Conquering Love

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”* (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Do you know what conquering means? It means winning and being stronger than another person or thing. It is succeeding at what you do, and not losing or failing. When an army wins, it conquers over its enemies. When love conquers, it means that nothing can stop it.

You’ve sung the song “Jesus Loves Me,” haven’t you? But do you know that Jesus’ love, sometimes called charity, is a special kind of love? It is different from the kind that says, “Mommy, I love you!” and then pouts and doesn’t want to help work. That love doesn’t last long. But Jesus’ love is much better than that. His love always conquers.

When Jesus was a boy, He probably had to work when He didn’t want to. But He did it cheerfully anyway, and didn’t complain. When people called Him names and laughed at Him, Jesus was still kind and good to them. When they beat Him and took Him away to die on the cross, He forgave them. Why? Because of His love.

Our kind of love gets tired of being cheerful and kind, but Jesus’ love never does. It conquers over grumpy thoughts, selfishness, hate, and wrong. Because of that love, Jesus died to save all the naughty and bad people of the world. He loves the people that everyone else hates. Jesus wants all of them to be happy and good and have a home in heaven. Because of that love, Jesus wants to help every boy and girl to live right.

Jesus wants to give you His kind of conquering love. He will put it in your heart so you can give His love to others. When you love people no matter if they are mean to you, that is Jesus’ love. With His love you are not selfish to want your own way. With His love you don’t think you are better than others. His love helps you do your work cheerfully. His love is always kind, and thinks of how to make others happy. His love never stops. It never runs out. If you are going to follow and obey Jesus, you need to have this conquering love, too.