Love

¹ If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. ³ If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;^[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
-First Corinthians 13:1-3 (NLT)

First Corinthians 13 is one of the most beautiful chapters in all the Bible. It's words are so practical for today. If we truly loved one another, as found in this chapter, think of how the world would be different. Let me make it more interesting: If we loved our fellow church goers in the way found in this chapter, think of the impact we can make for Jesus in our communities.

Paul starts out in verses 1-3 challenging himself. Verse 1 says, "If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." In other words, if Paul could speak in all the languages in all the countries in all the world, but didn't love others, it would mean nothing. Did you ever stop and think about how many languages there are on earth? It is estimated that there are over 6700* different languages or dialects spoken on earth. That's a lot, and can you imagine how it would sound if people who spoke each of those 6700 different languages all got together and just started talking in their own dialects? It would sound....just like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. You wouldn't understand anything being said. It would be confusion and chaos. That is the picture Paul is giving us here. If he could speak all 6700 different languages, but didn't love others, it would not gain anything.

Verse 2 gives us another example of the importance of love. "If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing." Paul gives us two more challenges here. First, he says that if he could understand all the things of God and had all knowledge of all things, but didn't love others, he would be nothing. Then, Paul says that if he had great faith in God, the kind of faith that can move mountains, but didn't love others, he would be nothing. Think about these two points: If we could have all the knowledge for all subjects since the dawning of time and all knowledge of all subjects until the end of time as we know it, but didn't love others, we'd be nothing. If I could possess such a great faith in God that I could say to the Earth "Stop Moving!" and it did, but I didn't have love for others, it would mean nothing.

Finally, verse 3 says, "If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;^[a] but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing." Paul is teaching that he could give all he has, all his possessions to help the poor, even sacrifice his own self, but if he didn't love others, it would not be a benefit to him. Do you see the importance of love-true love?

Friends, love, true love, must be a part of our lives. It must be at the forefront of our lives. We can have all the knowledge to know all things, we can have all the faith to do mighty works in our lives, we can have the heart to give away all we have, but if we don't love others, than it doesn't mean anything. Look at the words of First John 4:20, "If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister,^[c] that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? (NLT)" If we can't love the people we live with, church with, shop with, or work with, how can we truly love God? We can't. Who do you need to love today? Think About It.
*(source: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_different_languages_are_there_in_the_world