Too Much or Not Enough?
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
"Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
(1 CORINTHIANS 13:6-7)
When I have a problem with a plant, I take a cutting to a nursery for advice. Usually, I find out that my problem is either too much or not enough water, fertilizer, shade, sun or whatever else the plant may need. Getting the plant back into balance solves the problem.
Ever notice how love can be out of balance in this world? That's because sin taints even the beautiful things like love. If we have too little of it, we become negligent and uncaring. Too much love may yield jealousy, possessiveness and a controlling spirit. But unlike plants, love is not easy to re-balance. We need a whole new kind of love.
In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul writes about a different kind of love that can never be given in too little or too much volume. It is heavenly love, "agape" in Greek. Simply put, it means to love others the way Christ loves us. Such a thing is possible when we rely on the Holy Spirit to direct our feelings and actions. Then we can love others as He does, with a love that is never out of balance.
INSIGHT
GOD IS LOVE; THEREFORE, THERE CAN NEVER BE ANYTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN LOVING LIKE HIM. STUDY HIS LOVE AND PUT IT INTO PRACTICE TODAY.
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
2 Samuel 20-21
Psalm 146
1 Timothy 1-2
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 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 have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
UNBROKEN
A lesser man would have broken. He was adrift for 47 days in the Pacific and spent the duration of World War in a Japanese concentration camp. He was determined to live, but had yet to find true life.
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