Love: A More Excellent Way

Our text this morning is a most familiar text. We often refer to it as the “love chapter”. We hear it read and recited at wedding ceremonies, renewal ceremonies and wedding anniversaries. While this passage is applicable to our marriage relationships and even appropriately read at weddings, it was not written with marital harmony in mind. It was written with church harmony in mind. This passage is primarily written about living in Christian community in a way that glorifies God by treating one another as God has treated us. The use of the Greek word agape reminds us that this love, which Paul is writing about, is much more than feelings or emotions. It involves a “strong desire for the best interest of another person”.