06/16/2014
1 Corinthians 13
New International Version (NIV)
13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. ** I am reminded of these verses of scripture quite often, especially today. My spirit has been stirring for some time now and this is why: When we claim to be of one accord, but yet we conspire behind each other's backs then where is the love? When we strive harder to knock someone down than we do to build them up, where is the Love? When we mimic the world and everything in it, and yet present ourselves as "Holy", what are we REALLY portraying? Jesus commissioned us to love one another...do we really do that? When we allow even the most miniscule of thoughts against our brother or sister to enter into our heads, where is the love? Love does not envy-if a brother or sister has an anointing on them that you wish you had, don't envy them-you don't know the cost of THEIR oil! Pray instead for your own! BUT, I will tell you this...if you have these envies or thoughts, then YOU are the one who is blocking the blessings!!!