“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I AM NOTHING.“ (1 Corinthians 13:2).

     No man alive has ever been able to fathom all of life’s many amazing mysteries. And, being able to, would easily be considered a truly “great thing”. A perfect example of such an unfathomed mystery is that since the foundation of the world, no man has even come close to grasping “the perpetuity” of a God who has simply existed from “everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:2), being a God who is entirely without beginning or end. Alone, this concept on its own is enough to permanently dislocate every cognitive function. And to reduce the most nimble of minds to utter mush.

     As such, pronouncing someone’s ability to both fathom “all mysteries” as well as “all knowledge” as being a truly great thing would not be an exaggeration. In fact, neither would the ability “to move a mountain”. And yet, when compared with the distinction that is the phenomenon of love, such immensely “notable accomplishments” are not even considered worthy of mention. In fact, our living God who is entirely without beginning or end, says they amount to absolutely nothing.

     With that being said, without question then, love is the supreme effort and accomplishment of life. For love IS the way, and the truth, and the life. And by extension, when love is lived out in the fullness of its richest and most noble expression, love is also life’s greatest reward too. For if we have love, we have everything. For if we have everything but love, we have nothing. Love IS the single greatest thing. And it is the standard by which everything in the universe is measured and finds its proper place.

     At the same time, in both form and function, love is both something “to receive” and something “to give”. Which, in its flawless nature and design, makes love completely unique. For love never subtracts, but only adds - to both the giver and the receiver. For it gives both “seed to the sower and bread to the eater” (2 Corinthians 9:10; Isaiah 55:10). Equally so, love is also intentionally both uniquely personal and overwhelmingly universal. Suffice it to say, whether on a personal level or a universal level, love is intensely so the single greatest thing to define every person AT HIS VERY BEST.

     For is this not the very reason why the spirit of He who was, who is, and who is to come, the Almighty One, encourages each of us to “walk WORTHY OF THE CALLING with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another IN LOVE” ‭‭(Ephesians‬ ‭4:1-2‬)? Which is to live and walk in the image and reflection of THE PERFECT MAN. Which is the complete man. Lacking nothing. Having no wrinkle or spot (Ephesians 5:7). For is it not written that ABOVE ALL THINGS, we should pursue love, and to keep pursuing it until “we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, TO A PERFECT MAN, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians‬ ‭4:13‬)? Which is the fullness of life.

     Having said that, life is a constant confrontation and collision of choices – about responding to that which calls us either upwards and higher, or to surrendering to that which would reduce us to our very lowest of statures. However, when “choosing love” at each of life’s inflection points, it is certain that life then reaches to the horizon that would define us all AT OUR VERY BEST. Out of all the many things that would “lay a claim” to shaping who we are, and what we do, and how we finish the race, love holds the greatest power to leverage THE VERY BEST IN US.

     With that being said, in our hearts and in our lives, we are also at constant war with that which would distract us from reaching for the supreme reward and heights of life that is love. The three primary culprits in distracting us from the perfect liberty and abundant life that only love can elevate us to and transform us into are (1) the lust of the eyes, (2) the lust of the flesh, and (3) the pride of life. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.”‭ (‭I John‬ ‭2:15-16‬).

     A combination of personal experience, as well as simple observation, shows that the second we take our individual or corporate gaze off the supreme reward of pursuing love above all things, our lives are subject to all that which draws us downwards towards a constant state of decay and chaos, being all those things that operate under the law of diminishing returns, being all those things that subtract from us rather than add to. For the truth that is love is the only economy that has no diminishing return.

     The fruit of the fallen nature, being pain, betrayal, lies, brokenness, loneliness and rejection, are just some of the things that would have us either question our foundational beliefs in love or derail our quest to realise the best life and love has to offer. The greatest of these is an unbelief in “the pure majesty and power of love”, being the very confluence of all the invisible and visible attributes of God - both His “eternal power” and His “divine nature” (Romans 1:20). Which effectively amounts to an unbelief in God.

