty. Without love, my speech is hollow, and just words amplified in volume trying desperately to fill up the space they’re in.
Speaking without love is more than just unintelligible, or not understandable. Without love, my words contain no meaning. The biggest takeaway from this first verse is that words are powerful. Love is not a gift that we possess. Love is the way in which we walk in the gifts we’ve been given. The language of love in the words we are entrusted to share are precious gifts. “Words kill, words give life.” Proverbs 18:21 MSG
Words matter. The love we walk in (or lack thereof) as we use them matters most.
Becky is a Miami native, and has lived here all of her life. Married to her husband for over 20 years, they lead a very active lifestyle along with their three teenagers and Riley, their rescue dog. Becky loves to teach, and has had the awesome privilege of home educating her children for over twelve years. When not teaching academics, Becky loves to equip, encourage, and empower women through the teaching of her group fitness classes. Becky and her husband lead various ministries, and their family loves to serve the community through the countless opportunities provided over the past twenty years+ in their local church. She enjoys filling her "free" time with reading, writing, watching movies, and just spending time with the family. Becky has a passion for living her life with grit and grace, and encouraging others to do the same.
