The Way of Love
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies.
Love never dies.
Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit.
We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete.
But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good. We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation:
When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good. We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation:
Trust steadily in God,
Hope unswervingly,
Love extravagantly.
And the best of the three is love.
1 Corinthians 13
The Message
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5 comments:
For those who study and share the Bible or have ever been to a wedding these are familiar words. I think they are the most important instructions alongside loving God with all you've got and loving your neighbour as yourself ...
In our human frailty we have all fallen short ... could it be that sin is the absence of love just as darkness is the absence of light and cold is the absence of heat ...
I always love the way you have found the things that express God's love and has we should emulate it. Because as one Beatle put it, "Love is all you need." For if everyine in the world had God's love, most of the worlds problems would disappear. It is also apparent that His love is what draws you to him. His love for me is unfathomable to me. I do not think that I could sacrifice my son for people that I know will never become a follower of mine, just for those few that will. It is a love so awesome to me that I will never truly understand it in this life.
This is a tall order indeed ... I'm wondering, Nate, if you knew the beginning from the end whether this would be something that you would be able to do. It certainly would be easier for us to ponder at least ... but then again, you and I may have looked at the human race...us...and decided we weren't worth it.
But...God decided that His creation, who He desires fellowship with was worth the cost ... much higher than rubies ... virtuous, without spot or wrinkle.
Trust steadily in God
Hope unswervingly
Love extravagantly........this is how I choose to live the life that Christ has given me and knowing Him makes it all possible. What a great post you've given us to read and dwell upon. His light and love sure shine through you :)
dj
Thanks for the heads up on the "Life in General" very insightful.
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