“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
What’s the greatest thing you have ever accomplished?
The Beatles said all you need is love. They were kind of right. In 1 Cor 13:1-3 we see that without love, it doesn’t matter what amazing things you do. They don’t mean much without love.
Sometimes Christians dream about having great spiritual gifts. They want to go around healing people or prophesying the future. They want to debate the most outspoken atheist and defeat them.
What if while dreaming of or pursuing these “powerful” spiritual gifts, we are missing out on a greater thing?
What if we could be doing great things by showing love to our neighbor, spouse, child, etc. and changing their life?
In fact, love is so great, that God describes Himself as love. He created us out of love and Jesus died for us because of love.
I hope you do great things in life, but even more I hope you show love and know love, especially the love of Jesus. After all, it’s God’s love that enables us to love others.
Thoughts to Consider:
What does it mean to show love as you try to do great things?
What great acts of love might you be overlooking which you can do in your life right now?
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for loving me and giving Your life for me. Help me to love others as You love me. Help me to sacrifice and go the extra mile for others.
“Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.‘” – John 14:23
What do you think of when you think of home?
I love to travel, but there’s just something about being home that you can’t get anywhere else.
I remember right after college I took a trip around the country with a friend of mine. We rented an SUV which served not only as transportation but often as our lodging and drove to Texas and Arizona, then to Colorado, then California. We had planned for the trip to last 3 weeks, but about 2 weeks into the trip, we both looked at each other and said,
“This is great, but I think I’m ready to go home.”
In John 14:23, Jesus tells us that when we love Him, the Father will love us, and then He says something interesting, that He and the Father will come and make their home with us.
Home Is Where The Heart Is In this, we get a sense of the presence of God. He’s not some distant God out there spinning the universe, He is here with you! His love is here with you in a way that can only be described as home. He doesn’t come and go and He isn’t a temporary visitor. He has moved His stuff in and hung up His pictures and He loves being there.
Oftentimes, at funerals, you hear people say that their loved one has gone home to be with Jesus. This is true, but this verse tells us that being home with Jesus doesn’t have to wait until we die. Through faith in Jesus, He makes His home with us today.
So, you can know the Jesus is with you right now. He’s also with you when you lose a loved one and your heart is breaking. He is with you, celebrating when you get the raise you’ve been working towards and He’s with you strengthening you when you get passed up for the promotion again. You can talk with Him. You can seek His peace. You can simply stop, be in His presence, and know that He is God. He is with you.
Dear Jesus,
You have made Your home with me. Remind me each and every day that You are with me and will never abandon me.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:34-35
When people look back at your life, what do you want to be known for?
Most of us, at least at some point, want to be known for something. For some, you may want to be known as a great musician or artist. For others, it may be as a great teacher.
When I watch the Olympics (when they aren’t canceled due to a pandemic), I see a bunch of people who want to be known not only as great athletes but as the best in their sport. They will train hours and hours a day, 7 days a week to be the best.
These dreams are all well and good, but there is something else that Jesus wants us to be known for, our love.
God is Love.
Jesus came to demonstrate His love for us by laying down His life for us. As those who have taken on the name of Jesus in our baptism, we too, are marked by and formed by love.
Seeking Fame At Any Cost Today, social media has spawned a new age of people trying to become famous. It used to be that you had to work hard and be good at something to become famous, but now people try to become famous before they do anything of note and many are willing to do all kinds of unseemly things to get that fame.
I can’t help but remember Mother Teresa. She dedicated her life to loving the least in Kolkata. She didn’t seek fame, but it came to her and that fame came for a great reason…because she loved people.
I’m not telling you to be world-famous.
In fact, I think seeking fame is almost always a bad idea.
Most of us won’t be known to the world and that’s just fine. We are, however, known to those around us. It is in this sphere that we can have the greatest impact. The love we give to those around us builds them up. It gives hope and encouragement. It protects and cares for them. It can change someone’s life…It can save someone’s life.
The God who is love lives within us.
He has made His home with us. And He calls us to love one another as He loves. It is this love that Jesus wants us to be known for. As we show Jesus’ love to others, we show others Jesus. Nothing and no one else has a bigger impact on people’s lives than Jesus.
