God's Glory Church

“If I… don’t have love, then I won’t have any wealth.” — 1 Corinthians 13:3

Jim and Lanida fell in love with each other in college. They got married and their life was happy for many years. Then Lanida started behaving strangely, getting lost and forgetting scheduled meetings. At the age of forty-seven, she was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. After ten years as her primary caregiver, Jim was able to say, “Alzheimer’s disease has given me the ability to love and serve my wife in ways I never imagined when I said ‘I do’ on our wedding day.”

Explaining the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul wrote a lot about the virtue of love (1 Cor. 13). He contrasted heartless acts of service with those actions that come from a loving heart. A strong word is good, Paul wrote, but without love it is like a meaningless noise (v. 1). “If I give my body to be burned, and I have no love, I will have no possessions” (v. 3). After all, Paul said: “The greatest of these is love” (v. 13).

While caring for his wife, Jim deepened his own understanding of love and service. Only constant and strong love could give him the strength to support his wife every day. However, the only perfect example of sacrificial love is God’s love for us, which prompted Him to send Jesus to die for our sins (John 3:16). And this sacrifice, motivated by love, changed our world forever.

Have you tried to serve others without love? What actions can your love for God and your neighbors inspire you today?

Dear God, thank you for your love for me. Help that all my words and deeds come from a loving heart.

Author: Karen Pimpo