1 Corinthians 13

My friend Andrea loves hearts. You may be thinking, “Well, don’t we all?” but you don’t understand. The majority of Andrea’s home motif is heart décor. Heart-shaped placemats and throw rugs, heart candleholders, heart tree ornaments at Christmas, heart wreaths and wall hangings, all abound in the Colorado Rockies home she shares with her husband—who, when he proposed years ago, presented her with a heart-shaped diamond! The girl loves hearts.

My younger sister Mary was born on Valentine’s Day. Each year my mom would bring out her heart-shaped cake pans to make a birthday cake for Mary, usually chocolate with Mom’s memorable, fluffy white Seven-Minute Frosting. If Mary resents having to share her birthday with Valentine’s Day she never says so. She’s very lovable and loving so it just works.

This time of year we see hearts wherever we go. On T-shirts and hoodies, on paper plates and napkins, in the candy aisle at the grocery store and on a lot of the advertising in newspapers and online. We all probably remember folding red construction paper to cut out hearts to paste on a shoebox for collecting valentines, or for making our own valentines out of red hearts and doilies.

But hearts aren’t just for Valentine’s Day. Google informed me that the heart icon is the most popular Emoji by far, which is not surprising given that millions of people use it to express their agreement, affection, maybe even love for, someone’s Facebook or Instagram post. And what if we could collect every type of heart Emoji used in texts since that form of communication emerged? We would need many heart-shaped silos to contain them all.

Where did our love for hearts begin? The earliest designs go back centuries and many were crude representations of the anatomical heart, of which today’s heart icon has only the slightest resemblance. A simplified version appeared on Victorian-era valentines and now the heart symbol signifies love of all kinds—as well as heart-healthy choices on a menu!

So do we love the heart symbol, or the sentiment it represents? Both, for sure. As we see hearts this year we may think of romantic love, the love of a parent for a child, one friend’s love for another, or even our love of pets.

And then there’s the strongest love of all: God’s love for us which is expressed through His grace, mercy, and forgiveness. I Corinthians 13:13 says, And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. And so we cherish the love He extends to all human hearts and thank Him for comforting the broken-hearted.

Wishing you and those you love a heartfelt Valentine’s Day this year!

Of all the places in the Bible that talk about love, the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians is known as the “love passage.” In it, Paul describes love as patient, kind, not envious or boastful, not proud, rude, self-seeking or easily angered. He says love keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Moreover love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Paul was writing to believers in Corinth, but the Word is speaking to us about loving in this way today.

Young couples getting married often choose this passage to be read at their weddings—even those who may not have studied the Bible at all—just because they know the content is appropriate for the occasion. We should pray they will go back and read it again, paying close attention to Paul’s instruction, so his description of love can become the basis for a long-lasting marriage.

Yet who of us can live up to Paul’s standard of loving, as described in this passage? Truly no one can unless he or she first draws from the unending source of God’s love, unless the Holy Spirit supplies all the love needed for any and every situation.

Once we understand the nature of God’s love, we will understand how calling on His love to fill us up will make it so much easier to love others, even seniors we know who may be having a bad day. God’s love is unconditional, meaning there is nothing we can do to make Him love us less and nothing we can do to make Him love us more. God demonstrated His love for us by sending Christ to die for our sins so we may dwell with Him forever.

God’s love is trustworthy. It will never fail us. God will never say, “I can’t help you love that difficult person, you’re on your own.” Rather He will say, once we ask Him for help, “Sure, take some of My love, and give it generously.”

1 Corinthians 13 ends with verse 13: And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. What a sad world this would be without love. Let’s celebrate it on Valentine’s Day and every day, and praise God for giving it to us in abundance.

For the Love of Hearts

The Love Passage