“If
I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a
resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 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. If I give all I possess to the
poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love,
I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
You can sum these three verses up like so: No matter what
you think, say or do in this life, if it’s not motivated by love then it’s
meaningless. At least to God it is. In a
world where love is mistaken for lust and sexual freedom runs rampant, we have
love according to God’s definition. It’s
kind and merciful. It’s selfless and
compassionate. It’s Christ on the cross. It’s all the things that characterize
who the Lord is.
Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching with Cupid and his
little love arrows; however, the physical attraction of a male and female is
not what we are speaking of here. We are talking about a love that puts all
other loves to shame. We are talking about a love so strong that nothing you
could ever say or do could break it down.
God’s love is our example. So if
we do everything by the book, yet do it with no love in our hearts we have
wasted our time. If we mechanically go
through the motions as Christians without love, patience, mercy and compassion,
we have failed in our mission. We must
do our best, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, to be imitators of Christ
in all we think, say and do. To do
otherwise is to miss the point.
If we truly love God then it will be revealed to the world
around us. If we truly love God then we
will have a driving compulsion to read His word and act on it. If we truly love God then we will want to
please Him with our lives. If we truly
love God we will love one another, for the Bible tells us this is how the world
will know we belong to the Lord. Peel
off any layers of arrogance and self-importance that may exist and learn to
love as God loves, without finding fault and without placing conditions on
it. Until next time, walk with the King
and be a blessing!
