A LOVELESS LIFE IS PURPOSELESS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 09, 2023.

SUBJECT: A LOVELESS LIFE IS PURPOSELESS! 

Memory verse: "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." (First Corinthians 13 vs 3.)

READ: First Corinthians 13 vs 1 - 8:

13:1: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

13:2: And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

13:3: And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

13:4: Love suffers long and is kin; love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

13:5: does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

13:6: does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

13:7: bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

13:8: Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

INTIMATION:

Life without love is purposeless. Love refers to one’s active response to God, as well as his godly relationship with another. One could legally perform the duties of his beliefs after a meritorious manner, and do good work without a heart of love, but he cannot love without doing the works. However, if the good work is not a love response to the grace of God, then it is useless. It is a heart of love that is essential for one to be able to dwell in heaven. 

We are often preoccupied with our own self, and act as if relationships are something to be squeezed into our schedule. We think always that we are doing others favor by loving them. But that is wrong, instead we are doing ourselves the favor of walking in the command of God to fulfill His law. We talk about finding time for our children or making time for people in our lives. That gives the impression that relationships are just part of our lives along with many other tasks. But God says relationships are what life is all about. 

Jesus says that if we truly love God and our neighbor, we will naturally keep the “Ten commandments” of God. Therefore, the best tact to deal with this is, rather than worrying about all we should not do, we should concentrate on all we can do to show love for God and others. After learning to love God, learning to love others is the second purpose of your life. 

Four of the “Ten Commandments” deal with our relationship with God while the other six deal with our relationships with people. All the commandments are relationships based! We might say it is in Old Testament laws, but Jesus summarized what matters most to God in two statements: love God and love people: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22 vs 37 - 40.)

Relationships, not achievements or the acquisition of things, are what matters most in life. Busyness is the greatest enemy to relationships. We become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying bills, and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the point of life. They are not. The point of life is learning to love—love God and people. Life minus love equals zero.

God, our Creator and Owner, is love, and a source of our love. He loved us enough to sacrifice His Son for us, even when we were neck deep in sin and condemnation. Jesus is our example of what it means to love; everything He did in life and death was supremely loving. God the Father and the Son manifested in us in form of His Holy Spirit, and gives us the power to love; He lives in our heart and make us more and more like Christ. God’s love always involve a choice and an action, and our love should be like His.

In the passage we read today, the apostle Paul enumerates the greatness of love over all. He says that love is more important than all the spiritual gifts exercised in the church today. Great faith, acts of dedication or sacrifice, and miracle working power have little effects without love. Love makes our actions and gifts useful. Although people have different gifts, love is available by everyone. There are fifteen qualities he explained concerning the nature of love. These are qualities that are manifested in one’s love relationship with another. In this case, this should be the nature of the Christians’ relationship with one another in their behavior as followers of Christ.

Now you know this, why will you allow relationships to get the short end of the stick? When our schedules become overloaded, and overcrowded, we start skimming relationally, cutting back on giving the time, energy, and attention that loving relationships require. What is most important to God is displaced by what's urgent to you. 

Our society confuses love and lust. Unlike lust, God’s kind of love is directed outward toward others, not inward toward ourselves. It is utterly unselfish. This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations. It is impossible to have this love unless God helps us set aside our own natural desires so that we can love and not expect anything in return. 

Prayer: Abba Father, my utmost heart desire is to live a life hinged on Your greatest commandment—to love You and others. Endue me with the spirit of love, that I may lead a life of love worthy of Your calling, in Jesus’ Name I prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!