Heavenly Father,
The appeal of fame is alluring. Keep me from seeking fame. Rather, help me to seek ways to show Your love to others. I pray that at the end of my life, I would be known for the love I had for You and the people You put around me.
“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” – Philippians 2:4
Thoughtfulness is a combination of thinking of others and making their needs and interests important to you. Both of these things can be difficult.
First, there is thinking about others.
I confess that I struggle with this at times. I can get really focused on my current situation.
Out of sight – Out of mind.
I’ve had to explain more than once why I haven’t called/written someone in a while. It’s not that I don’t care, I’m just focused on what I’m doing at the time.
What I have found to be helpful, though, is prayer. Not just praying that I would be mindful of others (which is great), but simply praying for others. I’ll often have a list either in my head or even written out and I go through and pray for everyone on the list. In addition to prayers for their general welfare, if there is something a person is going through, I’ll pray specifically for that person.
Obviously, you can’t do that without thinking about those people. After that time of prayer, I may contact people to see how things are going, and often times I am reminded of them throughout the day.
The second part is making the needs and interests of others important to you.
For this, we need to take our eyes off ourselves and get to know others.
What are they going through?
What interests do they have?
How are they encouraged?
etc.
Oftentimes, putting yourself in the other person’s shoes can help, but we also need to keep in mind that the other person may not see things or react to things the same way you do. For example, we’ve all gotten a gift from someone that didn’t really fit who we are.
However, as we get to know people better by considering them more, talking with them, and going through life with them, we learn more about how they see things and we can better address their needs and interests in more meaningful ways.
God is Thoughtful…about you.
One of the most amazing things to me about God is that He thinks about us. He thinks about you. Seriously…GOD…thinks about us. As the Psalmist said:
“What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” – Psalm 8:4-5
He has formed us in our mother’s womb. Jesus intercedes for us before the Father. He knows our innermost being. The God of the universe who created galaxies and all that we see thinks of you and cares for you. Your needs are important to Him.
We see this most clearly at Good Friday and Easter as we are reminded how important our needs are to Jesus. He was willing to die for them. That is thoughtfulness in the extreme! That is love. That is Jesus.
Dear Jesus,
I am so amazed and grateful that You, the God of the universe think about me and care about me. You have shown Your great love by knowing and taking care of my greatest need, salvation. So, I know that You know and will care for all my other needs as well.
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” – Ephesians 3:17-19
Can we understand or judge God’s love when we don’t believe in Him?
I don’t remember who I heard it from first, but I remember when I was growing up hearing,
“Don’t judge someone’s actions until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.”
It’s a pretty common saying. It conveys the idea that we don’t really understand what someone is going through when they decide to do something and, but when we take the time to try to understand, we may find that what they did wasn’t so bad…it may even seem reasonable or good.
I’m not trying to make an argument for relativistic morality. There is such a thing as objective truth and objectively moral or immoral actions. What I want to get at is a certain irony I’ve found. That is that many people who say we need to walk a mile in someone’s shoes before we judge feel perfectly fine judging God’s actions without even believing in Him, let alone trying to walk a mile in His shoes (if that were possible).
The truth is, we can’t begin to understand God’s love for us until we are rooted and established in His love.
Why not?
Sin – We cannot begin to understand God’s love until we can see sin for what it truly is. I can’t understand what it means to forgive someone if I don’t understand how they were wronged. At the same time, we can’t begin to understand God’s wrath until we can see sin for what it is. Without being rooted in Christ, we don’t understand sin…we usually try to excuse it or call it good.
Sinfulness – No, I didn’t forget what I just wrote for number one. We cannot understand God’s love for us because we are so warped by sin. Without believing in Jesus, we are literally enemies of God. People don’t see the good in their enemies.
Death – Without being rooted in Jesus we are spiritually dead. We only have glimpses of what love is and they are glimpses through dead eyes.
Lack of Experience – Hearing about God’s love is one thing, experiencing it takes it to a whole new level.
So, I too pray that you would begin to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge. To do that, you first need to be rooted and established in Christ through faith. So, first I pray that you would be rooted and established in Jesus through faith.
The same is true of your neighbor who doesn’t know Jesus. Pray for them. Love them. Tell them about Jesus so that they, too, can begin to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.
