The way of love - Part I: Bankrupt

I’m currently working out a stream of consciousness dealing with a subject that I’m not an expert in: love. Not romantic love, (which I’m also not an expert in,) but the kind of love which the apostle Paul referred to as “the most excellent way.” He described it as greater than both faith and hope (see I Corinthians 13.)

I’ve written before about the connection between love and character traits like servanthood (see in particular Legalism vs. Life by the Spirit). Specifically, I’ve written about how servanthood and other fruits should be a natural and evident byproduct of the love that motivates us. Lately, I’ve been impressed with the need to seek balance in this equation by taking a closer look at the other side of the line – the motivation itself. The shocking discovery has been that here, too, the fruits can be easily forced without the actual presence of love as a true motivation.

In The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren writes: “You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.” I’ve been quick to make a case for the latter half of that statement. But I don’t know that I’ve ever, before now, given much thought to the reality of the first half. Sadly, it doesn’t take very much self-evaluation to reveal my tendency for giving without loving. This is very troubling, for, as Paul states, “no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.” I Cor 13:3b (Msg)

[to be continued]