“No matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.”
1 Corinthians 13:3b (The Message)
Rick Warren lays it on the line in Day 16 of The Purpose Driven Life: Life is all about relationships. Everything else is secondary. The two big mandates given by God – love God and love others as we love ourselves. And the challenge for followers of Jesus? Loving his people.
Life without love is really worthless.
This is where the quote above comes in. You can be great at anything, but without love you are nothing. Larry Norman picked that up in his song, Righteous Rocker, way back in the 1970s. Lauryn Hill did in the 1990s.
Love will last forever.
Love leaves a legacy. Rick talks about being at the bedside of people as they die. They don’t call for their diplomas, they call for the ones they love. I’ve seen that too. But I’ve seen people dying who have during their lives have lost the capacity to love and be loved. It is tragic. There is so much truth in the catch cry of Moulin Rouge: The greatest thing is to love and to be loved in return.
We will be evaluated on our love.
This is a challenge. We don’t take our bodies, achievements, doctrine or education beyond death. It all gets left behind. It is our character that marks us as who we are. And that character is almost entirely to do with how we relate to other people. True, true.
The best expression of love is time – focused attention, Rick says. I wonder how that relates to the five languages of love: quality time, gifts, loving touch, affirmation, practical service. Rick tells us that what really counts is what we give of ourselves.