The Most Excellent Way

Bienhome Muivah *

How do you score in the love department of your life? Paul calls love "the most excellent way" in I Corinthians 13. Then he goes on to list love's ingredients. Love is patient, kind, protective, trusting, hopeful, and persevering.

Love is not envious, boastful, proud, rude, self-seeking, or easily angered. Love does not keep a record of wrongs, nor does it delights in evil. Love never fails. Supernatural, Biblical, selfless love is absolutely trustworthy. You can count it true!

"Love is patient", Paul says. He told the Galatians that patience is one fruit of the spirit (5:22). Then in Ephesians, he tells us to "be patient, bearing with one another in love" (4:2). In other words, we have to work at it. Love-motivated patience develops slowly, one victory after another, until we know how to love ultimately.

"Love is kind". Unkindness is often fear-motivated or fear-related. Love does not try to wound another with harmless deeds or destructive speech. "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up to their needs.

Be kind and compassionate to one another" (Ephesians 4:29,32). In this passage Paul does not say "try" to do these things, but rather "do not let" and "be kind", these are commandments.

"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength", I can be kind-even if others are rude; I can guard my tongue, grit my teeth, measure my words, and be kind and compassionate.

"Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth" (I Cor. 13:6). The 'truth' we rejoice in is God's truth. Hebrews 6:18 tells us that it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we know His word is true. As we continue to find joy in His truth, His spirit works in our lives, then the miracle of love begins-without our trying to force its growth.

One by one, our fear are engulfed by growth. One by one, our fears are engulfed by love. The miracle begins with finding joy, peace, and power in the Word of God. The next few ingredients of love are: Love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not proud.

It keeps no record of wrongs (I Cor. 13:4-5). Paul says that being aware of the fact that you are pretty good at loving would tend to cause you to puff up with pride and love again would be lost.

Perfect love "always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails" (verses 7-8). When we see others as fellow heirs of the grace of God, a miracle begins to happen: love flourishes and fear wilts. Perfect love drives out fear.

We cannot learn "the most excellent way" in one day. But we begin by embracing the love which God sent to us-the Lord Jesus Christ. Then we start to live as Christ lived. Little by little we will embrace loves ingredients until we know how perfect love can toss fear out of our lives.

The story is told of a man visiting hell who entered banquet hall replete with long tables and pots of delicious-smelling stew awaiting the guests. He watched as one guest after another sat down and reached for a spoon. Each one became frustrated as he discovered that the spoon handles were longer than his arms.

Throughout all eternity, none of them would ever manage to get a spoonful of the tempting food into his mouth. The visitors then toured heaven. He thought that he was in the same banquet hall. But there was a big difference. The guests at the heavenly tables were using the long-handled spoons to feed each other.

The miracle of perfect love can never happen unless we first personally experience God's love by accepting that forgiveness from the one who has the power to forgive because His son, Jesus Christ, died for those sins and rose again. Next, because we have experienced God's forgiveness, we are free from the power that causes us to fear, and we can go to the next step of ridding our lives of destructive, manipulative fear.

God bestows three divine treasures-"faith, hope, love. But the greatest of these is love" (I Cor 13:13). Faith conquers fears, hope gives the endurance necessary to withstand fear, and love tosses out the remnants of any fear that is left.

All three are essential in the battle against bondage of fear, and all three are built into our lives by the same means-knowing, believing, and applying the Word of God. Love and be Loved!