1 Corinthians 13:1-13

And yet I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men or of angles, but do not have love, I am only the resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If 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 do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I posse to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

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It is kind of funny how when you listen to K-love, or any Christian music really, you begin to realize just how little scripture you know and how much more you need to spend time in the word. There is a song out right now by for KING & COUNTRY titled The Proof of Your Love, near the end of the song one of the artist in the band quotes this scripture and I thought it was just something nice he had written for the song, silly me. I had began to study this particular passage "by accident" one evening when I was starting to teach a new volunteer for Kids Klub how to plan a lesson, she had chosen to prepare a lesson on love and was lead to choose to the passage right after this one. After studying 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 we thought it would be better to study the entire passage and understand its context in full, and that is where I had my revelation that the reason that the quote from the song was so awesome is because it was directly from God's word! That is when I got one of those NSIC smacks to the back of the head from God.

If you begin to read over this passage at first glance it really does sound like a very beautiful saying that can be quoted when discussing situations of love. I think often times we use 1 Corinthians 13 to describe this earthly love without looking deeper into the true meaning behind what love stands for in its entirety and what we are truly saying he was say that we love somebody or something. As Christians and disciples of Christ we are called to be a walking bill-board of Gods love for His people. 1 Corinthians 13 dives deep into the the true meaning behind love, which correlates to 1 John 4:8: Whoever does not know love does not know God, because God is love. God is the ultimate sign of love, sending his one and only Son to take on the every sin of humanity and become sin (the one thing God HATES) so that we may be saved. God, Christ Jesus, are the ultimate practice of what love is and as disciples we are called to live a life worthy of being called followers or Christ, trying to imitate him in every way.
The passage can be broken down into three parts, three main elements of that it looks like the be a follower of Christ. It covers our ability to speak God's word and give our testimony, it covers our personal walk with Christ, and it covers our call to serve God and his people. I feel like that often times things are done with good intentions but without the practical use of love. There are many good people out there who want to bring people to Christ but do not have the will power and drive to implement God's love into their actions. This passage here is a simple reminder that without love we are nothing and we gain nothing. How many times have we been yelled at on the streets and condemned to hell by a microphone "sharing God's word", or how many times have we ourselves thought we were helping out a friend and shared God's word with them but did so in a condemning way with so sign of God's love in the mix. Although we are all called to share God's word in its fullness to everybody not holding back from the truth, we are also not called to judge or condemn anybody on their actions. We are to share the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ with everybody, which dose include salvation and a life without God but it should be done so in a loving matter. If all we are is people who shove God's word down peoples throats, with harsh words, and unloving comments we mind as well be the sounding of a gong or the clashing of cymbals. God's word is just noise to people if we do not share it with love! God is LOVE! And if we are sharing God's word without love we are not sharing God at all.
It goes on to discuss having all the knowledge of God or having faith enough to move mountains but without love we have nothing. Or if we give everything to the poor but do not have love we gain nothing. I do not know if you see the trend that is happening here but with out love in our lives we are nothing, and ultimately without God in our lives we are nothing. Love is a huge factor in what it means to be a follower of Christ and how to show our love for him and his people. I am not sure if this has ever happened to you but I know when I am trying to further my walk with the Lord people remember times when I have not shown love and call me out on it, and they are rightfully doing so. We are called to be examples of Christ at all times of our lives not just on Sunday and these people without realizing it are keeping my accountable for my actions. This is when they will begin to see, this guys wants me to accept this Jesus in my life, and talks like this but in reality acts like this, and although we can never bring somebody to God, that is God's job, we are called to be his light on this earth.
Some people might read this and begin to think about actions that I do or have done. And I will be the first to admit that I am horrible at showing God's love fully to my family and close friends. I do not have the patiences that I am called to have at times and then treat them unfairly, and this is something that I need to work on. A handful of times I have been called out for living one way in the world and another at home. I am not saying I live a double life, I am saying my patiences for people differs from person to person when it shouldn't. I do not know if in your own life you face many of the same things or are able to read on in 1 Corinthians 13 and see that some of those things that are described as what love truly is, is not something that you are doing. My challenge for you is to ready through the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 13 and write them down and think carefully for each one, are you doing them and fully to their call? How can you do them better, and be a better light of Christ and example of God's never ending love. Without Love we are nothing....

I pray for you and your walk with Christ!