.love.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 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. ...So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

1 Corinthians 13:1-2,13

why is love given so much power?  why is it promoted?  i would have chalked up removing a mountain as being pretty fabulous.  

this chapter, 1 corinthians 13, is one of my favorite in the Bible.  not just because it is beautiful, or because love is a pleasant thought.....but because of the unexpected message.  why is a greater emphasis put on love than anything else?  than even great power and authority?  why love rather than great service, or huge sacrifice, or some fabulous deed?  these are nothing without love.

as this chapter defines love, i am rarely loving, towards anyone.  i don't even value love the way these verses do - i value action and achievement.  so i keep coming back to this chapter, and rereading it, and hoping and praying a little bit will stick.