SCRIPTURE: 1Corinthians (NIV) 13:2 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 have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
OBSERVATION: Prophecy, wisdom and faith in verse 2 and generosity and sacrifice in verse 3 – all on one side of the scale/balance with love being the lone quality of the other side. What is it about love that God so values? Several years ago I asked the Lord and He dropped these words in my heart: Having prophecy, wisdom, faith, generosity, and sacrifice makes people love you. Having God’s love makes you love others.
Several months back I was reading about the greatest commandment. (Matthew 22:34-40) I asked the Lord why it was the greatest. He told me it was the one that the Heavenly Father loves most. He loves us, He is love! But the great satisfaction of love is being loved back. God loves to be loved!
APPLICATION: In Matthew 22, Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment? Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
Why that one? Because that is the one God loves best!!! That is the way HE wants to be loved. That is the way HE deserves to be loved!
The important thing is not how much others love me, but how much I love others! I do not read the Bible to find out how others are to treat me…But to find out how I am to treat others.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, surely, no one has ever loved you the way you have loved us. I am certain that I have never loved you the way you have loved me. Help me grow in loving you. Help me faithfully express my love to you and to those around me, not just in the big ways, but especially in the little ways, and when no one is watching or listening but You. Amen
Pastor Leon
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