On Sunday, we pointed out that our appointed Epistle text on love from Romans 12:9-21 can hold its own with 1 Corinthians 13, which is often called the  “Love Chapter” of the Bible. I offer both texts below for a quick comparison. See how many parallels you can find between the two.

Romans 12

⁹ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.¹⁰ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.¹¹ Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.¹⁹ Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”²⁰ To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. ^ESV

1 Corinthians 13

¹ If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.³ If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. ⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ⁸ Love never ends. ^ESV

While these two descriptions of true or genuine love are not exhaustive, together they provide a series of accurate tests for measuring the purity of our love. Anything that does not measure up to the standards contained here does not qualify as genuine love and is worthless before God. We stand, of course, condemned, because none of our efforts at love measure up. We cannot love God or our neighbor as we ought. This is why we need Jesus, whose own love passes all the purity tests. 

But Jesus is not merely our role model for perfect love but our Savior. Indeed without His love demonstrated for us at the Cross, where He gave His life for us, we are lost. But now through faith in His Cross, we no longer stand condemned. We can love . . . because He first loved us.