"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a 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 have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."
Let’s break this down. If we are fluent in speech without impediment, but are without love, the words we say are nothing but noise. Jumbled, meaningless noise.
If the words we speak come true, and are credible; if we are knowledgeable in all things, and are very wise; if we have incredible faith, and do not doubt any of God’s promises; if we are all these things, but are without love, we are nothing. Absolutely nothing. Our faith means nothing without love. Our knowledge means nothing without love. Our words mean nothing without love. We ourselves are meaningless without love.
If we give everything we own away, and have nothing left; if we even sacrifice our own lives for a worthy cause, and die for what we believe, but are without love, we gain nothing. We have no reward.
It all boils down to one word: motive. Why? Why do we say what we say? Why are we who we are? Why do we do what we do? Do we just go out and share the gospel because that’s what we are told to do? Do we seek wisdom and knowledge to show others how smart we are and try to prove our worth to others? Do we give donations to charities and organizations to make ourselves look good before others, or because it’s just the right thing to do? Why? What is our true motive? If it is not out of love, then it is all meaningless, and worthless. Let’s not fool ourselves. God knows our hearts. He knows our motives. Proverbs 16:2 says:
“All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord”.
Proverbs 21:2, “All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart”.
All our ways may seem right and innocent to us, but the Lord knows our hearts and our motives. It’s all meaningless and worthless to him if it is without love. And this is not just any love. This is real, self-less, self-sacrificial love. The kind of love that can only come from Jesus living in our hearts.
So I am faced with a choice. We are faced with a choice. Will I let Jesus work in my heart and life and let his love flow through me that I would become something, or will I reject him and become nothing. What will I choose? What will you choose? Choose wisely. Choose Jesus. Choose love. It’s that important.
That was beautiful, and perfectly put. Thank you. :)
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