Love

One of the most often quoted and best loved portions of the Bible is found in our reading this week. First Corinthians 13 is a chapter that speaks about love. When I was in college, I got a card in the mail from my mom. The front of the card had a picture of Snoopy (a cartoon dog from the comic strip “Peanuts”) sitting on top of his familiar red dog house. The caption read, “When I think of you…” Open the card and there is Snoopy. He is a big ball of fur, hair sticking out all over, a big smile on his face as he hugs himself tight. The inside caption reads, “…I get the warm fuzzies!” It was a great card. A message from home about how much my mom loves me. It does make me think though. The world often defines love as an uncontrollable feeling that just sort of takes over. Paul writes differently for us. He tells us that love is concrete and personal. When we decide to love, we express our love in very tangible ways. Love is the decision to be patient and kind. Love shows humility. With each word, he tells us how we can share the love of God with others.