Monday 26 August, 2013

13 Suppose I speak in the languages of human beings and of angels. If I don’t have love, I am only a loud gong or a noisy cymbal. 2 Suppose I have the gift of prophecy. Suppose I can understand all the secret things of God and know everything about him. And suppose I have enough faith to move mountains. If I don’t have love, I am nothing at all. 3 Suppose I give everything I have to poor people. And suppose I give my body to be burned. If I don’t have love, I get nothing at all. 4 Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not brag. It is not proud. 5 It is not rude. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people’s wrongs. 6 Love is not happy with evil. But it is full of joy when the truth is spoken. 7 It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It never gives up. 8 Love never fails. But prophecy will pass away. Speaking in languages that had not been known before will end. And knowledge will pass away. 9 What we know now is not complete. What we prophesy now is not perfect. 10 But when what is perfect comes, the things that are not perfect will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child. I thought like a child. I had the understanding of a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see only a dim likeness of things. It is as if we were seeing them in a mirror. But someday we will see clearly. We will see face to face. What I know now is not complete. But someday I will know completely, just as God knows me completely. 13 The three most important things to have are faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them is love.

These are some of my most favourite and most challenging verses in the Bible. I love the way that Paul describes love – because He is giving me a picture of what God is like – because God IS love. But I can't just read this passage and think about how God loves. It is a call for me to live out this love in my relationships. It is a challenging reminder that I am NOTHING if I don't have love – the kind of love that is set out here.

These verses remind me that God wants me to be a conduit for love – not just a container.

He wants me to receive His love and then let it flow through me into the lives of the people He has placed around me. I have found that this can seem overwhelming – loving the way that this passage describes. But these verses also tell me that “love is patient and kind”. As God is love – I can read – “God is patient and kind” – towards me. He is ready to help me love like this – and He is patient and forgiving when I fall short. I don't have to be afraid – I just need to be available to let God love me and then love others the way that I have been loved.

Lord help me focus on this with new energy and hope.

Written by Ps.Linda Quinn