A More Excellent Way

"And I show you a still more excellent way."

1 Corinthians 12:31

The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians about the use of spiritual gifts. How they are given to each person as God wills, and how they are to be used to build up the church, which is the body of Christ.  And then He goes on to show them "a still more excellent way" than zealously aspiring to the place of apostles, prophets or leaders, and that is to love. In chapter  13 he describes this love -- this more excellent way -- for the Corinthians, and for us: 

"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Love is not a spiritual gift. It is a way of life -- the way of our Savior. Every Christian is to apprehend it and live it. It's not optional. It's a command. Jesus said "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).  Love is to be the motivation behind the exercising of our spiritual gifts. It is a more excellent way. 

Love = Obedience

"And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments."

2 John 1:6

The evidence of our love for God is our obedience. If we truly love Him, then we will want to please Him and honor Him by walking according to what He commands us in the Bible. Love should be our motivation. "The difficulty that you feel is that you do not love enough. You would like to love with a strong, undying flame, burning steadily towards Jesus Christ, cleansing you with its heat, constraining you with its love. But perhaps you fail to distinguish between love and the emotion of love. They are not the same. We may love without being directly conscious of love, or being able to estimate its strength and passion. Here is the solution to many of our questionings: They love who obey." (F.B.Meyer)

Ongoing Debt

"Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; 

for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law."

Romans 13:8

Here Paul encourages us to stay out of debt—“Owe nothing to anyone." But he also tells us there is actually a debt we are to continually owe. The debt of love.  Loving others is the second greatest commandment, the first is to love God with all our heart, soul and mind. (Matthew 22:35-39). When we love God and love others we fulfill all ten commandments. The first four commandments relate to the vertical relationship we have with God. the last six commandments pertain to our horizontal relationship with people. Keep both the vertical and horizontal commandments and we've fulfilled the whole Law.  "A man may be a good doctor without loving his patients; a good lawyer without loving his clients; a good geologist without loving science; but he cannot be a good Christian without love." (D. L. Moody)

Love for Others

"For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt."

Deuteronomy 10:17-19

These words were spoken to the Jewish nation by Moses. The Israelites were to honor God -- the God who is above all gods -- by loving foreigners. God abounds in love for all people, without partiality. He cares for the fatherless and the husbandless. And the unbelievers, too. He makes sure they have food and clothing. "We are here taught our duty to our neighbour. God's common gifts to mankind oblige us to honour all men. And those who have themselves been in distress, and have found mercy with God, should be ready to show kindness to those who are in the like distress." (Matthew Henry)

Beautiful Love

"No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us."

1 John 4:12

When we are true believers in God, our love for others will be a reflection of that belief. We can't say we are believers if we don't love God and, furthermore, we can't say we are believers if we don't love others. "God is love. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." (1 John 4:7-8)  The love that really counts is the love we give, not the love we receive. As believers we have already received all the love we could ever need -- God's love. "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10). God's love for us sent Jesus to die so that we could live. "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us." (1 John 15-16). God is perfect love and when we let Him into our lives our eyes are opened to all the truth of who He is and how much He loves us. His perfect love fills us and flows from us to others. Beautiful.

Show the Love

"Better is a dish of vegetables where love is, than a fattened ox served with hatred."

Proverbs 15:17

Our homes can be filled with beautiful treasures, but if love is missing from its rooms we are living in poverty. Money may make our wallets fatter, but true wealth is the love of family and friends. Every day we have a choice of how we will treat one another. Today let's purpose to serve our families, friends and co-workers with love. And then let's do it again tomorrow. And the next day. If we continue that trend, our homes will show that love lives there and God will be glorified.

The Victory of Love

“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men."

Luke 6:35

In Luke 6: 27-37, Jesus is teaching His disciples how to treat their enemies: Love them, do good to them, bless them, pray for them, don't take revenge, turn the other cheek, give to them -- expecting nothing in return, treat them as you want to be treated, don't pronounce judgment on them, don't condemn them, pardon them. When we Christians love those who hate us this way, we are showing them a kind of love they will never find in the world. We are showing them the merciful love of Christ, which we ourselves have received. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) To love our enemies is not just a nice thought that Christ has passed down to us. It is an imperative. It sets us apart from unbelievers and shows we belong to the Most High God. It is supernatural love that is only possible through the life of Christ within us.  "The love for our enemies takes us along the way of the cross and into fellowship with the Crucified. The more we are driven along this road, the more certain is the victory of love over the enemy's hatred. For then it is not the disciple's own love, but the love of Jesus Christ alone, who for the sake of His enemies went to the cross and prayed for them as He hung there." -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Genuine Love

"Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good."

