The last of the five imperatives is to love: “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭16:13-14‬ ‭

Just prior to this in Chapter 13, Paul laid out that this ‘love’ is not an emotion, but rather is something that is and something that isn’t. 

Love is – patient, kind, rejoices in the truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres

Love is not – envious, boastful, proud, rude, self-seeking, easily angered, remembering wrongs, delighting in evil.

This love for another is not reserved just for the marriage covenant but rather is the foundation of every human relationship. 

Paul also affirms that one could be watchful, stand firm, be courageous and be strong – but if it is not done in love, it is nothing more than a ‘clanging cymbal’. No one wants to be a clanging cymbal. 

This is a good time to remember how Jesus made Loving God and Loving Others the absolute priority for every believer:

Mark 12:29-31

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”