The way we are to love according to God in Corinthians 13 is mostly dealing with relational aspects. And it is for this, which the whole human race will be specifically held accountable to.  “(1 Corinthians 13:4-7), 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.”

            It is particularly important to note that before this verse we read also in Corinthians 13:3(NLT) that, “If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body; but if I didn't love others, I would be of no value whatsoever”

What this says to me is this. Giving your money to the poor is not particularly “love” in Gods definition. This is quite shocking to think about! According to God love to your neighbor is foundational about how you relate to them, Kindly or harshly. That is why the bible, in many places, where you think the word “love” should be instead you find “ Kindness” or brotherly “Kindness”. It is not by mistake it is written this way for God is making the point: the love to your fellows is mainly about how you treat them and not necessarily what you do for them in one particular.  Because according to our verse you can do some of the most honorable things and not have love, according Gods definition, and you will have nothing of any Eternal value to show for it.

           If you are to give money or medicine to the poor and if it is to be done in true “love”, then 2 things must be present. (1.) “Love your God”, this is the greatest commandment and must therefore be first in all we do. Out of love to our beloved God the Father and our Savoir Jesus Christ we must give to the poor. And (2.) “Love your neighbor”, this is the second greatest commandment. And Corinthians 13 tell us what that means, thus we must give to the poor in according to Corinthians 13:4-7. Therefore we must give in a way that is “patient…kind (with out) envy or being rude (and give without being) boastful or rude. (Without) insisting on its own way (or being) resentful. (It must be given while not rejoicing at) wrongdoing but rejoicing with the truth. (All the while) bearing all things and enduring all things (until the very) end.” Giving in this way is the only way in which giving to the poor is acceptable in the eyes of God, who is Judge over all. To give money to the poor out of deep sincere Love for your God and love for your neighbored in accordance to 2 Corinthians 13 is the only way to fulfill the first and second command in the way that fulfills the law of Christ rightly. In this light it is easy to see the difference between the world’s love and the type of love our Lord Jesus Christ demands us to show. There is an infinite deference between the two. 

                        But God will strictly judge our love to people; again I want to stress the point, first in how we related to people out the overflow of our hearts weather evil or good. This is crystal clear in Corinthians 13. But this concerns me very much. For when I look across our land I see plenty of so-called Christians that don’t lack in deeds, but lack in their love to each other. I see how Christian’s act toward the person behind the their local supermarket store, unkind, not patient, not gentle, but instead rude and demanding. What from the Ministry of Jesus Christ do you suppose that we have a right to “demand” convenience? Christ even while being crucified unjustly and will out cause, “He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.(1 Peter 2:23)”  This is our example, this is how we show if we are truly His or not. I also see so-called Christians in media that are boastful, not rejoicing in truth, that are “self-seeking”, are “proud and that do not “protect” the saints nor help them to “persevere”.

I see in my local town and its church people who judge others for not giving enough of their time, money etc.  But yet they show no real valuing of such things as kindness, gentleness, and patients. This ought not be. All you need to do to see if so- called Christians show this real kind of Love is notice how these people drive on the road as they speed, cut people of and honk while showing no real genuine love toward their brothers and sisters. They show they think more about themselves than others. This is an absolutely failure to follow the second greatest command given to us even by our blessed Savoir Jesus Christ.  

            This does not in any way diminish the biblical calling for saints to be fruitful in the tithes and offerings nor slack in the giving of their time and abilities to help out each other in their churches, communities and the beyond. But what I want to do is show the biblical emphasis on love in how it regards first to our relating to one another in “brotherly Kindness”.  True Love for God and Jesus Christ will naturally spill over in our love to others as we genteelly, longsuffering and non-boastfully help and aid the needful and poor.

2 peter 1:5, “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”  This much is clear, “Brotherly kindness” is what leads to real “love”.  Doing acts is not what spills over in genuine love, but “Kindness” flowing from the heart is what spills over in what makes Love “Godly” and real.  If we move a little further in text we get even a clearer picture of what this type of relational love means. In Peter 1:5 it is called “brotherly Kindness”. Now in 3: 8 of Peter we read, “love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing”. Here we see that loving other people is primarily about being “tenderhearted and courteous” or in another translation, “tender heart and humble mind.” How few today truly show this. We are also told that real love does not return evil for evil. But we have also seen this before in the words Love, “keeps no records of wrong”. This is the type of love in which God will demand us to give an account for, all of us. Peter makes this abundantly clear, “you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing”, whether it is a rewarding of infinite pleasure with Christ in heaven with or with out loss, or a rewarding of utter darkness and fire in Hell is the thought I will leave with you dear reader.

1 Corinthians 3:12-17

12. “Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13. each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. 14. If anyone's work, which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 16. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17. If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.