Tag: love devotional

More Than Noise

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“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

“Roses are red, Violets are blue…” is the beginning of many poems regarding love. Going back through history with many versions attached, these words declare verbally (and sometimes funny), how one feels about another.

But I will tell you, while words are nice and sweet and can edify (Proverbs 16:24; 25:11; Ephesians 4:29), there is no substitute for love produced through action.

Substance. Making a difference. The Christian life is so much more than just talking and telling. It is more than sounding off. It is love with motion behind it outflowing from one’s being into the lives of others.

With God, love is the number one principle because He is love (1 John 4:16). As those who have been adopted by His grace, love should be our natural response to others as well. It’s the emblem of our Heavenly Father, not carried about on our chests or in words only, but seared upon our hearts that propel us forward.

Love is our regulator.  It governs how we behave and treat one another. It serves as a thermometer to measure that we are fervent in the things that God is fervent for.

Love is about serving like Christ did (and we all know what His love looked like, John 3:16). It is about using what God gifted you with to help one another under that same umbrella of love He operated in.

Since that’s exactly how God does everything, under love, we too should be imitators of our Father.  Outside of it, we are “nothing.”  It doesn’t matter how important one thinks their gift or contribution is, if love is not the motivator, then the gift is empty.  That box has nothing to offer the world except a bunch of extra noise; or, as Paul puts it, “sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”  

I don’t know about you, but I want to be more than noise, more than fluff.  I want to have substance working at the core of my gift.  I want lives to be changed and hearts to be lifted through what God has placed in me.  This should be the attitude of every Christian.  Not to get ahead, but to make a difference.  Being a vessel so filled up with love and anointing, mixed with His special stuff He put on the inside of us so that we could help shift the atmosphere for some and help steer them on a course closer to God.

This can only happen if love is operating at the helm.

Jesus once encouraged His disciples by telling them, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith,” (Mark 11:23).  Yet, Paul says you can “remove mountains” all you want, but if love is not what’s lifting your faith to do that than forget about it. Although the action may be carried out, the core of it doesn’t mean anything.

Paul was not by any chance contradicting what Jesus said because everything Jesus did from birth to death was done through love, and His disciples are always expected to follow in His footsteps.

Neither is Paul denouncing doing things for others such as one who would “bestow all . . . goods to feed the poor” or the sacrificing of oneself (he gave the example of being “burned”); but what he is saying is that without love, it will not last; it will not make the difference that He is looking for and it will not please God because we are told, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men,” (Colossians 3:23) and that can only be done through love.

Later, Paul wrote another letter to the Corinthian church that says, “Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him,” (2 Corinthians 5:9).  Everything must be “accepted of him.”  But, without love (charity) all our works and gifts put together add up to a big, fat zero.  There is no gain or “profit” from it.

The world we live in today needs more than talk, more than noise. They need to see, feel, and experience the substance of love in action through those who have been redeemed by love in action.

Today, look for ways to be more than noise. Look for ways to be that force of love in action for another.

Blessings~

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“The Building Blocks of Love”

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One of the simplest, yet ingenious toys for children I have ever seen anyone come up with is building blocks.  These non-electronic toys really grab hold of a child’s imagination and inspires them to build whatever their little heart desires.

It’s not so hard to let your imagination roam even as an adult.  That’s what sets our plans in motion and gives us goals to work toward a better tomorrow.  While our imaginations can be good they can also be hurtful to the point of tearing down others.  In the heat of the moment or in stressful situations things you would have never fathomed saying seems to have no trouble flying out of the mouth.  Also, tense actions of defense can cause some to put others at arm’s length slowly to the point of disassociating themselves from people and relationships.

While love can be manifested in many ways, so too can hurt.  But, our master’s isn’t to be in what tears down and causes another’s demise or destruction; rather, in what builds up.

The Bible tells us, “Love edifies,” (1 Corinthians 8:1).  Love looks out for the best interest of another.  As a matter of fact, the best explanations I have ever seen for how human love is to operate in relation to one another, blocks upon which we can build strong relationships even in the midst of adversity and misunderstanding, is found right in the Bible.  The entire chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians summarizes what real love is to look like in our lives.  It says:

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

Love is the number one principle with God and it should be our number one principle in dealing with each other.

Love is our regulator.  It governs our attitudes and actions in our daily relationships.

Without love, we are not working like Christ and we are not operating like God.  Without love, we are just noise with no substance of what He is working through us.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be more than noise, more than fluff.  I want to have something meaningful working at the core of my gift.  I want lives to be changed and hearts to be lifted through what God has placed in me.  This should be the attitude of every Christian.  Not to get ahead, but to make a difference.  Being a vessel so filled up with love and anointing, mixed with His special stuff He put on the inside of each of us, that we could help shift the atmosphere for some and help steer them on a course closer to God.

This can only happen if what you are trying to do in your life has love as its construction material.

What is your heart desiring to build today?

As building blocks in the hands of a child, love in our actions constructs something beautiful.  One upon another, when we connect them together in our daily living, a great form begins to take shape, and lives are transformed when we build up one another in love.

Photo: Pixabay/MasterTux

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