Something to Go After
Scripture Reading: Psalm 66; 1 Corinthians 14
Pursue love… - 1 Corinthians 14:1
1 Corinthians 13—along with Psalm 23—has to be one of the most well-known passages of Scripture. People call it the “love chapter,” and for good reason. I’ve read it at more weddings than I can count. It has this poetic flow to it, full of wisdom, and the way Paul writes it is wise in itself. Short, punchy lines, woven together like threads into a tapestry. It’s brilliant prose.
And it ends perfectly:
“So now abide faith, hope, and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
That’s the kind of line you close the book on. Mic drop. Done.
But here’s the thing—Paul wasn’t done.
When the chapter and verse divisions were added later (helpful, yes, but not inspired), someone put a break in the wrong spot. Because the very next line says:
“Pursue love.”
That’s where Paul was driving the whole time.
We often talk about love like it’s an accident you stumble into—something you feel, or you don’t. You fall in love, or you fall out of it. But Paul flips that idea around. Love isn’t just something that happens to you. It’s something you chase. Something you go after.
In all of life’s pursuits—career, hobbies, money, security—Paul says this one belongs at the top of the list: Pursue love.
So what does that actually look like?
Go back and read chapter 13 again. Paul already told us.
Here’s an exercise someone once suggested: take verses 4–7, take out the word love, and put your name in its place. Then read it out loud:
“Steve is patient and kind; Steve does not envy or boast; he is not arrogant or rude. He does not insist on his own way; he is not irritable or resentful; he does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Steve bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Try it with your own name. See where it rings true—and where it doesn’t.
Then take Paul’s advice. Don’t wait for love to happen. Don’t just admire it like poetry on a page.
Pursue it.
