February 5, 2014

“The Greatest”

Blessings folk!

We are quickly entering into the man-made silly season of pagan, fertility love rites.
(There, that should have confused/offended many. LOL)

What is love?

We are told to love OneAnother.

How is this done?
How is this lived out?

Surely it is not limited to worldly, pagan fertility rites.

Let us consider the Word of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 13
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 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.
3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 butwhen the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Of faith, hope and love - love is the greatest.

Love has characteristics. We will manifest these if we love…

• patient
• kind
• does not envy
• does not boast
• is not arrogant
• does not rejoice in wrongdoing
• is not irritable
• not resentful
• does not insist on its on way
• not rude
• bears all things
• believes all things
• hopes all things
• endures all things
• never ends

This is love.

We might have the tongues of men and angels…
We might have tremendous prophetic power…
We might understand all mysteries…
We might have all knowledge…
We might have all faith…
We might give all away...even unto ourselves…

The Lord might empower us to do all these things.

But, if we do so without love, we are nothing.

The church at Ephesus was like this - Revelation 2.
They did great things, yet the Lord stated He had something against them.
They had left...not lost...left, their first love.
He told them to repent and return to the first love.

So should we.