Image by The Way of Love
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 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. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
Recently I was exploring Twitter and all-too-soon became bombarded with the bickering, bantering, toxicity, and chaos of “heroes from all sides” of every seemingly world-ending, catastrophic headline and social issue. In this wonderful world we know as the internet, anyone can speak their mind. Some share their opinions as an anonymous, untruthful source, while others shout theirs proudly and make sure you know who they are.
We like to be heard. We like to be seen. We like to make sure that people know what’s on our minds, and that what we are thinking and believing is absolutely correct. We must make our voices heard, because truth matters more than consequence…
Does that sound familiar?
It can be easy for us, as Christians, to unapologetically share the gospel. It’s good to share the gospel. As humans, we have this push inside us to prove to others that we know what’s best, that we are on the right side, that we are simply doing what’s best for others.
But we aren’t perfect. No one is. We live in a fallen world where it’s all-too-easy to fail and make mistakes. We live in a time in history when anyone can voice their opinion and share their input at the click of a button.
So while we may be trying to do what’s best for others, it’s vitally important to keep in mind a couple of things:
- We are sinners and will always be sinners. That does not by any stretch mean that we should simply accept that reality and not try to better ourselves. But it does mean that we desperately need grace (and desperately need to give it to others) and that we will do things that harm ourselves and others (even if we have good intentions).
- With that said, it is absolutely necessary to remember the words of Paul:
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV.
We need the love of God. We need the resurrection of Jesus. To some, these two points are corny and out-of-date. But if you take a look around, and if you look closely (and it doesn’t even have to be that close), you can see the inspiration of God in the nature and beauty of the natural world, you can see the evidence that we humans have the capacity for both good and evil, and you can understand that under everything lies a principle of morality. You can experience love.
The first verse in chapter thirteen of 1 Corinthians is especially applicable to our modern world: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” As much as we want to share the gospel and get as many people “on our team” as possible, we have to remember that we must do it with love.
Jesus died for us out of love. If He can do that, then we can certainly take pause, consider our actions and words, and practice love, the most renewable resource in all of creation.
Image by freepik.
