Devotionals for June 2, 2023
Don't forget to bring your paper Bible this Sunday at 9:00 or 10:30am.
READ
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not 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 have not love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
REFLECT
As Christians, the primary calling upon our lives is to love. Love is considered the fulfillment of the law of Christ. This can be overstated and oversimplified into an inaccurate message. We are commanded to love, but we are also told how to love. We are to love God with how we live. We cannot say we love him if we do not keep his commandments.
Holiness, then, is an act of love first and foremost. Secondly, we are told to love others. We are to treat others better than ourselves, be patient and kind to them, and bear their burdens. These two must be held together. So often we tend to do only one of these. Some deemphasize the importance of holiness, elevating loving others as the chief and only form of Christian living, while others are unloving in their relationships, but fall back on good theology and personal moral uprightness. God will have none of that. We must be holy, but we must also love others, and both of these express the fullness of the law of Christ.
APPLY
Q: What does Paul mean when he says that without love we are “nothing?”
Q: Where do you need to love God and/or others better?
Q: How can your love for people be a witness to Christ?
SING
“Gratitude” by Brandon Lake
PRAY
"And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one."
Lord, keep us holy, knowing that it reflects our love for you. Help us to love others in the way you first loved us. Amen.
READ
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not 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 have not love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
REFLECT
As Christians, the primary calling upon our lives is to love. Love is considered the fulfillment of the law of Christ. This can be overstated and oversimplified into an inaccurate message. We are commanded to love, but we are also told how to love. We are to love God with how we live. We cannot say we love him if we do not keep his commandments.
Holiness, then, is an act of love first and foremost. Secondly, we are told to love others. We are to treat others better than ourselves, be patient and kind to them, and bear their burdens. These two must be held together. So often we tend to do only one of these. Some deemphasize the importance of holiness, elevating loving others as the chief and only form of Christian living, while others are unloving in their relationships, but fall back on good theology and personal moral uprightness. God will have none of that. We must be holy, but we must also love others, and both of these express the fullness of the law of Christ.
APPLY
Q: What does Paul mean when he says that without love we are “nothing?”
Q: Where do you need to love God and/or others better?
Q: How can your love for people be a witness to Christ?
SING
“Gratitude” by Brandon Lake
PRAY
"And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one."
Lord, keep us holy, knowing that it reflects our love for you. Help us to love others in the way you first loved us. Amen.