The greatest is love (v.13)

“But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

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Faith, hope and love are bound together inextricably, but there is no doubt that love is the greatest of the three. At Christmas this is a particularly popular sentiment. It’s the season of love in which miserly hearts are urged to be kind and generous. Yet love is far more than goodwill and kindness.

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“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,” said Jesus, on the eve of his death. And in dying for us, even when we were still sinners, he supremely demonstrated how much God loves us (Rom.5:8).

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It was because of God’s love – and because of our sin – that Jesus came into this world. By sharing in our humanity he was able to be “wounded for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5). He became what we are, and received what we deserved, in order that we might become like him (2 Cor.5:21). Only when we have grasped the meaning of that can we understand the wonder of the Christmas story. Love came down at Christmas, so that we can know and love the one who first loved us.

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This concludes these daily Advent thoughts. But come back tomorrow and throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas for a saying of Jesus about why he came.