In the summer of 1964, when I was 17, I had a problem.  Actually, I probably had many problems at that stage of my adolescent career, but I am thinking of one in particular.  I was going to Maranatha Bible Camp for Youth Week, and I knew there were going to be two girls there whom I knew, and wanted to know better.  the problem:  How was I going to be able spend time with each and keep myself out of trouble while doing so?  

What I thought would be a problem never materialized.  In the course of that week I fell hopelessly in love with the one named Luana Norman.  I don’t know that I knew I was in love at first, but apparently my father did.  Not long after camp was over he said to me as we were driving down the street, “You got bit pretty hard down there, didn’t you?”  ”Huh?” I said.  ”What do you mean, bit?”  He said, “By the love bug.”

Was I in love?  Did the fact that she was all I could think about indicate this?  There must have been other reasons for my dad to remark about it like he did.  Was this the real thing, real love?  Or was it just an infatuation, what they, whoever “they” were, called “puppy love?”  How does a person know when he’s in love?

About 2000 years ago the Corinthian Christians had a problem.  Actually, they had several problems.  But a really obvious one was that they thought they were really in love with Jesus.  They thought their abilities to exercise spectacular spiritual gifts, among these the ability to speak eloquently, were sure signs that they were really “with it” spiritually.  In his letter to them Paul told them that they could employ their gifts, using every imaginable form of speaking, and it still wouldn’t indicate that they really were in love with Jesus, because if they really were in love with him, they’d be patient with each other.  They weren’t.  If they really loved Jesus, they’d be kind to each other.  They weren’t.  If they really loved Jesus they’d not be jealous of each other.  They were.  If they really were in love with the Savior, they’d not be behaving like windbags and braggarts.  They were behaving this way.  Love for Jesus is evidenced by a lack of arrogance.  They were arrogant.  Genuine love doesn’t act disgracefully, is not self-seeking, isn’t easily provoked, and doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness. The Corinthian believers were rude to each other in worship services, concerned more about themselves than about others, easily angered, even to the point of taking each other to court, and not only tolerated gross sin in one of their members but were also proud of their tolerance.

Those folks, though spectacularly gifted by the Holy Spirit, were not really as in love with Jesus as they thought they were.

This portion of Paul’s letter to them (1 Corinthians 13) is some of the most eloquent writing he ever did.  Nobody, not even Elizabeth Barrett Browning with How Do I Love Thee?, has ever topped this.  No, it is not specifically about love between a man and a woman.  But, it certainly can be applied that way.

It’s been almost 45 years since my dad asked me about being bit by the love bug.  But I’ve got a better standard to measure that love by than mere feelings or even passion.  I might think I really am in love with Luana Norman VanCampen, but if I’m not patient with her, willing to endure her faults, I might not be as in love as I think.  If I really love her, I will be consistently kind to her.  If I am consistently unkind, I might not be as much in love as I think I am.  If I really love her, I will not seek to better myself at her expense, I will not be self-absorbed, I will not look out for myself while disregarding her needs.  if I am the most important person in my life, I certainly don’t love her as much as I think I do.  If I really love her…but, then, you get the picture, don’t you?

Do you really love Jesus?  How is it demonstrated?  Is the character of Jesus being formed in you?  Are you, and others as well, seeing indications of true love in the way you relate to them?

Are you really in love? 

By the way, if your husband or wife can’t tell that you’ve been bitten hard by the love bug in the way you relate to him or her on a regular basis, save the money you might spend on a Valentine’s card or flowers.

Have the very best of days today, and be a blessing to at least one other person.