Let all your things be done with Charity
- 1 Corinthians 16:14
Our short but powerful verse brings our words, actions and spirits into line with the Godhead.
Interestingly, the word ‘your’ was placed in this passage, as it brings the responsibility of all our actions, words and thoughts right back to us. The Lord loves it when we take personal responsibility, as it is the one thing that permanently keeps us inside the boundaries of His desires. Fear also controls us, but that is a level below Charity which leaves as soon as the fear departs. When that happens, we revert to our usual habits.
Love is everywhere we look, except the nightly news. Even in places of conflict and devastation, we can find love in the form of missionaries and other kind-hearted people giving their all to help the oppressed, injured, parentless and homeless. The saying that love makes the world go around is as true as a saying gets.
Here is a variety of quotes on love which are not from the Bible, but some of them very true indeed.
The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in. Morrie Schwartz
love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey. Lord Byron
I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you. Roy Croft
Love is a friendship set to music. Joseph Campbell.
We are shaped and fashioned by what we love. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
When we are in love we seem to ourselves quite different from what we were before. Blaise Pascal
Love in its essence is spiritual fire. Seneca
Love recognises no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope. Maya Angelou
The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost. Gilbert K. Chesterton
All these quotes refer to one of the two loves that God is NOT referring to in our scripture. These loves are referring to either friendship or the love for a partner.
Paul is telling us to make sure all the things we do and say, and obviously think, are done with that Godly love which passes all understanding — Charity. This doesn’t simply refer to feeding the poor, as the word ‘charity’ seems to mean today. The elements of true Charity or Agape love is expressed in 1 Corinthians 13, but how do we put our scripture to use in day-to-day life?
1 Corinthians 13:8 says, "Charity never fails.”
Paul is writing this, so I am assuming he has considerable experience to sound so adamant. This scripture gives us hope when we feel as if we are getting nowhere and our work or words are falling too lightly on the deaf and blind.
Many stories come from people who recall similar experiences, where it wasn't until years later that the true worth of those works that someone else gave for free came to life. Even within our own families, if we put this scripture into practice, the Lord’s hope of consolidation and harmony would be realised. It is not for us to give up and lose hope when things don't go our way, but to maintain a charitable disposition despite resistance.
Today’s prayer: Dear Lord, thanks for this scripture. It really brings me back to reality in the things I say and do, and how I should be thinking when I do them. Please help me to honour this scripture and make it a real part of my life.
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