Love: The Virtue of the Kingdom
As I begin my senior year, I've spent a lot of time reflecting on my time in college, considering what the Lord has for me in this final year, and looking forward to what's next with a genuine mix of excitement and anxiety.
When considering what to write this week, I've been met with an abundance of ideas: a reflection on Wolf Path Weekend, our new intern team, the new friends I've met over the last month, the startling supply of never-ending cookies, or simply a reflection on the beginning of my senior year and the role the Study Center has played in my college experience thus far.
As you can see from the wealth of ideas I've been met with, there is just so much goodness happening here. From 8 AM to 9 PM Monday through Thursday and until 5 PM on Fridays, there will be sounds of life and hope breaking through where the love of Christ is sensed and felt in tangible yet mundane ways.
Amidst all the rumblings, thoughts, and reflections running through my mind, there has been one over the past few weeks that has remained at the forefront: the love of Christ and its manifestation in and through our friendships.
The greatest gift of my time at both NC State and the Study Center has been the friends I've encountered along the way. If we are the image of God, then it is through each other that we experience and see his goodness and love most clearly. Love is the virtue of the Kingdom.
I've been thinking about Paul's exposition in 1 Corinthians 13, where he so boldly claims:
"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." (1 Corinthians 13:2)
It could be that I have it all together (though I can assure you this is not the case), that I am thriving academically, physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. And yet, if I have not love, it is all hollow and vain. The true substance is love.
And while the Study Center has hosted and will continue to host some amazing events, the true substance of my experience here has been the love I've encountered. Whether through the staff, fellow interns (both new and old), classmates, volunteers, or ministry partners, when I walk through the door at 201 Brooks Avenue, I encounter the living God, whose love I tangibly experience through his creation, his image. As I begin this year, I am grateful for the ways his unending love has met me through his people, and I am expectant for the ways that his love will continue to abide in this place as we seek to join him in his work.
