What do you have?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
(1 Corinthians 13:1 (NIV))

I am at a loss with this passage!

I simply do not understand how someone who professes a faith in Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior could live without showing the love that Jesus has called us to show. I simply do not understand how someone could be so in touch with God’s Word where they can recite scripture and not understand the very heart of what they are saying!

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. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
(1 Corinthians 13:2-3 (NIV))

Everything that has been recorded since Genesis shows the overwhelming love that God has for His creation. If you truly stop to reflect on why everything was created to begin with, you realize the the Lord wanted to be in a loving relationship. You realize that, even though He knew what would happen, He gave us free will so that we could choose for ourselves whether we rebel or whether we love and follow.

Think about that!

We have each been given a choice of whether we would rebel, whether we would blindly follow a set of rules, or whether we would follow out of love. Basically, these words to the church in Corinth are targeted to those who simply follow the rules. They look at themselves in much the same way that the Pharisee saw himself in the following parable.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
(Luke 18:9-12 (NIV))

The Pharisee did not feel love. He did not feel compassion. All that he felt was a attitude of “I’m right and you are wrong!”

Instead of love, he possessed arrogance.

What do you have?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
Support Daily Living Ministries
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

Are you guilty of simply clanging?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
(1 Corinthians 13:1 (NIV))

What do people hear when you speak?

After I wrote down that first sentence, I have been struggling with the knowledge that nothing more really needs to be said versus the desire to explain myself. With this simple question, I honestly don’t believe that anything else needs to be said. All that I ask is that each of us take a serious look at our lives in relation to this passage and my question. Don’t simply rush through reading it and go on to your next thought for the day. Dwell on it. Ask God to show you how you come across to others. Ask God to put someone in your life just like you so that you can learn whether you show love or whether you clang.

With that said, I do have one more question.

Are you guilty of simply clanging?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

Are you just making noise?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
(1 Corinthians 13:1 (NIV))

Have you ever known someone who had plenty of knowledge about God’s Word, was able to quote passages but failed to put things into play in his or her life?

Think about that in relationship to the following passage.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV))

We can have faith in Jesus!

We can place our hope in Jesus!

But what happens if we do not love others as Jesus loves others?

Jesus loves to the point where He was willing to lay down His life so that we could have life and grace. Jesus gave His life for any and all who would simply accept the gift of grace that He came to offer. It is open to anyone, even the persons whom you think are unlovable. Even the ones whom you may think are disgusting because of their current sinful state.

Are you willing to share the Gospel with those whom you currently find disgusting?

What if the person or persons who shared Jesus with you had decided not to share Jesus with you because they thought your sins were disgusting? Thankfully, someone loved you to see beyond your sin. They loved you enough to see you the way that Jesus sees you.

Are you capable of loving in this manner or are you just making noise?

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery