Strengthen, Encourage & Comfort

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified. I Corinthians 13:13-14:5

 

Faith, hope and love endure forever. These three will never die among God's people. Anything we can do to express love, offer hope and build faith in others has eternal reward for both us and those we minister to.

 

Prophecy, Paul says, is at the top of the list. When we speak into the lives of fellow believers with words to encourage, build up or console, we are sowing the love of God into their hearts that it may grow into healthy faith. You can get through this. You are not alone. With God's help, you can overcome. God has everything you need. He has a wonderful plan and you are a part of it.

 

Building up believers builds up the church. Little by little we bring the Kingdom of God into dark places one person at a time, one encounter at a time, one challenge at a time. The glacier of despair does not melt away overnight, but it will shrink as the warm waters of fellowship and brotherly love wash up against it day after day.

Ramblings on What We Share: The Road to Maturity

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. I Corinthians 13:8b-12

 

When kids travel, the dreaded question always comes up, “Are we there yet?” The answer is always, "Not yet, but we're closer than we were when we started.”

 

In this passage, Paul speaks of spiritual development in comparison to human development. When we started on this journey of faith, we were as children in our speech, understanding and behaviors.

 

Now we have matured. We are beginning to understand how to function in concert with the work of the Holy Spirit through His gifts. Yet, those gifts are but a foreshadowing of what things will be like when the Kingdom of God fully comes. When we finally get there, to our final destination, we will have fill understanding of all mysteries. We will experience the Holy Spirit without limit. There will be no need for spiritual gifts as all believers will have everything they need directly from the hand of God himself.

 

All we are or have ever hoped to be will be fully realized. We will come to know who we are through God's eyes and exactly where we fit in His plan for His eternal kingdom.

Ramblings on What We Share: Love is Everything

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. I Corinthians 13:4-8

 

Some people say I’m a romantic and I guess I am. Why wouldn’t I be when love is such a splendid thing? I love all the ways love is good, right and true. It is like a faithful friend who never hurts anyone. Paul describes love in this passage as always looking out for others.

 

The Apostle John further expounds on the source of love in his epistle.

 

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love… God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.    I John 4:8, 16b

 

If we want to be able to experience love and live in love, we must know God. Our Heavenly Father is the source of all love. Without His Spirit, there would be only the raw, harsh emotions that are left when love is taken out of the world. All we would have left is the opposite of everything Paul says: impatience, unkindness, envy, boasting, pride, dishonor, self-seeking, anger, unforgive-ness, evil, untruthfulness, assault, distrust, despair and surrender.

 

Everything we love about life has its source in love. The very existence of love is one of the best witnesses for the existence of God for the unbeliever. Jesus himself explained His mission to Nicodemus as an expression of God’s love for the world (John 3:16).