DEVOTION – DAY 423

I Corinthians 13:1-3 “The Need To Love Others”

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 “If I speak in tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

Paul selected 4 spiritual gifts as examples in verses 1-3. In v1, there is the gift of tongues – either in the form of a gift of languages or a gift of a special language. In v2 there is the gift of prophecy or an ability to understand God’s Word and to teach and preach it. In v3, there is the gift of generosity, and the gift of service. Paul concluded that if we had some or all of these four examples of special spiritual gifts from God, the gifts were meaningless unless our ability to use these gifts were motivated by love.

Today, there are many students studying in seminaries, but few want to graduate and serve as pastors. The students know they have been gifted with spiritual gifts but they do not think they want to be pastors because it involves working with people who may be difficult, demanding, or critical of them. In reality, they do not have sufficient love for the people that God wants them to shepherd. So, many take the easy way out. When they graduate from the seminary, they choose to be lecturers, or take up administrative work and so on. They are people that find loving people in congregations challenging for them. It is easy to love people who are lovable. It is far harder to love people who are difficult to get along with. 

We know someone who liked the idea of studying in the seminary. He also seemed to be gifted in preaching. So, he enrolled in the seminary. However, he soon dropped out of the seminary when he realized that he did not have a shepherd’s heart for the people he would one day be called to lead and minister to. He found that he was too self-centered and that he did not love people sufficiently to be a full-time pastor. His lack of love for people soon caused him to lose interest in his seminary studies and he dropped out. His time there was wasted. His gift of preaching was in the end fruitless because there was no love for others.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we praise you for you are loving and gracious and you first loved us whilst we were still sinners. Please help us to use our spiritual gifts to build up your church. May our motives and intentions be guided by love for others. As you have loved us, may we also show brotherly love to others. We pray this in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Questions

1. What motivates you to use your spiritual gifts to serve your church? Share.
2. Do you extend brotherly love to everyone in church or are you selective in whom you extend brotherly love? Discuss and share.
3. How does being selective in whom you want to serve with, and in what areas you want to use your gifts in church reveal what you really think of some of the people in church? Discuss.
4. Do you think it is right to be choosy and selective in whom you want to serve alongside with? Discuss.