1IF I [can] speak in the tongues of men and [even] of angels, but have not love (that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such as is inspired by God's love for and in us), I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2And if I have prophetic powers and understand all the secret truths and mysteries and possess all knowledge, and if I have faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love (God's love in me) I am nothing (a useless nobody).
3Even if I dole out all that I have to the poor in providing food, and if I surrender my body to be burned or in order that I may glory, but have not love (God's love in me), I gain nothing.
(And again,
1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. )
6It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. 7Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
8Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].
(And again,
8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
11When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
12We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation:
And the best of the three is love.)
13And so faith, hope, love abide [faith--conviction and belief respecting man's relation to God and divine things; hope--joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love--true affection for God and man, growing out of God's love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Admittedly, I have been through and done this church thing for so long. I've been in it my whole life. I've been in ministry. I've seen church through the motions. Ask me about the camp from 2003 or that one night in 2005 and I'd have been there. I've been to church. I'm an expert at church. At some point, you have to start evaluating why you keep going. Is it for the reputation as a christian? The duties and responsibility held? Even the friends that you've made through these years? No. It's all about Jesus and what he's done.
I think one thing that someone said to me recently really struck a chord with me while reading this. What are the results of after doing church for so long? What are the fruits of being close to God? The answer: It's that you love people more. That growing out of love for and in us, we keep persevering.
Right now, I don't think I'm exactly living this out. I feel exhausted even thinking about going through another emotional rollercoaster. I don't think I have anything to offer anymore. I think need a fresh start.
Or maybe I'm just overly emotional today.
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