1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 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.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ 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. ¹² 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.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Source: Bible, NIV

I am the so-called ‘good’ Christian girl, but this passage leaves me thinking that I may get it ‘right’ about 2% of the time – or less. It is convicting.

I have been brought up in a religious environment. My parents are Christians. I’ve gone to church all my life. And I know how you’re supposed to be ‘good’.

Read your Bible. Make some changes to your life accordingly. Change by doing the right things. And as much as I know I’m saved by grace in my head, in my heart, I often feel by doing the right things, I can then gain God’s approval.

But in verses 1-3 of this passage, it states that however stellar my spiritual accomplishments are, they are nothing, if they’re not done out of love. I could have memorised the Scriptures front to back, never skipped a single ‘quite time’, or be a life-long missionary, but still not have love.

As long as I’m doing things to make God happy or look good in front of others, love is not my driving force. I’m just doing it for me. I’m doing it to feel better about myself.

Note that it is possible to do the ultimate in self-sacrifice: ‘deliver my body up to be burned‘ and still not really sacrifice… Instead, even this can be an act of self-glorification. You and I could even do this with the view of getting extra rewards from God or future fame.

Working hard on doing the right things then, does not work. Applying a formula to gain spiritual growth does not work – unless it is rooted in Someone deeper. It may be tempting to believe that if I follow a certain plan, and read my Bible every morning, underline it, make notes, and go through a prayer list, I am making spiritual progress. I am not saying this is wrong. Bible-reading is very helpful in my life, but spiritual disciplines can be harmful if they are all based on my effort.

It is easy, perhaps, to fall into the sin of pride; to think I have accrued the right knowledge, but still not have the right heart attitude. Jesus accused the Pharisees of this kind of problem. He said “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life” (John 5:39a), but told them they ignored the core of the Scriptures – Jesus Himself (John 5:39b).

We go to church and worship and pray, and this is good. But soon our faith can become a ritual linked to institutions and to the right behaviors: saving sex for marriage, not committing any major crimes, being kind at work, and finding a sense of satisfaction in a God who is our ultimate cheer-leader. Our faith is, then, a kind of feel-good faith: a faith that makes us feel good about ourselves, good about God, and lastly, good about how we compare to others (Oops!).

When I look at the passage above about love, I am confronted. I am helpless. While I may, to a small extent, be able to change my behavior, the underlying motivation is not something I can change. I cannot love.

Yes – I cannot love. Not without Jesus. I need to be born again – my inner being has to be changed drastically (John 3:1-21).

I have received Jesus. I am born again. But I still need a lot of work! Likely you can relate?

The next post goes into living from a basis of love.