The Gifts of the Spirit and Love Part 1
For the purposes of this blog I will be quoting from the NIV unless otherwise noted. I will not post the whole thing but here is a link to the related reading, 1 Corinthians 12 13 & 14 : 1-25. A warm thank you to the International Bible Society.
I am talking about love today because someone I have on occasion debated with in the past ended our potential for discourse and tried my absolute belief in love. It was the nature of the insult, in the course of a debate about homosexual rights, that gave me pause to think. The gentleman in question, Fred, made a claim of his superiority over me. For the nature of the debate and it's social/political implications I will be posting to my other blog - I will link to the post from here when it is up.
I am also going to discuss the gifts of the Spirit because I have recently been involved in more than one discussion of them. And as the gifts relate closely to Paul's discussion of Love to the church in Corinth, it seemed fortuitous to discuss this all now.
Love and Superiority
I think the best place to start has it's heart in what sent me to Paul's letter to the Church in Corinth today. It is also illustrative of how we allow Satan to find footholds in our souls. You see as soon as I saw the posted comment in which Fred declared his superiority over me my first reaction was to think, "oh, you are so wrong - because I am a much better person than you." Now when faced with an insult like Fred's one might consider that while juvenile, my first reaction was understandable - perhaps even justified - but should we call it sin? Paul gives us a great standard to work with in 1 Cor. 13:4-7 and part of 8:
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.
I shudder to think of the above list and which items were on my heart when I had my flash of anger this morning. My heart was boasting and rude, I was angry and self righteous - he was wrong and I was right and that makes me better! But it doesn't - it makes us equally human and equally wrong. I do not know if he is a believer, but I am and I know that I was wrong. I was not reacting with love but with anger. We are commanded to love our neighbor as our self - in his first letter to the church in Corinth Paul describes both the importance of love and the characteristics of love. Often people equate 1 Cor. 13 with weddings and marriage but when taken in context it encompasses far more - it is a life model.
Love - part of life or way of life pt.1
I think most people are aware of the four loves. If not, go here. I liken those loves to the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit - but one God. Friendly love, family love, erotic love and Godly love, together are Love. Love is not an option - in fact we need to live love, the love of Jesus, which encompasses all of these. The idea is not to have occasional loving moments, this is to be a way of life. In Romans 13:8-9
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Paul sums it up quite clearly - our only debt is a debt to love our fellow man - this is the law. Before he even wrote to the Corinthian church about love and prophecy he is emphasizing the importance, the tremendous importance of Love. Then he tells us we can summon up all other commandments - "love your neighbor as yourself." We are a very social society, we run into our neighbors pretty constantly. Whether in a store, sharing the road - we interact with our fellow man. And Paul tells us clearly to love them all. Later, in Galatians 5:5-7, Paul again reiterates that the new law of Love trumps the old law:
5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.Before we explore what Paul has to tell us in 1 Corinthians about the importance of love as a way of life lets first skip ahead to chapter 14 and hear about the gifts of the Spirit.
The Gifts of the Spirit
Will be continued in part 2
posted by DuWayne Brayton at 6:33 PM | 3 Comments Links to this post 
4 comments:
DuWayne, glad to see you writing to this blog! You make fine points of what it means to be a Christian. Loving unconditionally is indeed the best way we can live our lives, and yet it is the most difficult at times.
You are correct in saying we all will be judged by God in the end indeed, but shouldn't we try to help each other, not by "imposing" church laws on others, but by proclaiming what we believe so that all may receive the joys of heaven?
Beth,
Yes we should. I am asked by those I do work for and even friends why I do the things i do and work the way I do. And I am more than happy to tell them. I am happy to use every oppertunity God presents me with to talk about him.
Hey DuWayne... I just read your most recent comment on Ed's Left Behind video game post. I thought I'd google you to see if you're out here in blogland.
When I first read the top of your SJFJ site, I realized that we have similar backgrounds. For myself, I'm not exactly sure where I sit on the whole religious issue. I have lots of Pentecostal relatives who I respect and have to deal with frequently. But I've seen the bad side of it all as well.
BTW... I didn't know you were Ed's brother. I respect him and his blog greatly. Besides his funny sarcasm which I enjoy, I also like the way that he expresses his acceptance of religious views that don't necessarily agree with his. I've tried to emmulate his style when dealing with my relatives.
But anyway, I agree with Beth, you should really post more often. I think you have important things to say.
Merry Christmas!
-doctorgoo
Merry Christmas to you too, doctorgoo, and welcome. I don't get a lot of time to post - I spend my time at other blogs for the most part.
Yup, I've been Ed's brother most of my life. He is a very bright guy in many regards, a lot more mellow as he gets older. Of course the same is true of me.
Post a Comment