The ACTION and ATTITUDE of LOVE!

The Apostle Paul makes a very… some might say… “HARSH” statement at the beginning of his soliloquy on Christian LOVE in I Corinthians chapter thirteen.  After reading this chapter daily for the entire month, I suddenly had a “Whaaaat?” moment this morning, when I got to the second verse where Paul states,

“If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't LOVE, I'm nothing.”  (The Message)

When I came to the end of the verse, I stopped short and had to go back and read it again… and again… and then I went through all thirty-eight translations that I currently have set up on my digital Bible study program, just to make sure it wasn’t an incorrect rendering of Paul’s words… and low and behold… IT MEANS EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS!

From there I looked up the meaning of the word translated “NOTHING” in the original Greek and it is simply defined as “not even one (man, women or thing), none, nobody or nothing, of no account or of naught.” (Strong’s and Mounce).

I am not sure how that would affect you, but it sure “HIT” me with a strong personal attachment!  I kind of sat at my desk this morning with a dazed looked on my face as I thought about the times in my past where I could have and should have reached out in LOVE to someone in need but didn’t… because it made me a little uncomfortable, or I was too lazy to get in my car and go over to their house… or even might have thought that what I was doing at that particular moment in time was more important than responding to their situation. 

Then there were the times that I did respond to people’s needs… but more out of rote or professional curtesy than with a heart-felt LOVE.  Does any of that sound familiar to any of you?  I would think that we’ve all been there a time or two in our lives… although I have known some families in the various churches that we served in, who ALWAYS seemed to have time for anyone in need.  I wished that I could have been more like them!!

As I went back and re-studied this verse, I realized that according to Paul… we could do and say all the right things in the midst of people’s lives but… if we don’t DO it with the ACTION and ATTITUDE of Godly, Christian LOVE… then it is worth nothing!  It would have a zero positive effect and… most likely in fact… make the situation worse!  And believe me when I say… that Piper and I had been on the negative end of LOVE in name only… and it is not only very confusing, frustrating and like rubbing salt in an open womb… it was actually noticeably detrimental to Piper’s physical health!

But Paul in his ACTION and ATTITUDE of Christian LOVE does not leave us hanging!  In verses 4-8A he gives us a very detailed and descriptive explanation of exactly what the ACTION and ATTITUDE of Christian LOVE entails.  The Greek language with which the New Testament was written, is much more descriptive with each word than our English language is.  Therefore, I enjoy reading these five verses from numerous different translations each time I study them.  This way I can pull out the different connotations of each “LOVE is” descriptor found in these verses.

I am sure that you would agree with me, in that I want the things that I do, when reaching out to others, to be not only meaningful and helpful to those involved… but also meaningful to me as well!  I want to have the right ATTITUDE when I do things and also feel good about the ACTIONS I take. 

HOW ABOUT YOU?

I hope that you are having a fantastic weekend today and tomorrow!  I was miserably cold yesterday with the somewhat cold temps and strong north winds (mainly because I didn’t wear my thermals… thinking that I wouldn’t need them-- WRONG!)… but today and tomorrow should be like a little bit of heaven with forecasted highs in the 70’s.

Be Blest… and as you go about your day… keep EXPECTING God’s best and share some Christian LOVE with those around you!