All We Need Is Love

The Greatest Gift is Love, Godly Character is Love

When we read 1Cor 12, it is easy to see why Christian get excited by the gifts of the Spirit.

Who wouldn’t want to see wisdom and knowledge and faith given to believers?

Likewise, healing, miracles and prophecy should be a normal part of believers life.

Also, discernment, tongues and interpretation of tongues are surely gifts for building up the body?

In my own life I have seen God manifest these gifts in extraordinary ways, from creative miracles of eyes forming to every person in the room I was speaking at slain by the Holy Spirit.

Peter was transformed on the day of Pentecost from Simon to Peter after he was transformed by the Holy Spirit. Then Peter stepped forward…

Yet when we read the context of these scriptures we find that Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church isn’t the result of wanting to praise them for their use of these gifts, but in fact was to correct them.

Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth out as result of bickering and quarrels and lawsuits amongst believers. Hardly a praise report.

As we look through our denominational filters or slants, it is easy to focus on the things which we want to hear and not the other things.

Romans 11:29 says “for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”

But God’s Character is NOT!

It is easy sometimes to overlook the discrepancies of some for the good of the many. We know the fruit of these gifts at work in the church did much good.

Yet it’s also easy to seek the hand of God over the face of God. That is God’s work over and above his presence in our lives. As seen is the comparison of Mary and Martha.

Martha was concerned with doing (her actions) whilst Mary understood the importance of being (her presence).

God’s Generals is an amazing book which when I received it on my 40^th birthday I devoured every word as I tried to understand what made these mighty men and woman of God the people they were.

The same can be said of when we read Hebrews 11 which lists the men and woman of faith from the very beginning of time.

Yet when we read both of these amazing accounts of God’s generals, we soon realise that despite their great exploits of faith is their overwhelming humanity.

Hebrews 11 even lists a prostitute, Rahab, for her faith. How do we reconcile the two?

In fact it was through Rahab’s offspring that we find King David (his father born of Rahab).

Faith and gifts are similar.

The presences of the gifts of God do not determine a person’s character. So whilst the gifts of God are irrevocable, the character of God is not.

Godly Character must precede the gifts of God

I remember growing up in my church and how eager I was for the opportunity to minister in the gifts of the spirit. But also the frustrations I had as my mentors and leaders were always careful not to expose me too soon.

They were waiting to God’s character in me to be developed, and my eagerness and mostly often got in the way.

Eg: my prayer of 2014 to lose weight

Before God was able to fix my poor eating habits he had to deal with an inner my inner pain and emotions. My overeating was a sign that I had over problems that God wanted to deal with.

Within the church today we find many of the behaviours that were exhibited in the Corinthian church.

Jesus said in Matthew 24, referring to the last days, “the love of many shall grow cold”.

God is Love, Chapter 13 is the Love Chapter!

After we read on from chapter 12 of Corinthians we come to what we commonly call the love chapter. This is the small chapter 13 which we often recite at weddings or engagement parties as two people choose to become one.

As we read chapter 13:4-7 we soon realise that the characteristics of a loving relationship when combined often feel impossible to achieve. Perhaps even to say that it is only God that can love so perfectly, so permanently and so powerfully.

Truth is when we are under pressure, or being pressed by the trials of life, is the true measure of who we are. That is the true litmus test.

When this true character of a person is revealed, it’s an opportunity for God to expose our weaknesses and develop our character.

It is these characteristics of God’s love which is revealed in chapter 13 and it is these which God desires to develop in you and me.

Jesus’ Character was revealed in His temptation in the Dessert.

I believe it is no mistake that after the temptation of Christ that we see Christ enter into his formal ministry.

Christ very character was revealed in his responses to the devil’s temptation, stating every time, ‘it is written’. Showing that it was not about his own humanity but about the love the Father has for humanity.

Not neglecting that according to Jewish tradition and culture that Jesus had been declared by the Father as His beloved son and was at the age of maturity.

Sometimes when we listen to some scholars speak on the character of God as being different to the character of Christ.

God is often seen as some irate old man with a stick to punish rather than the loving and compassionate Christ.

There often appears a disparity between God the Father and God the Son, but why?

How is it that we can believe this disparity when Christ declares again and again ‘I only do what I see my Father doing’?

Christ' life was a reflection of the Father and this is seen in His love and compassion for those He encountered.

Eg the woman caught in adultery of John 8:3 whom the teachers of the law were ready to stone.

This is but one example of the compassion Jesus showed to those around him. This is the very heart of the Father to us His creation. Even from the beginning of time has His plan of redemption been unfolding as we read in the Garden of Eden when God provided a sacrifice for Adam and Eve for their sin.

We know the classic scriptures of John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16 which speak of God's desire to redeem us from our sin and slavery. But do we truly recognise the Father's and not just the son's compassion for each of us. It is this compassion in laying down our lives and daily taking up our own cross that we are called to follow Christ. When those around us see this sacrificial love in our lives they will respond.

Conclusion

It is out of this character that God develops that we are called to minister.

Not based on what we do but who we are in Him. As sons and daughters of God, we are to reflect God’s presence and character in all we do and say.

As Paul the apostle wrote to the church in Philippi, my paraphrasing, I haven’t yet perfected it, but I continue to push into the high calling I have in Christ Jesus, heavenward to seeing all of His kingdom and benefits at work in my life.

May we all in these last days remember that it was God’s love that changed our worlds and it continues to be God’s love in us which will change the world and those around us. Let us, in the power and grace of our Lord Jesus and the enduring help we have in the Holy Spirit to press on to that high calling of love!