1 Corinthians 13:3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
About a week ago, we introduced the topic of selfless love and kindness. At that point we were looking at 1 Corinthians 13:4. Today we step back a verse and again look at the kind of selfless, agape love that Jesus loves us with.
Paul points out that even if he gave everything he had to the poor but didn’t do it from the right place, with the right motives, it means nothing. We see in this verse that love and kindness should be the focus, not the actual doing part of it or the action. It doesn’t matter what we do so long as we do it with selfless, divine love and kindness.
This verse highlights a simple truth – WHY we do something is so much more important than WHAT we do.
AI sums it up this way: “If you do amazing, charitable things but don’t truly love the people you’re helping, your actions, no matter how grand, ultimately amount to nothing spiritually. Love is the essential “heart” of all Christian action, making even the ordinary meaningful and the extraordinary impactful.”
What are your motives for the things you do in your life? Are you doing them for yourself? Or are you doing them for God? Our actions, behaviors, and attitude should all be focused on glorifying God and bringing people to a saving knowledge of Him. We share because we care about their future well being. We act out of kindness because we know that there is no hope if we do not have Jesus.
Who can you share Jesus with today? Whatever you do, be sure you cover it all with love and kindness. Love as God loves us.
Be the first to comment