Read: 1 Corinthians 13 

Love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7

爱是从上帝来的。凡有爱心的，都是由上帝而生，并且认识上帝。–约翰一书4章7节

Follow the way of love. 1 Corinthians 14:1

你们要追求爱。-哥林多前书14章1节

Love does more than make “the world go round,” as an old song says. It also makes us immensely vulnerable. From time to time, we may say to ourselves: “Why love when others do not show appreciation?” or “Why love and open myself up to hurt?” But the apostle Paul gives a clear and simple reason to pursue love: “These three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Follow the way of love” (1 Cor. 13:13–14:1).

有人认为，爱会让我们容易受伤。有时，我们可能会心想：“对方都不领情，为什么我要爱他呢？”或是：“为何要因爱而受苦呢？”然而，使徒保罗却要我们去追求爱，他说：“如今常存的有信，有望，有爱；这三样，其中最大的是爱。你们要追求爱。” (哥林多前书13章13节-14章1节)

“Love is an activity, the essential activity of God himself,” writes Bible commentator C. K. Barrett, “and when men love either Him or their fellow-men, they are doing (however imperfectly) what God does.” And God is pleased when we act like Him.

英国新约学者巴雷特（C. K. Barrett）写道：“爱是一种行动，上帝所做的事都是本于爱。当人爱上帝或关爱他人，尽管他们的爱并不完全，但他们却是学习上帝所做的事。”当我们行事为人都效法上帝，就能令祂喜悦。

To begin following the way of love, think about how you might live out the characteristics listed in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7. For example, how can I show my child the same patience God shows me? How can I show kindness and respect for my parents? What does it mean to look out for the interests of others when I am at work? When something good happens to my friend, do I rejoice with her or am I envious?

要追求爱，就当思想如何活出哥林多前书13章4-7节的教导，例如：我如何以上帝对我的忍耐，去对待我的孩子呢？我如何以体贴和尊重的态度对待我的父母呢？我在工作上要如何凡事不求自己的益处呢？当好事发生在朋友身上，我会跟他一起高兴或是嫉妒他呢？

As we “follow the way of love,” we’ll find ourselves often turning to God, the source of love, and to Jesus, the greatest example of love. Only then will we gain a deeper knowledge of what true love is and find the strength to love others like God loves us.

当我们“追求爱”的时候，就会发现我们需要常常寻求上帝，因祂是爱的泉源。我们也需要转向耶稣，因祂是爱的最佳表率。唯有如此，我们才能深切了解真爱的意义，并且得着爱人的力量，如同上帝爱我们一样。

pray:

Love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7

上帝，谢谢祢，因祢就是爱且深爱着我。求祢帮助我去爱别人，如同耶稣爱我们一样，好让世人能看出我是祢的孩子。

Read: 1 Corinthians 13 

13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.8 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. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 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 the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a 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.13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

整理：于姊妹