Face to Face

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  1 Corinthians 13:8-13

Why do you think that Paul spoke at length in this chapter about love and then brought it to a conclusion in this manner?  What does perfection have to do with love? 

Paul is talking about the maturing, the growth that I have referred to in the previous posts.  It's not that WE never fail, it's that LOVE never fails.  And as we grow into love, we grow in perfection.  These words all go together:  growth, maturity, knowledge, perfection, completion.  They are found often throughout the Bible.  They mean that God has not created us as the already completed.  We are born as infants and we act like infants.  We grow into children, and we act like children.  As we continue to grow, we (hopefully!) mature and act like adults.  And even as adults, He is still working to complete His good work in us:  "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  Philippians 1:3

The day of Jesus Christ, the day of our completion, is the day we will see face to face.  Not in a mirror, or through cloudy glass, but eyeball to eyeball.  It's not a figure of speech - it is the truth!  Our day of completion is coming - that is the joy Christians have!  And as we wait for that day, we keep loving - we grow in our knowledge of love, in our ability to love.  Love itself is perfect, though we are not.  But imagine how much better we will love - how much our love is perfected - as we allow Love Himself to teach us how to love.  That's like having Kobe Bryant teach us the perfect slam dunk, Peyton Manning teach how to throw a perfect spiral.  The One who knows how to love perfectly teaches how to love.  That's really all I need to know to want to love more people, love them better, and love them completely.

Are you blazing this week?  If you don't know what I'm talking about, read 2 Samuel 22.  See you tomorrow!