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June 16 Daily Devotional

Love Is the Greatest

Frans Bakker

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. —1 Corinthians 13:13

Bible Reading

1 Corinthians 13:8–13

Devotional

Faith, hope, and love are all needed; but love is the greatest. Love is a gift of God. It is something that by nature we all lack. We become poor because of sin. We lack the most important matter. Yet what a comfort it is for those who lack this love, that love is still a gift. God is willing to give to His children all that they cannot give themselves. The Lord will draw them with bonds of love. Then they will learn to love Him in His justice and in His grace.

Learning that love is the greatest will be a very personal experience. Remember the women on their way to the grave on Easter morning. They could no longer believe, for if that were possible they would not have taken spices along with them to embalm the dead body of Jesus. They could not hope anymore either, for what expectation could they have of a dead Jesus? But still they had love. Love was still the greatest. In this way there can be much that is nothing, but there can also be little that is everything, because God looks at the heart. Love came first with these women and then faith and hope also came. Their tears of love would be dried by the Lord Jesus Himself. And then faith and hope would be back again.

We need to be enrolled in our life at the school of love. We can only learn what love is when we know the love of God. The closer we are to God, the closer we are to love. We then will know the drawing love of God the Father, the dying love of the Son, and the applying love of the Holy Spirit. This love causes a heart of stone to break. This love brings along an undying love in return, by which you learn to deny yourself. This love is life and it will also be the blessed communion in life eternal.

Is God Himself the source of your love? Examine yourself as to what motivates your love. Can you also say with Peter, “Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee”?

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.

 

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