I Am Nothing without Love

"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." 1 Cor 13:2

I used to think that if I had sufficient faith and understood God's will for my life, I had reached the place where God wanted me. However, as I pour over the details of this wonderful chapter in Paul's letter to the Corinthian church, I find that God wants us to stretch ourselves continuously in all aspects of our spirit through his word. And, I have come to realize that he desires, above all else, that we learn how to love him and those around us with the same passion and zeal as Jesus did while he was among us.

Jesus said to "go into all the world and make disciples..." The more I read the Love Chapter the more I understand that "all the world" is a very difficult place to go. It is a place that takes us out of our comfort zone and sometimes even into danger, to love others and bring them to Jesus. I must confess, I still do not have that much love in me to risk my comfort like that.

We have one shot at life here on earth, and our Father wants us to tell others about him and how much he loved them, no matter their color, socioeconomic background, or geographic location. He wants us to minister to the worst our society has to offer and in the lowliest places on earth. He wants us to love the child molester as much as the child. He wants us to reach out to the murderer and the rapist as well as the old woman next door. Jesus communed with the worst of the worst in his day as a model of how we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. It is difficult but we must understand that it is God's will and have no choice but to be obedient.

What if, we loved the "lepers" of our day? What would the world look like if we embraced the terrorist and told him that Jesus Christ died for his sins too? What if, we (I) were truly obedient to God rather than choosing ourselves who to love today? What if, I loved like Jesus did?

My prayer: Father, I am a long way from loving you and my neighbor like you command. That is sin Father and I ask your forgiveness. Daddy wash me clean, so clean that the log in my eye does not blind me toward others. Show me how to love the "worst" as much as I do the "best." Do let me give up loving those who are hard to love because the going gets difficult. You haven't given up on me even when I fail, allow me to do the same with my fellow man. Thank you Lord and to you I give all the glory, in Jesus name I pray, Amen!