Romans 12:9

The word “hypocrite” in classical Greek meant someone who wore a mask in a play. The real actor could not be seen. God tells us that love should be genuine and not pretend. And that we are to hate what is evil, because evil things hurt people and damage relationships, including our relationship with God. In Proverbs 6:16-19 we find some of the things that God hates. 
"There are six things which the LORD hates, 
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 
Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, 
And hands that shed innocent blood, 
A heart that devises wicked plans, 
Feet that run rapidly to evil, 
A false witness who utters lies, 
And one who spreads strife among brothers."
Regarding love, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 defines it for us:
"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 
Genuine love. The way God intended love to be.

Cover It with Love

"Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins."

1 Peter 4:8

Genuine Christian love -- the love that Christ exhibits -- is long suffering. It chooses to overlook an offense, rather than dwell on it and allow it to become a bone of contention. Satan would like nothing more than to cause conflict between God's children, so it is up to us to defeat his scheme by responding to others with love, even someone we don't particularly like. This is possible through the work of the Holy Spirit living within us. As we relinquish our self interests to Him, we receive in exchange the power to love the unloveable. In this God is glorified and we are satisfied.

Inexpressible Joy!

"and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory," 1 Peter 1:8

This is faith!  To love the Lord, though we have not seen Him. To believe in the Lord, though we do not see Him now. This is inexpressible joy full of glory. To know that He lives! This is something the  world will never understand unless the Holy Spirit reveals it to them. Pray that He will open their eyes so that they may share in our inexpressible joy.

Body Building

"but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."

Ephesians 4:15-16

It is a mystery how Christians together function as Christ's body. It is supernatural. He spiritually indwells each Christian, and when those individuals join together, the result is the body of Christ. Without proper nourishment, the body will remain immature. Nourishment comes from the word of God. His truth is necessary to grow from infancy into adulthood. But it always must be accompanied by love. Truth without love can be judgmental, and weakens the body. But love for one another, with a sincere desire to see each other grow in truth, builds up the body and roots it to the head, which is Christ. 

Love Letter to God

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, 

Christ died for us."

Romans 5:8

Today is Valentine's Day. Let's write love letters to God. I'll go first.

Lord, while I was a sinner, defying You and living a wicked life, You died for me. You hung on the cross and saw my sin, and You gave Your lifeblood to save me. This is love, Lord. This is pure and unadulterated love. The amazing love that would hold You to the cross as you saw my sin. You had the power to come down off the cross, but You stayed there to rescue me. This is far beyond any love a human could feel. Jesus, I love You.  I want to thank you, but  "thank you" is so inadequate. I don’t deserve You, but I am so grateful that You love me and died in my place. That is love. Perfect love. A love I can never repay. All I have to offer You is myself. Here I am, Lord. I am Yours. And for the one who doesn’t yet know You, I pray they will be awakened to the extent of Your love for them and in return they will give You their heart. For You died for them, too, Lord. That is how much You love us.

Words of Wisdom

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." 

Ephesians 4:2-3

Having aged spiritually, as well as chronologically, I've come to see the wisdom of these words in Ephesians. It is not through forceful words or logical arguments that we Christians will win souls for Christ. Rather, it is in the "unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace". The world is full of discord. Unfortunately, the Church is all too often as discordant as the world. What a difference a humble, gentle, forbearing, loving, unified group of believers could make in their community. And think what could happen if this Ephesians model was multiplied across the globe; all to the glory of God. It begins with me. It begins with you.

Pure Love

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ," 

Ephesians 3:17b-18

What indescribable joy comes to the person who begins to understand the great love Christ has for him. When the cross is no longer strange or abhorrent to him, but becomes the most awesome, beautiful thing he can imagine. That Christ would leave his heavenly kingdom and come to earth to willingly suffer on a rugged cross for our sins, is pure love. It is the widest, the longest, the highest, the deepest love there is.