LOVE: THE MOST EXCELLENT GIFT FROM GOD

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.  1 Cor. 13:1-3 

We live in a world today that is plague by so many problems. Every day we read of drugs, falling moral values, unholy marital unions, violence, wars, terrorism, suicide bombings and threat of nuclear/chemical warfare. At a local level, our country is faced with failing/lack of infrastructure, corruption, poverty, ritual killings, kidnapping, tribalism, nepotism and other vices.

We are where we are today because we pursue a humanistic, self-centred, fear-based worldview that depicts mankind as being the ultimate, and having to defend himself from every attack upon his personhood. We are concerned with our emotional and financial insecurities, which drive a dominating and competitive type of society where the masses are constantly worried about not getting enough love, power, or money while a few hoard their “winnings” which propagates the scarcity consciousness in others.  Our intent is not to support one another but to be self-serving and compete against one another. Our society insists you play by its rules or it will not support you.

A Love based society on the other hand is not based upon the need to survive and compete. It is based upon the desire to co-create and be helpful and contribute what each has to the whole. In Acts 4:32-37, the early disciples of Christ were of one heart and have all things in common. A Love based society is about TRUE community based upon the honouring of the talents of each individual and a genuine desire for individuals to apply their gifts/talents to the good of the entire community. God has given us individual gifts/talents and we have to have the right attitude to sharing these gifts to the benefit of society. As Christians, we are the body of Christ and have been given diverse spiritual gifts.

St. Paul in his 1st letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 12 spoke of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost; such as healing the sick, prophesying, speaking with strange tongues, and the miraculous interpretation of tongues. Unfortunately there was competition in the church in Corinth with some looking at their gifts as inferior and some as superior. Paul admonished them on the right attitude to God’s gifts and talents. In Chapter 13:1-3 he wrote that without love all these gifts and talents make one a “noisy gong or a clanging cymbal”.

Dearly beloved, the question today is how we are deploying the gifts/talents that God have given to us – the money, power, knowledge, skills. Jesus asked Simon Peter in John 21:15 “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” As we appreciate all the gifts, talents and blessings that God has poured on us this week lets us respond to this question “if we love Christ more than all these”. Do we love Him more than the comfort all these are bringing to our lives? The most excellent gift God has showed us is love. With love, the world will be a better place to live in. Our homes will be peaceful and produce responsible children. We as Christians are the light of the world. Let us teach the world love; The Christ Love. The agape love that is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1 Cor. 13:4-6).

Advancing in love is painful but it leads to true joy. It is profoundly discouraging yet it leads to increasing fulfilment. The great paradox of the Bible is the teaching that: It is by losing our lives in loving service that we gain our lives; When we seek fulfilment by trying to get others to love us the way we want to be loved, we become miserable. If we seek happiness by constructing a world full of comfort and convenience it eludes us, but when we forsake this and instead seek to love others the way God loves us, joy and fulfilment will find us in increasing measure.

God bless you, friend.