Whatever You Do / David Jeremiah

 

Whatever You Do Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1   Consider a cobbler who is so busy making shoes for other people that his own children go barefooted. That might speak to pride, selfish ambition, or negligence by the father. At the very least, it shows a lack of love for his children. When love is absent, life is unbalanced.

Recommended Reading: 1 Corinthians 8:1-3

The apostle Paul began his chapter on love with illustrations of “ministry” replacing love in the church. He cites several commendable activities: using the gift of tongues or prophecy, having spiritual knowledge and faith, being generous to the poor, and dying for the sake of Christ (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Then he says that if any, or all, of these ministries are performed without love—that is, for carnal or self-promoting reasons—then the ministries themselves are worthless. Better not to undertake such ministries at all than to undertake them without the motivation and practice of love. Consider this paraphrase of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10:31: “Whatever you do, do it in the Spirit of love.” Clothe your words and deeds today with a cloak of true love.   Every Christian would agree that a man’s spiritual health is exactly proportional to his love for God. C. S. Lewis