If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 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. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 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. 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. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. // I Corinthians 13
Love is a word so misused in today's culture. We seem to have a lot of it, yet I really think that we don't have enough of it. Enough of the right kind of love, anyway. We have plenty of the wrong, mixed up kind!
The right kind of love is the kind that the Bible instructs us about- the kind of sacrificial love that Jesus displayed. Of course, we can't ever come close to having that kind of love for someone else, but God has given us some guidelines to follow regarding the kind of love we can have with His help. The Bible talks a lot about love in many places, but one of the verses that struck me recently was John 13:35, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” How convicting!
I'm convinced that what the world needs is more genuine love. More love for others, and more love for Jesus. If we have love for Him, we should have love for others, so perhaps starting with loving Him more is the way we need to go.
This post is a fantastic look at what loving Jesus more should look like.
None of us can love perfectly, but all of us can love more. That's most important thing. We don't have to- and can never- love perfectly, but we can- and should be- striving to love more as we learn and grow in Christ. That's a huge goal to have, but it's an important one! (Besides, I love having big goals and seeing what comes of them- especially when they're something that can only be done with Jesus' help, such as having more love for Him!) I have a long way to go with this goal, but I know it's vital for the future. And of course, with God, nothing is impossible. ♥
What do you think about this idea of having more love- more love for God, more love for others, more love for the world? Do you have any ideas on how we can love more like Jesus? Comment and join the conversation!
