A group of verses have been running through my head all day. I call them the "SO WHAT" verses or “THE RE-EVALUATORS"! They force us to (at least they should) examine our hearts as well as our actions to determine where we are at in several ways...
The first one are Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 13, "If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing."
So then what really matters besides love? In Paul's mind, and obviously in the mind of God... NOTHING! Not high and lofty, otherworldly spiritual dynamics like the ability to speak the language of angels, which honestly seems unbelievable, right? And not even the possessing of and the use of such important spiritual gifts such as prophesy; or the fact that God may allow us to know the deep mysteries and knowledge most have no idea exists. And not even attaining to and walking in a level of faith that few experience, yet does exist, which is capable of moving in the uber-supernatural! And sadly, not even the hyper compassionate, benevolent and sacrificial expressions, which seem so close to the heart of God, matter. According to Paul, there is NO GAIN without LOVE BEING THE MOTIVATING FACTOR OF ALL OUR ACTIONS! Without love, as Paul says... WE ARE NOTHING! So my spirituality and "God talk" is nothing more than noise without love! In other words, the Law of Love is the essence of the heart of God!
So then what kind of love are we talking about here? Thought it seems impossible, this is true love: Love is always patient, and always kind. It knows no jealousy nor does it incite one to jealousy. It never brags or is arrogant. It never acts unbecomingly, or selfishly seeks its own way. It is never provoked and never holds someone hostage over a wrong they have done against it. It never rejoices in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth! It bears ALL things, believes ALL things, hopes ALL things, and endures ALL things! Real love never fails!
I could so beat myself up just from the mere fact alone that I fall so far short of loving like this... and, according to the first part; I have been an arrogant fool more often than not in my life. I remember all the times I thought myself so "spiritual" when in truth, I was actually NOTHING BUT NOISE!
Thank God for His love, mercy and grace which are new moment by moment! And I thank God most of all that He opened my eyes to see His son, Y'shua!
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