Today's Scripture
1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 To Heal A Broken Heart
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. 2 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. 3 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.
4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
RJ's Devotion
What the passage says
V. 1-3 We can’t say we are holy, just because of the Spiritual gifts we possess. If love is not the motivation of our service, if our gifts and talents do not reflect the love of Jesus, it is just a noisy gong.
V. 4-7 Paul talks about the traits of a loving person. We should strive to reflect these traits in the world.
V. 8-13 We are called to grow in the love of Jesus. We are also called to mature in love and share it with others. We should not boast of the joy and hope we have in Jesus if we do not rejoice in the love first.
What does the passage say to me/us?
In such divided times, the church needs to stand up for the world with love. The love the world will never see. The love that comes from Jesus Christ.
However, we even have a hard time seeing that love in our faith communities. We are so divided in our thoughts and theology.
Yes, it truly is a time for repentance. We need to repent, turning around from our ways, and start loving others as Jesus commands us.
Loving others who think different from us. Loving others who look different from us.
When we see that love revitalized in our church, we can go out and love others in the world. Even loving others, who sees or understand God different from us.
Maybe, even the ones who attempt to harm us. That is the greatest meaning of love. And that is what God is asking the church to practice.
Only when we practice that love, we will be able to carry out our purpose of becoming a healer and bridge to this world.
Prayer
Lord, see the brokenness of this nation. Help us become your agent of healing. However, help us to restore your love in our lives, and love each other, like you loved us. Let it start from our church. Let it continue with other Christians, and extend to the world. In Christ name, we pray, AMEN
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