學習愛Learningto Love
[每日靈修] 9/2/2018駱鴻銘編譯
「愛」是一個非常流行的話題，一個會激發溫情、會讓人在屬靈上一時熱血沸騰的話題。每年的民意調查都顯示，聖經中「最受歡迎」的篇章，其票選結果都是哥林多前書第十三章。這是聖經最著名的「愛的篇章」。這個篇章一直受到基督徒的喜愛，說明我們非常關切「愛」這個主題。
然而，哥林多前書第十三章是一把雙刃劍。它不僅僅用一首激勵人心、崇高的「愛的狂想曲」來安慰我們，它也如此清楚地描繪出愛的本質，以至於它揭露出我們在運用愛心時的缺陷和瑕疵。它顯明我們多麼缺乏愛心。它設定了一個目標，給我們一個愛的規範，這規範譴責我們，看我們何等悲慘地虧缺了這個標準。
或許我們喜愛這愛的篇章，只因為我們對這首合乎聖經的愛的讚歌，有很膚淺的同意；或許當我們讀它令人陶醉的話時，彷彿只把它們當成一首羅曼蒂克歌謠的歌詞。然而，當我們一旦探查這章的內容時，立刻就會感到如坐針氈。
愛的終極標準是神自己。祂的愛極其完美，沒有任何陰影可以掩蓋其絕妙的純潔。
活在神的面光中（在神面前禱告）：
讀禱林前十三章。你的愛有達到這些標準嗎？
進一步研讀：
林前十三1～3；約壹四7～21。
Learning
to Love
Love
is a popular topic, one that evokes warm feelings and a rush of spiritual
adrenaline. Every year the polls indicate that the chapter of the Bible voted
“most popular” is 1 Corinthians 13. This is the famous “love chapter” of the
Bible. That this chapter holds such perennial appeal for Christians indicates
something of the profound concern we have for the matter of love.
1
Corinthians 13 is a double-edged sword, however. It not only comforts us with
an inspiring and exalted rhapsody of love, it also presents a portrait of the
nature of love so clearly that it reveals the flaws and warts of our feeble
exercise of love. It shows us how unloving we are. It sets the bar, presenting
a norm of love that condemns us for falling so miserably short of it.
Perhaps
our delight in the love chapter rests upon a superficial nod toward this
biblical paean of love. Maybe we read its eloquent words as if they were merely
the lyrics of a romantic ballad. But once we probe the content of the chapter,
discomfort inevitably sets in.
The
ultimate norm of love is God Himself. His love is utterly perfect, containing
no shadow that would obscure its brilliant purity.
Coram
Deo
Prayerfully
study 1 Corinthians 13. How does your love measure up to these standards?
Passages
for Further Study
1
Corinthians 13:1–3