     Realising the best in others, and the best in ourselves, is the greatest reward and lesson life presents. For life teaches many things. And it teaches us best through love. Everything else that teaches either becomes an obstacle along the journey to learning the greatest lesson life offers, or it helps to unlock, discover and find love in richer degree - both in ourselves, and in each other.

     Claiming the great prize of learning both to love and be loved is only possible when the twin theatres of individual effort are simultaneously pursued. This two-fold occupation involves, firstly, straining continuously ever upwards towards love and, secondly, declaring outright war on all that would oppose the wellspring and inheritance of love. Which is the perfect expression and accomplishment of the greatest curriculum on love available to all men, a curriculum laid out and emphasised in Matthew 22:37-40.

     That we have to strive with all our heart and soul and mind and strength to reach the ultimate prize that love is, that having drunk from its wellspring, we may then love our neighbour as ourselves, is the reason that love is not only the supreme effort of life, but love is also the sweetest tasting meal available to any man.

     Nothing we get yields quite as much satisfaction and reward as that for which we have had to strive for. Since love requires the greatest human effort of all, it stands to reason that love is also the most gratifying of all our life’s endeavours and pursuits.

     Furthermore, the permutations of how that lesson is learned are as unique, and varied, and multiplied, as is each person, and their own lives and situations. In that context, isn't it simply astonishing at just how great love is? In as many personal and unique ways as there are people, the promise of love is sufficient to teach us all. Everyone’s situation is entirely theirs, individual and personal. How grand and great is love that it provides a “unique signature” on the individual souls of man, and yet a “uniform opportunity” to the entire brotherhood of humanity.

     Another point is that learning this lesson is something that only “a coming together of two hearts” produces. We ultimately teach one another our greatest lessons. It is the art of learning to shave on one another's face the spectacular dance of love. So, when God said love conquers all, He didn't lie, for He never lies. But because love is both that which we receive and that which we give, by definition and as a function of mathematics, love cannot be learned in isolation or alone. By its very design, it speaks to a function of “more than one”. It speaks of “relationship”. Love is the fruit of two or more united in the embrace of the greatest adventure charted for the human heart. And when it speaks of conquering all, it is only the love of two, the giving and receiving, that finds that ultimate victory. This is what the spectacular example that the love of God the Father and His Son bestows upon the palate of man’s spirit and soul. Even in the relationship between God and us, and even though it’s always the case of Him loving us first, for us to spend eternity in the embrace and the expression of His perfect love, it is again the love of two - Him for us, and us for Him in return - that accomplishes that eternal goal.

     Lastly, love is both a noun and a verb. It is a knowing and a doing. For others, love is not what we feel, but what we do about what we feel. Our feelings are ours alone. How we express what we feel and know and are is what legitimises, defines and accomplishes the circle of love. Without both the verb and the noun, love falters, flickers and fades, becoming a distant echo at best, and at worst, an escape artist resolute at remaining forever inconspicuous.

     Love is the desire to partake in the beautiful purpose of learning what it is to be loved and what it is to love. Love is both the highest calling and the most complete answer to all life’s questions. Love is that which promises not only emotional order, significance and meaning, simultaneously opposing the many forces of chaos and decay that would wage war on our daily existence, but it rehabilitates and restores the essence and purpose of our lives, spirits and souls. It is the one thing that changes the direction of everything that would otherwise define us at our worst.

     By extension, it is said that, when a defining moment comes, one should define the moment, or the moment will define you. Love’s first choice is that rather than letting the fallen nature define life for you, that you can and should define your own life in a different way, a better way, a more richer way. We have two choices. We can either define it in love. Or we can choose to allow that which falls short of the magnificence and heights of love to define our lives and our relationships. Let each moment be a living testament to love expressed and accomplished.

     But at all times, bear in mind that God Himself, the highest authority, and the Spirit of perfect love, states that without love, we are nothing. What an emphatic and sovereign statement! In other words, in the final analysis, all else that would define us is therefore nothing. Neither wealth nor fame, possessions or accolades or titles. All the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of life, the pride of life. Love is not only the greatest lesson we will ever learn, and the greatest gift you can give back to life - but it is the ONLY lesson we ever need to master and learn.