Are You Bankrupt Without Love?
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
1 Corinthians 13:3-7
Love is not something we set aside just for Valentine’s Day, but it is to be shown every day of the year.
The two greatest commandments are: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” (Matthew 22:37) and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39).
What is your definition of love?
1 Corinthians 13 unpacks what love is and what it is not. Paul emphasizes in verses 1-3: “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or 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 do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all that I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
The Message puts verses 3-7 this way: “If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.”
Without love, nothing that we do matters or is of any value. We are just merely noisy gongs and clanging cymbals. Our abilities mean nothing if they are not utilized in love.
Prayer: Jesus, help me to love with my words, with my actions, and what I believe so I won’t be bankrupt in love in these areas. In Jesus Name. Amen.