“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit….Now the body is not made up of one part but of many…Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
And in the church,
God has appointed:
- first of all apostles. Are all apostles?
- second prophets.
- Are all prophets?
- 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.
- third teachers. Are all teachers?
- then workers of miracles. Do all work miracles?
- also those having gifts of healing. Do all have gifts of healing?
- those able to help others. But If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
- those with gifts of administration.
- those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But 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.
But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
Love is patient, love is kind.It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails…And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Now picture our Jesus, our Savior:”Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind. Jesus does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. Jesus is not rude, Jesus is not self-seeking, Jesus is not easily angered, Jesus keeps no record of wrongs. Jesus does not delight in evil, but He rejoices with the truth. Jesus always protects, Jesus always trusts, Jesus always hopes, Jesus always perseveres. Jesus never fails.” (From Max Lucado’s A Love Worth Giving)
Now…can any of us – comfortably – do this:
Zan is patient (wow, no!)
Zan is kind (not always)
Zan does not envy (yes, she does…often!)
Zan does not boast (actually truer…I think)
Zan is not proud (big lie!)
Zan is not rude (Unless you drive like an idiot.)
Zan is not self-seeking (I’m part of the “me-first” generation. What do you think?)
Zan is not easily angered (again…”short-fuse” for a middle name?)
Zan keeps no record of wrongs (elephant, anyone?)
Zan does not delight in evil (”Did you hear about ______?”)
Zan rejoices with the truth (Sometimes)
Zan always protects (herself)
Zan always trusts (human logic instead of God)
Zan always hopes (president-elect of the pessimist’s club)
Zan always perseveres (Queen of “it’s tooo haaaard!” and “what if I fail?”)
Zan never fails. (ALWAYS!)
Can we have a collective “Ouch”? I have been faced with a small glimpse of the darkness in my heart that I long to give wholly to God. I pray God continues to shine His cleansing light into the dark recesses of my life. It will not be pretty. It will almost always hurt. But one day I will stand before Him, and I want Him to call me good and faithful. I want Him to say, “I know that hurt. I know it was so hard. You proved your love to me by dying to yourself.” In the end, it won’t be about how many times I was on the right side of a debate or the stray Christians that I put back on the straight-and-narrow. It won’t be about what I did for a living or what church I belonged to. It won’t even be about the number of people I told about Jesus. No, in the end, the bottom line, is how I well I became the embodiment of Love, Jesus-style, in the dailiness of this adventure we call life. My epitaph someday…”She loved, Jesus-style.”
![Image of The Prodigal God (An Unabridged Production)[2-CD Set]; Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Jl6fhDLxL._SL75_.jpg "The Prodigal God (An Unabridged Production)[2-CD Set]; Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith")
9 Comments(+Add)
I am humbled – He is exalted. Thank you.
““There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit….Now the body is not made up of one part but of many…Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it”
“Now…can any of us – comfortably – do this:”
You left out one.
What about walking in the Spirit? (no power in the flesh)
I didn’t see it on the list. Might help out with some of those other things.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would (Galatians 5:16,17 KJV). (Galatians 3:3 KJV)
The power to live like Jesus, comes from the Spirit of Christ.
(Romans 8:8,9 KJV)
F Whittenburg
http://www.christiannewbirth.com
F Whittenburg
http://www.christiannewbirth.com
Whit,
“You left out one.”
Do you mean that Paul left out one? All the scripture above came from I Cor 12 and 13. It is all talking about how we are gifted and what we do with those gifts. I merely rearranged it, to show the correlation between the two chapters. So often we take Ch. 13 by itself, and that is fine, but it is also good to put it in context. (The downside of divisions of chapters and section headings…)
Even Paul was at war within himself, the law of his mind, where he wants to do good, fighting against his sinful nature. I am human, I have a sinful nature, I am only made perfect in God’s eyes through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Therefore, I continue to do the things I don’t want to do, and don’t do things I know I should. Thus the above introspection.
All I was trying to say is that I fail to love like Jesus loved this world (and by world, I mean the people in this world). And that since Jesus says that the greatest gift we have is love, than isn’t that where I should focus more of my energy…and everything else will fall into place through that.
This is sorta like a joke that loses its humor when you have to explain it.
And this is an object lesson which many times renders me a man without a country. FW reads a moving self revelation which every believer can and should identify with personally, and he is so mentally tethered to systematic doctrine that he cannot even be edified by a vunerable devotional post without responding with some theological issue that is not at odds with Zan’s post.
I believe doctrine is very important, but I still believe many orthodox believers substitute that for Christlikeness when it should be both. Jesus was filled with grace and truth.
I like the last line about explaining a joke. I fear part of the church has lost her heart and some have lost their head. A very convicting yet tender post in the style of the Patriarch David. Thank you again.
HenryRick,
You are so kind. Thank you for the encouragement. As Chris will attest, I don’t always like being vulnerable, but I was convicted so much in the study of these passages this week.
Can’t wait to see you next month!
Oops! I meant March…
Zan said: “Can we have a collective “Ouchâ€? I have been faced with a small glimpse of the darkness in my heart that I long to give wholly to God.”
Hello Zan,
I meant the post to be edifying and not condescending. I see too many lament their performance in not living up to Christ’s example. The scripture I quoted was showing that none of us can live up to those examples you mentioned without the power of the Holy Ghost. I don’t like to see people walk in self condemnation, and that is where that is coming from, because we know it isn’t coming from Jesus Christ!
There for there is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:1 KJV).
Rick said: “FW reads a moving self revelation which every believer can and should identify with personally, and he is so mentally tethered to systematic doctrine that he cannot even be edified by a vunerable devotional post without responding with some theological issue that is not at odds with Zan’s post.”
What does “systemic doctrine” mean?
F Whittenburg
http://www.christiannewbirth.com
First, I do lament my performance in not living up to Christ’s example. Everyone should. It is that lament that spurs me on to work harder at living as Christ. But I also recognize that I am forgiven. The reason I wish to do better is because I love Him so much. And I long to show that to Him and to the world. Even Paul, as I stated earlier, lived with the battle within. We are still human. I know Christ doesn’t see me as a condemned woman and that I don’t have to earn His love. He loves me as much now as He ever has or ever will.
I appreciate that you meant to be edifying. Communication styles are exponentially harder to decode in type without inflection and facial expression! Thank you also for your concern that I not be burdened by shame that comes only from Satan. (as opposed to guilt that comes from God to the sinner) There was a time in my life that I was, but God has freed me from that burden, opening my eyes to a little more closely see the depths of His Grace!
May His Grace abound to you, also! Have a blessed day tomorrow (actually today here in Indy!)
Excellent, excellent post. May God bless you for the challenge this presents and the light it shines in darkness.