I'm interested in the biblical concept of love, agape, in Corinthians, and whether the Bible attempts to quantify any aspect of love or If those things are obviously quantifiable

Jesus: What a rich place to begin. Paul's great passage on love in First Corinthians is striking precisely because it resists quantification — it describes love by what it does and what it refuses to do. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Notice — Paul gives us a list of qualities, not a measure. He is painting a portrait, not drawing a scale. And yet there is one moment in the Gospels where I did speak of love in something close to a quantifying way. I told my disciples that greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. That is not a number — but it is a ceiling, a maximum. The furthest love can reach. So the scriptures seem to say: love cannot be tallied, but it can be ranked. Its ultimate expression is self-giving unto death. Everything else falls somewhere beneath that. There is something beautiful in that. A love that could be measured would be a smaller thing than what Paul is describing.

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