By Audrey Bauman

 1 Corinthians 13:1 - 3 & 13 NLT

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. ³ If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. ...

¹³ Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”

I can’t think of anyone who would say love is not very important; however, in our culture I’m not sure people would consider it as the most important thing.  It would definitely be up there if you could rank important things.  But look at the comparisons this scripture gives us to emphasize how important it is.   

Just think about how famous you would be if you could literally speak every language known on earth. You’d certainly be paid big bucks for your translation ability, and likely be consulted by the UN during any global negotiations.  What if you were the smartest person on the earth – so smart that you actually knew what God was doing? What if you could foretell the future (prophecy) accurately? I mean, if you knew God’s secret plans, you’d know the future for sure. What if your faith in what you were doing was so great, it actually could make huge events happen – like moving mountains? If you could do any of those things, you would be one of the most sought-after persons in the world.  We admire intelligence and the ability to get things done in our culture.  

But to love extremely well?   You might be famous and admired, but you wouldn’t have much influence on global affairs. I think perhaps Mother Theresa would be an example of someone who loved extremely well.  She was definitely admired and news' reports about her work among impoverished people have been made, but I don’t think many people would want to follow in her footsteps or encourage others to do so.   Sacrificial love is admired, but in our culture, we really don’t want to go there.  BUT, that’s where God asks us to go.

God tells us that we could be the most linguistically fluent person ever, the smartest person ever, or the most powerful person ever, but that would mean nothing if we weren’t a loving person. Right now, we live on earth as humans, and we have limited intelligence and power.  But there is a God who is all-knowing and all-powerful, and someday in eternity, we will see things from His perspective.  When we do, we’ll understand just how important love is.  

Here is another group of verses that emphasize how much loving each other is crucial.

Colossians 3: 12 - 15  NLT

"Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts."

Yesterday we concentrated on how much God loves us. Today, God is asking us to be like him - full of love, tenderhearted, merciful, kind, humble, gentle, and patient. God doesn't care if we are important in our world. He's not impressed with our accomplishments. LOVE  is what he considers most important.

It's a big challenge. Is there someone in your life that you have been avoiding because you are disagreeing about something? Is there someone you just haven't had time for, yet you know they would love spending time with you? You could make their day better?

When was the last time you told your husband/wife that you loved them/ When was the last time you told your children you loved them? It's so easy to just keep on with our busy days. It's not that we don't love our family, our friends - we just tend not to say it. You might give some candies, a love card to your spouse, your kids/grandkids on Friday, but I challenge you to find a way to love them that they're aware of some other day of the month.

Our song for today is Your Love Never Fails by Chris Quilala and Jesus Culture.