April 7, 2024 A CLANGING CYMBAL
1 Corinthians 13:1-2,13 “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” “But now abide faith, hope love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.”
Romans 5:5 “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
We use the word ‘love’ so often, we have diminished it’s meaning. I would say that we all know that we should love others, yet true, genuine love-the kind we see in 1 Corinthians 13, is not all that common. It is possible for one to have human love, but be void of the love that comes from God. Human love is fickle and is pretty much a selfish love; and human love falls short of the love of God. The key point for us to beware of is that the love we see in I Corinthians is the love of God-and that He has “poured out His love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” To love as God loves is a work of God in us-a miracle indeed. God does not tell us to try harder at loving as we should; He makes us new and gives us a new heart and this new heart is full of the love of God. As often said in previous blogs, we have the power of choice; we can walk according to our old self-the flesh-or we can walk according to the Spirit. As we see in the verse above, love is key; it’s greater than faith and hope. The love that God has poured into our hearts, when expressed, is the greatest, most obvious picture of the character and person of God. One may be the ‘person of the hour,’ the smartest, the best looking, a spiritual leader, may claim to have great faith and one who has the gift of prophecy, and has great faith, BUT if he or she does not have the love of God being expressed in and through them, they are NOTHING! Wow! I think the message is as clear as it can be; the greatest need we have is to experience the love of God. I would go so far as to say that truly knowing the love of God is us is a cure-all. His love does not exempt us from pain; but it does see us through the pains and the trials and it is manifested in our difficulties. It’s easy to act lovely when every one else is lovely or when everything is peachy; but it is in the difficult times that the love of God shines through. The love of God is tender, compassionate, and graceful; but it is also bold. Often love compels us to action; the love of God at work in us sometimes moves us out of our comfort zone. The love of God works in such a way in us that it causes us to put others ahead of ourselves. That’s exactly what Jesus did.
1 John 4:16, 7-12 “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”
Blessings, Buddy
1 Corinthians 13:1-2,13 “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” “But now abide faith, hope love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.”
Romans 5:5 “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
We use the word ‘love’ so often, we have diminished it’s meaning. I would say that we all know that we should love others, yet true, genuine love-the kind we see in 1 Corinthians 13, is not all that common. It is possible for one to have human love, but be void of the love that comes from God. Human love is fickle and is pretty much a selfish love; and human love falls short of the love of God. The key point for us to beware of is that the love we see in I Corinthians is the love of God-and that He has “poured out His love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” To love as God loves is a work of God in us-a miracle indeed. God does not tell us to try harder at loving as we should; He makes us new and gives us a new heart and this new heart is full of the love of God. As often said in previous blogs, we have the power of choice; we can walk according to our old self-the flesh-or we can walk according to the Spirit. As we see in the verse above, love is key; it’s greater than faith and hope. The love that God has poured into our hearts, when expressed, is the greatest, most obvious picture of the character and person of God. One may be the ‘person of the hour,’ the smartest, the best looking, a spiritual leader, may claim to have great faith and one who has the gift of prophecy, and has great faith, BUT if he or she does not have the love of God being expressed in and through them, they are NOTHING! Wow! I think the message is as clear as it can be; the greatest need we have is to experience the love of God. I would go so far as to say that truly knowing the love of God is us is a cure-all. His love does not exempt us from pain; but it does see us through the pains and the trials and it is manifested in our difficulties. It’s easy to act lovely when every one else is lovely or when everything is peachy; but it is in the difficult times that the love of God shines through. The love of God is tender, compassionate, and graceful; but it is also bold. Often love compels us to action; the love of God at work in us sometimes moves us out of our comfort zone. The love of God works in such a way in us that it causes us to put others ahead of ourselves. That’s exactly what Jesus did.
1 John 4:16, 7-12 “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”
Blessings, Buddy
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