Getting the context
Over the next few weeks, I'd like to look at a passage of scripture that you have probably heard: 1 Corinthians 13. Today we'll just look at the first three verses. But before we look at today's passage, let's get some context. In chapters 12 and 14, Paul talks about spiritual gifts, and in chapter 13, he talks about love. You could say that chapter 13 is a digression, but it's really more of an extension of the discussion of spiritual gifts, which he began in chapter 12. The following is a summary of what Paul says about spiritual gifts.
ccc Spiritual gifts are attributes that God bestows on man by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. Although there are many different kinds of gifts (e.g., wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, prophecy, tongues, etc), they are all given by the same Spirit for the purpose of building up the church (1 Cor 12:4-11). Paul makes it clear that all of these spiritual gifts come from the One Holy Spirit, but that different people are going to have different gifts. The reason we have different gifts is because, together, we make up the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:12). We serve different purposes, but function as a whole. Paul explains it this way (1 Cor 12:17-20): “If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” Paul ends chapter 12 with a series of rhetorical questions (1 Cor 12:29-31): “...Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.” And this leads us to our passage for today, in which Paul begins to show us “the most excellent way.”
1 Corinthians 13:1-3: (1) If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not 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 have not love, I am nothing. (3) If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
What is Paul talking about in these first three verses? He is talking about spiritual gifts and acts of service (tongues, prophecy, faith, giving, martyrdom). But he is also talking about our motivation. And what he is saying is this: no matter how many spiritual gifts we have or how much good deeds we do, if we don't use our gifts and do the good works out of love for God and our neighbor then, to God, it's no good at all... In other words, everything we do as a Christian should be motivated by love.
ccc As we continue, we will first look at our motivation from God's point of view. Then we will examine the importance of love as a motivation in our Christian lives.
What Motive Means to God
Let's examine another passage of Scripture, 1 Chronicles 28:9: “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”
ccc I don't know what your reaction to this verse is, but I can certainly tell you what my reaction is—“Yikes!” Psalm 139:1-4 is another good piece of Scripture to look at. It says, “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.” The bottom line here is that we can't fool God. He knows everything, even our motives. And He is not happy with us, even when we do something “good,” if it is not done for the right reasons.
The Importance of Love
Now let's look at the importance of love. Love is such a major theme of the Bible that it's difficult to pick and choose which passages to discuss--there are so many good ones! So, perhaps the best thing to do is to start with the words of Jesus, our Savior. This is what Jesus said when asked to state the greatest commandment in the Law: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself ” (Matthew 22:36-39).
ccc What is this passage saying? Isn't it saying that, whatever we do in life, it should be motivated by our love for God? Jesus says that these two commandments sum up the law and the prophets. That means that, instead of worrying about the ten commandments, we can just obey these two. In other words, if we obey these two commandments, we will be obeying every commandment that God ever gave, because this (total love) is what He really wants from us.
ccc Now consider another passage, Isaiah 29:13: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” When I read this verse, I think about how I have often gone to church out of obligation. I think of how, at times, I mindlessly sang hymns while thinking about what I was going to do the rest of the day. Sometimes I think, “what is required of me?” rather than “what can I do today for the God I love?” When I do this I am taking my relationship with God and turning it into a set of rules: go to church, give to the poor, help your neighbor, tithe, etc. It's certainly easier to follow a set of rules than it is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” After all, what Jesus is describing here, in this passage, is nothing less than total commitment to God, and that's not easy! ...But no one said it was supposed to be easy.
Summary
What God has spoken to me through these verses is that everything we do as a Christian should be motivated by our love for God. As Paul says it in Galatians 5:6, “...The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." It is not pleasing to God when we do things out of guilt, fear, or obligation rather than out of love. For some reason, in spite of how worthy of our love God is, we have trouble loving Him... (or at least I do). If you find that the same is true for you, then here are two things you can do to follow up this devotion: (1) Meditate on the wonderful things God has done in your life. Consider looking at some inspiring passages of Scripture like these: John 3:16, Isaiah 53:5, John 15:13, Romans 8:38-39. Meditating on what God has done will remind you of why God deserves your love. (2) Pray to God and ask Him to help you to love Him and others more. Pray that He would increase your love for Him so that serving Him would be a delight rather than a dread.
ccc I hope this little study helped and inspired you. The next devotion will continue our exploration of 1 Corinthians 13.
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