May 12. 1 Corinthians 13. Carol Washington
All We Need is Love
Today's reading made me realize even more that Satan has many wares and will continue to use them to divide the church. Satan has the Christians of the church in Corinth believing that if you have a spiritual gift you are more spiritual than others. I am certain this added to the division that already existed in that church and I would imagine it even stirred up some jealousy and some feelings of inferiority. Why am I certain? Because Satan hasn’t changed nor has human nature. The same issues going on in the church in Corinth have and can continue to exist among us today.
So how do we keep Satan from being victorious? To keep Satan from being victorious we have to add Love to whatever it is we are doing to serve God and His people.
This love that Paul speaks of is Agape love. The kind of love that puts other’s needs ahead of our own.
I have read this chapter many times before but I feel like my heart understands it differently this time. Due to all the things going on right now, I am keenly aware of how much more I need to extend love in this way: when I feel wronged or hurt, when the Holy Spirit reveals a need, and when I consider the lost. I can even agape-love in my prayers by allowing it to flow from my heart and not just from my mind; which can be more from a place of memory and can be mechanical rather than being fueled with love and beautiful to God’s ear.
I must remember that I am to live with faith, take every breath with hope and love sacrificially with the sole purpose to glorify God.
Please join me in considering ways to love. Some that I thought of:
Practicing grace in these tumultuous times.
Give lovingly whether it be in prayer, time, energy, or money. There are so many needs around us.
Have compassion on those that don’t know Jesus and share with them. Agape sharing - I love the sound of that!
The more excellent way Paul speaks of at the end of chapter 12 is so beautifully explained in chapter 13. It is LOVE. It does not gain us any recognition or favor, it’s not to bring us any personal glory and it certainly doesn’t make us any more special than our brothers and sisters around us. It is a personal sacrifice for the benefit of someone else and infuses the receiver of it with faith, hope, and love.