One day, a student went to his professor and raised an objection because his examination paper was not corrected. This professor was notorious for giving strange marks if your work was not up to standard. He would easily give you a nought or even a minus if he determined that you had not done your best. In the case of this student, the professor told him that he had corrected the paper, but judged the work to be of such poor quality that a nought or even a minus was too good a mark. So, he gave the student nothing.

 

Every time I read 1 Corinthians 13, I am reminded of this story. To be nothing is worse than a nought or even a minus. If I have no love, said Paul, I am nothing. The story of the Bible is a story of love. In the Old Testament, there are two words that are mostly used for love: ahavah and hesed.

 

In the New Testament, we have four words: agape, philia, eros and storge. We are not going to give a specific meaning to each of these words other than how they depict God’s love for us, our love for him, our love for each other, love for members of our family and even sexual love for another person. A beautiful example of the latter is the Song of Solomon, also known as the Song of Songs.

 

Most important is the fact that according to a concordance of the Bible, words like love, to love and other related words appear nearly seven hundred times in the Bible. Even the Ten Commandments are from start to finish concerned with love; every commandment is based on the principle of love.

 

That is why Jesus summarised the law in the words we read in Matthew 22:37-40: “ 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it: 'Love your neighbour as you love yourself.' The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

 

Prayer: Lord, many times I am so worried that I might be nothing, because my love for you and for my neighbour falls so far short of what it should be. Please help me overcome this worry. Amen