13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Tori's Comments:It's very easy sometimes for me to just do the right thing but not really mean it. As in, do it because I'm supposed to or because I'll be judged if I don't rather than because I love someone.
Terrie's Comments:
Paul mentions something in 1 Corinthians that is so important to us that without it we are nothing, we can gain nothing, we are useless.
It is found in a passage that I have been meditating on for the past few weeks... because it has been stuck in my head like the song that never ends.
It is a passage that is often used in weddings. When we hear it we have a tendency to think about our most intimate relationships. I often will use it as a measurement of how my marriage is doing. How well are we loving each other? How well is my husband doing in treating me?
However I have realized that this passage is nestled in a portion of scripture that is talking about the Holy Spirit being allowed to flow through us in the church body.
This is God's description of love:
13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
That seems like a tall order doesn't it? Especially when it is our call as believers to walk out this demonstration of love everyday no matter who we come in contact with.
In Romans 5:5 it says:
5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Because of the Holy Spirit, which is given to us as believers we can pour out this love to others because the Holy Spirit empowers us to do so. Without God even if we appeared to love with a perfect love it would come from a place of selfish ambition and motives. But when we decide to make Jesus Lord of our lives and fully live for Him instead of ourselves we will walk with God's love displayed in our lives. We have been given all that we need to walk in love. Just like everything that God asks us to do we need to learn to fully rely on Him to carry out his will in our lives. No matter what we do let us earnestly desire to allow the Holy Spirit to empower God's love to be displayed in our lives.
Philipians 4:13
13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
It is found in a passage that I have been meditating on for the past few weeks... because it has been stuck in my head like the song that never ends.
It is a passage that is often used in weddings. When we hear it we have a tendency to think about our most intimate relationships. I often will use it as a measurement of how my marriage is doing. How well are we loving each other? How well is my husband doing in treating me?
However I have realized that this passage is nestled in a portion of scripture that is talking about the Holy Spirit being allowed to flow through us in the church body.
This is God's description of love:
13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
That seems like a tall order doesn't it? Especially when it is our call as believers to walk out this demonstration of love everyday no matter who we come in contact with.
In Romans 5:5 it says:
5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Because of the Holy Spirit, which is given to us as believers we can pour out this love to others because the Holy Spirit empowers us to do so. Without God even if we appeared to love with a perfect love it would come from a place of selfish ambition and motives. But when we decide to make Jesus Lord of our lives and fully live for Him instead of ourselves we will walk with God's love displayed in our lives. We have been given all that we need to walk in love. Just like everything that God asks us to do we need to learn to fully rely on Him to carry out his will in our lives. No matter what we do let us earnestly desire to allow the Holy Spirit to empower God's love to be displayed in our lives.
Philipians 4:13
13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!
This packs a powerful punch. How I was blessed rereading these words the other day. Christ-Love makes it possible. Wordly-love will never measure up or stand a chance. Only through His strength will I succeed for his glory
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