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想象一下，你想用一个特别的聚会来打动一个朋友。你把所有的精力和注意力都放在把细节做得恰到好处上。但你在这个过程中压力太大，以至于忽略了你的朋友。你的朋友可能会说：“我不想要一个花哨的派对；我只想和你在一起！”在你努力装扮美好事物时，到最后却错过了重点。你的朋友不需要大张旗鼓的场面和花很多钱，他/她想要的美只是你个人的时间和关注。

哥林多城的一些基督徒有说方言和说预言的特殊恩赐。他们认为这些恩赐很了不起，而且整个社区都倾向于关注这种信仰的展示。但结果是，他们最终错过了基督徒社区的重点，即彼此相爱。使徒保罗给他们写了一封信（《哥林多前书》），鼓励他们回到最基本的点上。在第十三章中，他描述了舍己的那种爱（agape），这种爱遵循了耶稣本人的模式。

耶稣已经向我们展示了最美丽的道，那就是爱。效法祂的榜样，可以使我们放下想要引人注目的焦虑。相反，我们可以专注于真正美好的事物——那就是舍己的爱。

Imagine that you want to impress a friend with a special party. You put all your energy and attention into getting the details just right. But you get so stressed out in the process that you ignore your friend. Your friend might say, "I don't want a fancy party; I just want to spend time with you!" In your efforts to make something beautiful, you end up missing the point. Your friend doesn't require a lot of fanfare and expense， your friend just wants the beauty of your personal time and attention.

Some of the Christians in the city of Corinth had the special gifts of speaking in tongues and prophesying. They thought these gifts were impressive, and the whole community tended to focus on these displays of faith. As a result, though, they ended up missing the point of Christian community, which is to love one another. The apostle Paul wrote them a letter (1 Corinthians) to encourage them to get back to the basics. And in chapter 13 he describes the self-sacrificial kind of love (agape) that follows the pattern of Jesus himself.

Jesus has shown us the most beautiful way, the way of love. Following his example, we can let go of worrying about being impressive. Instead, we can focus on what's truly beautiful—and that is self-sacrificial love.