Dear Jesus,
Abide in me that I may abide in You. Give me faith to believe and then help me to understand Your great love. Be also with those who do not know You as their savior. I especially pray for…
(name some people you know who do not believe in Jesus)
Give them faith to believe so that they would know Your love.
“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” – Romans 12:10
What are the ways you show love to others?
We all like to receive a pat on the back from time to time. In fact, it’s such a great feeling that sometimes we’ll even go out of our way to try to get one, boasting about this or that.
There are some people, though, who seem to always be on the lookout for ways to honor others. They find things to celebrate about the people around them. They may do it privately, with just that other person, commending them for something, or they may do it publicly with a party or announcement.
If Just Feels Good If you’ve ever been blessed to know someone like this, you know how amazing it is to have the person in your life. They are the kind of person where it just always feels good to be around them. You may not even realize why.
This Could Be You.
This could be all of us.
What if we all sought to encourage and honor each other above ourselves? Could you imagine how good it would feel to be in a family where you were honored and encouraged? Could you imagine how good it would feel to be a part of a church like that?
Confidence, Humility, and Compassion Being a person who encourages and honors those around them requires humility, compassion, and confidence.
Confidence – Know you are loved and that God knows your accomplishments and the good things you’ve done.
Humility – Having confidence, you do not need others to honor you to validate those accomplishments. So, you can humble yourself and lift others up.
Compassion – Finally, you must know and care for those around you to see opportunities to honor them.
Go ahead, give it a try.
Be that person that encourages and honors others. Be the person everyone loves being around because they always feel loved and valued around you.
You can start today. It can change someone’s day and even their life. It might even change yours.
Dear Jesus,
You humbled Yourself for us. You love us as no one else can. Help me to love and honor those around me. Give me the confidence of one who knows You love them. Give me the humility to be able to lift others up. Give me the compassion to seek to know and care for the people around me that I might regularly and consistently honor and encourage them.
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” – Romans 12:9
Have you ever met a person who just seemed really fake?
Love must be sincere.
It’s an interesting statement. Notice it doesn’t say, “You should try to be sincere in your love.” It says love must be sincere. That leads to the question,
Can love be insincere?
If you do something for someone, but don’t really mean it, is that truly love. When it comes down to it, God wants our hearts in the right place, not just for our outward actions to look good.
Jesus gets to the point a couple of times in the Sermon on the Mount.
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.” – Matthew 5:21-22
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” – Matthew 5:27-28
We should all do loving acts as well as obey all of God’s commands, but not just for show. We should do it because it’s what we want to do, it’s who we are.
What if I don’t really feel it?
Join the club. We are all sinners with selfish, sinful natures. The truth is we rarely, if ever, love with complete sincerity. Therefore, we have no reason to boast except in Christ alone. Jesus loved and loves perfectly and sincerely. He is love. Any love that we show is from Him.
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” – 1 John 4:7-11
Pray.
If you don’t feel like you are being sincere, go to the source of all love and ask to have a loving heart.
What then? Here’s what I think, personally. After you pray, do the loving thing. You may still not “feel” like doing it, but we shouldn’t let our lack of feeling prevent us from doing the right thing. Also, you are sincere in wanting to the loving thing.
For example…
Let’s say Tony (whoever that is) has been gossiping and saying nasty things about me when I wasn’t around, but I find out. So, I go to Tony and confront him about what he did. Tony, realizes what he did was wrong and apologizes.
The loving thing to do would be to forgive Tony, however, I might feel hurt and not want to forgive. So, I pray and ask God to give me a loving heart and be able to forgive Tony. I may still feel hurt and struggle to forgive, but I sincerely want to do the loving thing and I know that means forgiving Tony. So, I forgive him. Then I continue to pray for God to work in my heart and I try to live out the forgiveness I have given.
So, let’s love sincerely. When we don’t feel like it, let’s pray. Then, let’s love sincerely.
Dear Jesus,
You love me sincerely as You demonstrated on the cross. Help me to love others sincerely as well. When I don’t feel like it, draw me to You in prayer and change my heart.
“The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.‘ – Proverbs 15:4
Have you ever said something and instantly wished you could grab the words in the air and throw them away?
Words matter. They can heal and they can destroy. It’s one of the reasons the Bible in the book of James is so adamant about the importance of controlling the tongue.
