How to be the Greatest Lover

by Erin Bird

This Sunday, we finish up our Redefining Love series. As we complete 1 Corinthians 13, we'll be filling in the blank, seeing that "Love is the Greatest.

But how can you be the Greatest Lover? No, not a "lover" like our culture uses the word, but rather someone who readily, even eagerly, gives unconditional agape love to everyone around.

This past week, I happened to read Ephesians 5:1-2. As soon as I read it, I knew it fit with what we've been learning from 1 Corinthians 13. It helps us see how to be the Greatest Lover. Here's what it says:

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Paul, the author, is telling his readers to not just love, but to love like Jesus loved. We are to imitate God by loving with a sacrificial love, a willingness to give up personal preference for the good of others.

If you want to be the greatest lover in the world, then love like Jesus.

So if you want to be the greatest lover, then love like Jesus. Live sacrificially. Give up your own personal preference or desires for the good of someone else.

To do this, though, is a challenge (and impossible without God being the one transforming you). Which is why I encourage you to continue to do the Love Challenge, to read 1 Corinthians 13 for four more days, and reflect on how you are allowing God to turn you into the Greatest Lover.