After all the gifts that Paul just finished talking about, he says that none of them are worth anything without love. You can prophesy but don't have love? Useless. You can do miracles but don't have love? Useless. You see, without love Christianity easily becomes full of rituals and deeds that must be done. That isn't what God is looking for. He doesn't need us to do stuff for Him. I mean He spoke the world into existence, He hardly needs us to get anything accomplished! We do things out of love for Him and to show His love to the world.
That is why Paul hammers it home so hard in this chapter. He goes on to give a detailed description of what love looks like so there can be no doubt. Love isn't about me, it is about God and other people! This is the difference between true Christianity and ritualistic religion. Religion would tell us that we need to do certain things to save our own butts from hell. Christianity says that's nice, but you can't save yourself from hell. Let that sink in and let the love for Christ swell within you until it overflows into your life.
Doing good works because you think you have to do them gets tiring fast. Doing things out of love never gets old. That is why you see people who have been married for 70 years still doing things for each other. That is why at the end of the day only three things will be left: faith, hope and love. And that is why the greatest of these things is and always will be love.
Enjoy the Journey
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