I Corinthians 13:1-13 (from “The Message” & other paraphrases)
“God called me to lay a foundation. This is the one and true foundation. There is no other foundation that can be laid. Do you know what it is?…………..If I came to you today with a human eloquence or an angelic revelation and did not have love; I am nothing more than a creaky rusty gate. If I spoke God’s Word with power and understood all mysteries and could make them as plain as day, and I didn’t have love; or if I had the power to say to a mountain, “Jump” and it jumped, and I did not have love, I am nothing. Listen! If I won the lottery and gave every penny to the poor and even if I went to the stake to be burned as a martyr; and my motivation was not love, I am going nowhere. I don’t care what you believe, I don’t care what you say, I don’t care what you do; if you don’t have love you are bankrupt. But wait! This is not just any kind of love. This love never fails! Let me give you some attributes and you see how you measure up.
* This love cares for the things of others more than the things of itself.
* It does not want what it does not have.
* It doesn’t strut.
* It does not have a swelled head.
* It never forces itself on others.
* This kind of love never says, “Me First!”
* Doesn’t fly off the handle.
* And most important, it does not keep score…..especially regarding the sins of others.
* It doesn’t rejoice when others are exposed.
* But rather, it rejoices in the truth.
* It puts up with all things.
* This love trust in the God that is in control.
* So it believes the best about everyone.
* It never looks back.
* But keeps going, and going, and going……
* As a matter of fact it not only never fails, but it never dies.
You see, inspired speeches will be over some day; praying in tongues will come to an end; all understanding has its limitation.
Hey guys, we only know a portion of the truth. Everything we say about God is incomplete. But let me tell you, when the complete arrives, all our incompletion will vanish.
When I was a baby, my mom fed me a bottle, changed my diaper, rocked me to sleep. But the day came when the Spirit said, “Grow Up!” Then all my selfish, childish ways were left behind.
I’ll be honest with you. We can’t see very clearly right now. It’s like we are trying to see through the fog. It’s like we are squinting our eyes to see through a midst. But let me tell you something. The weather is about to change. We are going to see the bright and shining sun. We are going to see the way God sees. But better yet, we are going to know Him the way he knows us!
But for now, let me give you three spiritual bullits. You know what they are: #1-Faith-Trust in the God that is in control. #2-Hope-Everything ends OK. If you are not OK today…..this is not the end. And #3-Love-Embrace God’s extravagant, unconditional, unfailing love. God wants you to love everyone, everywhere, everytime, in everyway!
YES!