We all need help at times in life, but I ask myself can we help without LOVE? God has not made any of us to be totally self-sufficient.
Acknowledging his need for help through love, the psalmist says, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence comes my help. My help comes from the Lord, which made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).
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. 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. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:3)
As we begin this new year, let us truly take this passage to heart. Let us do nothing if it is not motivated by love. Do not sing for your own glory. Do not lead for your own acclaim. Do not correct to convince people of your own superiority or righteousness. If we do, we will most definitely be found very lacking. None of us are perfect. Think of the actions that Paul describes in our opening passage. To be an elegant orator or a moving speaker means nothing if our teaching is not motivated by a love for the listener. We cannot allow ourselves to get caught up in the popularity contest that this world promotes daily. God’s call on our lives doesn’t include having the most followers or making the most viral of videos. None of those things matter if our love is for ourselves and not for our brothers and sisters and the lost.
Faith without love seems almost an impossibility. How can we believe in and follow God who is described as love itself and yet not possess this quality? Yet, I see this sin even in my own life. My focus can be so tightly on God that I forget the people surrounding me. Paul challenges us to look up and out. I tend to be single focused. I suffer from an eye condition that has taken away from peripheral vision. I cannot see what is even directly to my left or right without turning my head. Because of this, it is very easy to forget that people are right next to me. I have to consciously remember to turn so that I include them when I speak. Though we claim to include others in our lives, many of us live our spiritual lives as if we have lost our peripheral vision. We focus on what is before us, what we are personally involved in, and forget that we must also be looking out for the needs of others.
We are loved by God and his has promised to help us. Our help is only as good as the source of our help. Some people trust in money, some trust in power, some in other people. But our help comes from the Lord who made the heavens and the earth. He is the one in whom we should place our trust. Nothing is too hard for God. Yet sometimes, we are guilty of relating to Him as if He were a man. Just because we view our situation as hopeless does not make it so in the eyes of God. He has means at His disposal that we know not of. The impossible to us is but a light thing for Him.
The help we receive in life can manifest itself in numerous ways. Though we lift our eyes to the “hills,” seldom if ever will we literally see our help coming down from there. We tend to receive help through the hands of other people. But they are not the source of our help. They are the vehicles by which our help comes from the Lord. He knows how to make all things work together for our good.
1Cor.16.14 - Let all your things be done with charity
Nothing we do, even the help we render matters without love, godly and pure love. It is this love that gives meaning to our acts of charity and sacrifice. No matter what we do, let us do it because of and through selfless and innocent love for one another. Let us never count the cost of godly love. Let us never count the advantages either. Let us live simply and love completely. When we do, the world will see the sincere and pure love of our Heavenly Father and perhaps understand the cross for what it truly is: love.
Remain blessed as you abide in Love and do everything you do in love.
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Thank you for your encouragement.