“the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” – James 3:5-6 (It’s worth reading the whole section, James 3:1-12)
God knows the power of words. His Word has more power than ours, but our words still have plenty of power. So, it’s worth taking some time before we speak, to consider what we are about to say.
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,” – James 1:19
“When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.” – Proverbs 10:19
Words Can Heal Words are not only destructive, they can be healing as well. They can build up and even give life. What if our mouths were more eager to…
Forgive rather than accuse
Defend rather than gossip
Build up rather than tear down
Speak words of peace rather than stir up violence
Say something loving rather than words that are hateful
Consider what a kind word can do for a person who is hurting or how a word of forgiveness can mend a broken relationship.
In the Gospel, you even have the words that literally bring life to the dead!
Let’s begin to tame our tongues.
It may start with starting the habit of waiting a few seconds before speaking. Then, perhaps it’s learning to listen for the sake of understanding rather than just waiting your turn to speak. Soon, you may start praying for wisdom, understanding. and compassion while you listen and wait to speak. Before you know it, you may start speaking with more gentleness, love, kindness, humility, and grace.
I think you’ll find that when your words heal and encourage, people will want to talk with you and you will walk away from more and more conversations with joy in your heart…and in theirs.
“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” – Colossians 4:6
Heavenly Father,
I confess that my words have, at times, been hurtful and destructive. Please forgive me. Tame my tongue. Give me wisdom and patience, kindness and compassion. May my words build up and heal. When they tear down, send someone to speak Your Word to me, that I might repent and be forgiven.
“Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.” – Ephesians 6:23-24
Have you ever wished someone well as you left them?
I’ve noticed more and more that when someone on social media isn’t feeling well or has something bad happen to them, many people respond with something like,
“Hopeful thoughts”
“You’re in my thoughts.”
“Well wishes.”
As our society becomes more and more secular, people are finding new ways to say “I’m praying for you,” because…well…they aren’t. While I appreciate that they are expressing that they care and recognize they are being honest, it still saddens me.
A Wish vs A Blessing or Prayer What is the difference between a wish and a prayer or a wish and a blessing? On the surface, they can sound very similar. I can wish someone well or wish something would get better and I can pray for someone to be well or pray for a situation to get better.
However, there is a difference…and it’s huge.
A wish or thought is only an expression of compassion. A blessing or prayer is an appeal to the God of the universe. I like expressions of compassion, but when I’m sick or in a bind, I want real help, the kind of help the One who created all things and holds them all together can give.
The Benediction Ephesians 6:23-24 are the final verses of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. He concludes as we do our worship services, with a benediction. He blesses them with the peace, love, faith, and grace of God. He blesses them with everything they need to strengthen them to endure until the Day of our Lord.
This blessing is much more than a wish because God stands behind it.
Peace be to you, brother or sister, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with you and all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.
“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Thessalonians 1:3
What effects have you seen produced in your life through faith, love, or hope?
Faith, love, and hope are gifts of the Holy Spirit. Despite our use of these words as emotion-words, they are not just good feelings. They are active words. God actively works them in us and they then produce active results in our lives.
Faith:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:8-10
We don’t choose God. God creates faith in us as we hear the promises from His Word. That faith trusts those promises and transforms us. It brings us to life in Christ, trusts in God for all things, and animates that life with works of faith prepared beforehand by God.
Love:
“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.” – 1 John 4:16
God is love. As we abide in God through faith in Christ Jesus, we abide in love. We begin to see the world through the loving eyes of God and are motivated to act in that love because of the great love God has for us and others.
Hope:
“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” – Romans 8:24-25
Sometimes we talk about hope as a kind of wish. I hope XYZ happens, but it might not. The hope we have in Jesus is different. It isn’t a wish. It’s a sure thing. I hope Jesus will raise me on the last day and He definitely will.
When life gets rough and when things seem like they are falling apart, we continue to trust that God is at work and that God will see us through in this life and the next. Our hope is in the unchanging and unfailing promise of God. We may not see it now, but that’s when the hope given to us in Christ carries us through.
Heavenly Father,
Give us faith to believe in your promise of salvation and abundant life. Give us love to love the world as you have loved us in Christ. Give us hope regardless of the circumstances around us. In Jesus name, we pray,