"God's Perfect Love"

I awoke this morning with love on my mind. I am not speaking of Eros love but of the love Christ has bestowed upon all of humanity. I found myself reflecting on His goodness to me and to the world. He is always so full of compassion and grace. Even when we don’t deserve it, He is still there keeping His covenant promise to love. Scripture states in (Jer 31:3) that God loves us with an everlasting love. Who can be like our God? I Corinthians 13 is often referred to as the love chapter. I want to add to the description and state that this is the self examination chapter. The first three verses start with “If”, a conjunction which introduces a conditional clause. Verse 1 states: “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.” I began to do a self examination. I have to speak to people on a daily basis as part of my job and converse with others throughout the course of my day. I had to take a look at how I respond to others. How do I communicate with my team? How do I engage with my employees and in my relationships? How we speak and engage with others is important. Our words have power to influence and impact the lives of the people we engage. The scripture Matthew 15:11 clearly states that it is not what goes into a man’s mouth that makes him unclean but that which comes out of him! The second verse states; “ 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. The spiritual gifts bestowed upon man by God are given without repentance. God is not an Indian giver; in other words He does not take the gifts planted inside of you back. Even when you fail to operate in your original design the gift is not retracted. We can have great abilities and gifts but if we are operating in self and not in love, it is all in vain. Love should be at the core of everything we do. Why? Because God established the world and the people in it as a result of His great love for humanity. He gave His best for us in the form of our savior; Jesus the Christ. He laid his life down for us and called us friends. Now that is love. The third verse in this chapter states: “ 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.” How many times do we see churches, organizations and events providing free food or Christmas gifts to the less fortunate? Are we doing these things out of a pure heart with pure motives? Or are we trying to gain recognition for the act? We are instructed to do everything in love. When love is the guiding factor in our hearts it will reflect in our actions, reactions and motives. Our intent should always come from a place of love and not harm. The chapter goes on to now describe the attributes of love: patience, kindness, not boastful or envious. The scripture gives us a clear description of what love looks like and what it is not. When you read the words you will be able to locate yourself and see if you are aligned with the Word. The Spirit of Truth will speak and unveil where you land in this heart check. It doesn't matter who you are or what your title is; we are all accountable to God. What God reveals, we are responsible for. We have a responsibility to love and demonstrate it in the earth. Christ is the greatest example of love. Let’s follow His lead and continue in love.