“. . . and if I have a faith that can move mountains but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2).

I have a deep and abiding faith, a faith that has sustained me for a lifetime and I am now 72. It is a faith that has carried me through the waters and the fire, scripturally speaking, a faith that has seen miracles of healing come to be. Even so, my faith couldn’t move a mountain. It couldn’t move a rock in the road! I ponder on so great a faith, but I cannot get my mind around it.

My eyes go on to the last part of the sentence in 1 Corinthians 13:2: “. . . but have not love, I am nothing.” Even a faith that would move a mountain is not worth what love is worth to Almighty God. In His eyes, love has the highest value of all. In my earthbound thinking, it seems faith would be the greatest, but it isn’t so.

1 Peter 4:8 says “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.”

It was God’s love for us that provided the blood of Jesus our Savior to cover our sins. And this alone should tell us all we need to know about the highest value being placed on love: the Father shed His only Son’s blood because of His love for us, a love greater than anything we will ever understand this side of Heaven. Peter declares that our love for others is of far more importance to God than all the wrongs we do. God prefers looking at our pluses, not our minuses.

Perhaps John says it best with this simple message: “God is love” (1 John 4:16). Not God loves, but God is love. So if God is love, then we see why He delights in our giving love to others. It is evidence to the world of our likeness to Him, that which speaks the truth of God.

“As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34).