Kids of the Kingdom
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 1If
I speak in the tongues[1] of men and
of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2If 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 have not love, I
am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my
body to the flames,[2] but have
not love, I gain nothing. 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does
not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is
not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps
no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices
with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails. But where
there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be
stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know
in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the
imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I
thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put
childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a
mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know
fully, even as I am fully known. 13And now these three remain:
faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Being a
child of God means much more than appearing to be by our outward actions. It
means being a child of God by becoming one with His nature. In order for that
to happen, our old nature with all of its pride and arrogance needs to be laid
at His feet so that His nature of Love will begin to flow out of our lives.
I love
this Love chapter in God’s Word because it cuts right to the heart of the
matter. Note that verses 1, 2, &3 all deal with nice godly actions of His
people like using the miraculous gifts He has given us, being able to discern
the heart of God and tell others, and even giving all we have to feed those
less fortunate than ourselves. Oh how God’s heart must ache for us all to
realize that each and every one of these pale in comparison to a love walk with
Him. Give me a church or fellowship that is rich in Loving God and yet weak in
the “proper techniques” of walking a Christian walk any day compared to one
that has all of the “techniques” of walking the walk and talking the talk and
yet lacks the passion to know Christ.
I think
there is going to be quite an awakening when we enter glory and then begin to
see those who are actually rich in Christ compared to those who appeared to be
rich in Christ here below but were actually paupers in their relationship with
Him. How we need to take time and listen to these verses of God’s Word here in
1 Corinthians 13. I don’t know about you, but if i
saw someone who had the gift of the tongues of men and of angels, who could
prophecy and could fathom all mysteries and knowledge and had the faith to move
mountains and the dedication to surrender all of their possessions to feed the
poor, I would think they were a saint! Have you ever noticed how easy it is for
us to act righteous without us being righteous? We can do something often
enough that it just becomes a routine rather than an action of Love. How we
need to guard our hearts from entering into a life of routines and habits
rather than actions that spring out of Loving, and Grateful hearts.
I feel so
sorry for those evangelists on the radio or TV who get so consumed with the
miraculous thinking that God is in the miraculous. They seemed to be so
consumed by arms growing back or the blind to see or the lame made to walk that
they are totally missing the heart of Christ and that is a Love walk with Him.
Sure, He is fully capable of doing all of these things and sometimes does, but
His Heart’s desire and purpose for doing so is for us to grow in relationship
with Him. Not so that our bodies can be free from their momentary discomforts
and pain here below, but that we can see that He Loves us. Love that is based
on performance and not character is shallow love. Look at the Israelites who saw some of the
most incredible miraculous actions of God this world has ever seen. How much
depth of character did it build? Absolutely zero! Most of them when God tested
their faith began to mumble and complain instead of learning that God was
someone they could trust to supply their needs.
Oh, how self-consumed
we are with our bodies of clay or our bank accounts, those things that are not
who we are but only what we have. Note again these verses; 4Love is
patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It
is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not
delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love
never fails. Love IS
patient, Love IS kind. Sure, Love does display patience but because it IS by
nature WHO we are. Sure, Love does do kind things because it IS by nature WHO
we are. You cannot be one with Love and not perform loving actions but you can
perform loving actions without being one with Love. So in other words, even
though it appears we are performing loving actions, when we are not one with
Love, they are merely actions that appear loving but are merely performed from
a selfish heart.
Young men
who want more from their lady friends than what they should be receiving are
great at saying all the right words and even doing all the right actions but
most if not all of it is for selfish reasons.
Some people think if i just had a body of
excellent health or a bank account filled with wealth they could then serve God
whole heartedly. I say to that look at Adam and Eve who had it ALL! In fact
they even had a world with absolutely no sin where God even walked with them in
the cool of the evening and how did they end up? Turning their backs on the One
Who made them. When will we realize what is important in this life? It is
relationship with God In Christ His Son via the Holy
Spirit. And what a relationship! Look at verse 7 & 8 again; 7It always
protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres. 8Love never fails. Love, God’s Love is not one that is lazy and complacent and
full of hypocrisy.
When I
read about the Love that is of God, my heart yearns to be one with that Love.
It is a living, active, overcoming love. One that is powerful but not one that
is powerful through just its actions or its words, but through its being. God
alone is the maker of the heart and no amount of our self-will is going to
transform ourselves into His image. And, God can only begin that process when
we realize how helpless we are. Why do you think that we have merely to receive
His Gift of redemption through His Son by faith? Probably one of the greatest
reasons is because it does not involve our pride, which is what led us away
from Him in the first place. And even the gift of faith we cannot become proud
of because it too is a gift; For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–
(Whole Chapter: In context: )
Oh, the
joy of being a child of His! The joy of being set free from the pride and
arrogance we were born with! With the final release from all of the passions of
this life being laid to rest when we see Him face to face!
Heavenly
Father, thank You for choosing us to be Yours. Ever
teach us how to release every bit of ourselves to You,
not because of what You can do for us but because of Who You Are. In the
Wonderful, Matchless, Beautiful Name of Jesus! Amen.
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