Nothing New Under the Sun
Are you feeling the pressure? Are you feeling like you want to do something and suddenly you find yourself in an argument? You have an idea! You’re not moving as fast as you’d like.
Then
I’m reading Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. In Corinth, Paul is surrounded by corruption, sex trafficking, paganism, and self-centeredness. Paul’s teaching the gospel. He teaches the difference in God’s way verses the way the Corinthians had been living for generations.
Then suddenly in the middle of his teaching he stops. He says, “wait a minute.” (my words).
Let’s talk about LOVE.
Without Love: I am sounding brass or a clanging symbol.
Without Love: My knowledge and faith are reduced to nothing.
Without Love: There is no profit.
Now
Today we are surrounded with corruption, sex trafficking, godlessness, and self-centeredness.
Let’s choose to live like Paul. Press on with your plan. You will encounter some ugly. You will encounter barriers. You will encounter others’ opinions. There is triumph on the other side of Love.
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul goes from talking about, “without love” (my list above) to what love does, “rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
By the end of the chapter he is talking about maturing, not alone but by having a personal encounter with God, “we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror,” he says, then moves into a face to face encounter with our Lord and Savior. He says, “All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” 1 Corinthians 13:12
The Greatest Gift
It looks to me like love is the secret ingredient you need for success. Love keeps you from seeing your own reflection to seeing what God sees. Seeing all the distractions of life to seeing your goal through a face to face encounter with God. Love is the key to relationship; relationship is the key to selflessness, influence, and success.
Be the Gleaner
I learn each morning when I pick my bible up and read it. Some days I read and read and soak it all in. Some days I read a couple of sentences. The revelation, the testimonies from the ones that came before are relevant now. We don’t have to recreate it. There is nothing new under the sun. Study. See how God loved us then. Oh, how He loves us now.
This morning I am praying you will choose love. How can you lose? Let’s try something.
Here is your Clip n Save:
“Love: rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Write this on your mirror. Put it in your calendar with a reminder every day. Write it on a sticky note for your lunch and your spouse’s lunch.
Let me know if you see change in your struggles, goals or ideas. I would love to hear from you.
Hopeful,
Susie