If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in Part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Song of Songs
Song of Songs is a heavenly manuscript that clearly and beautifully explains God’s heart and plan for marriage between man and woman that is rooted in a deep and lasting love. Song of Songs moves from the couple’s first attraction to courtship, then deepening intimacy and marriage. God’s desire and design for husbands and wives is that both love each other, and that sexual love is exclusive and fulfilling in the marriage.
Songs of Songs is an allegory in God’s love for His church which will be made ready for the wedding supper of the Lamb. “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9). We, as His bride, hunger for the day when we will live in pure love and we will finally fulfill the purpose for which were created – to be in perfect communion with God.
Love Is Reciprocal
Song of Songs is the conversation between two people; a man and woman. They find themselves genuinely in love and their desire is for each other. Her passion and desire is for he alone and he expresses his adoration and love for her.
Marriage intimacy (sexual) is an expression of the couple’s oneness and the depth of their love for each other. They are liberated to enjoy their love, “I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me. Come, my beloved . . . let us go early to the vineyards . . . there I will give you my love” (7:10-12).
Married love is not just sex; it is two people who commit their heart, soul, mind and body to each other. They are no longer separate; they are friends, lovers, confidants and encouragers. The woman states, “This is my beloved, this is my friend” (5:16).
The husband always sees his wife as his beautiful bride, “My beloved spoke and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me’” (2:10). They see each other as a gift from God; living their lives in completeness, pure and fulfilling love and as the years progress their love grows and becomes sweeter each year.