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.
1 Corinthians 13:1
Why do you think love is held up as the highest virtue in this passage in 1 Corinthians 13? It’s because *God is love* and the mark of genuine spiritual activity is the measure to which God is expressing Himself in love.
We can be the recipients of spiritual gifts and exercise them with expertise, but if they are not exercised in love, they are noise without melody, like clanging cymbals or the banging of a gong.
We might be able to mimic spiritual gifts and certainly we can engage in Christian service in our own human energy, but we cannot mimic genuine love. We might put on a show for a while, but ultimately it will fail. Soon our self interest will begin to take over our interest in the wellbeing of others.
It is possible to engage in Christian ministry for self-fulfillment rather than out of love for those we minister to and serve. The truth is, we are fulfilled by serving others, but never when that is the primary object.
Our work is effective and fruitful when expressed out of love for Christ and dependence on Him. It is then that His presence in us
manifests. *We are not simply to imitate Christ, but to let Christ, whose very nature is love, be Himself in us.*
We can counterfeit spiritual gifts, but we can never counterfeit love.
Are there actions in your Christian life that are lacking love? Look within yourself and talk to your Heavenly Father.
PRAYER: Almighty God, I humbly pray for grace to love more.....Amen
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JESUS WANTS YOU TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR.
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