Our daily reflections follow the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan, designed for those who want to read the whole Bible in one year. Each reflection focuses on one of the chapters from that day's readings. Darllenwch rhain yn Gymraeg.
Lord, prepare me to receive your word. Clear my mind and warm my heart. Assure me of your loving purposes for me, and speak into my life today.
Paul could be crabby and rude, and comes across in his letters as a flawed – and therefore very human – individual. But being human means that as well as being prone to fall very low, we're also capable of rising high. In this chapter Paul shows another side of himself. He has been advising the Corinthians how to live better and more harmoniously together. We might think we can discern some frustration in his words as he deals with questions whose answers must have seemed perfectly obvious to him. He is, on the whole, patient with them. But in this chapter he goes to the heart of what Christian discipleship is about. This is what controls how we behave towards each other. In contrast to the values of his time – and perhaps of every time – Paul says that without love, none of our achievements are worth anything.
His words are deeply challenging for our approach to ministry and church life. They also challenge how we live together as a society. Today, too, we seem to over-value 'winning' and admire strong, attractive and wealthy people in a rather unhealthy way. Paul flips that on its head – love is the virtue that counts. And the love we're capable of now, he seems to say, is a foretaste or foreshadowing of the eternal love of God we'll one day experience in all its complete perfection: it is a rehearsal for heaven.
God, thank you for words that lift me up and sing to my soul. Help me to judge what I achieve and how I behave not by the standards of the world, but by whether I am truly loving. May the love of Christ be seen in all I do.
This reflection was written by Mark Woods, Bible Society's Editor
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