“I just wished that the people that are “moved” or “used” by the Spirit can really give and show a change. I have seen people who speak in tongues, people who dance, move and… do so many things for God, but then again, where is the transformation?”
Right now, I was preparing to write what my mind has prompted me. Eventually, I came to the conclusion to pick up and recycle a post destined to give at least a plausible answer. I wrote this on February 9th, 2010, and it speaks about love. Oh, how much we need to live in it in order to thrive in revival!)
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. 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. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, NIV)
This begins one of my favorite chapters of the Bible, First Corinthians 13. It speaks about love and how important it is to the church. That’s what Paul focuses: on gifts, but most importantly, on the love that binds the gifts to God.
If I speak in tongues: Spanish and English, French and Chinese, Arabic and Swahili, but cannot love my brother, my neighbor, nor my mother, I’m worse than bad practices at the New York Symphony Orchestra!
If I can say, “God is breathing His Sprit right NOOOOOW!!!!!” and thousands fall to the ground in the new Cowboys Stadium, and I work with some of the brightest minds in the planet, and if I can say, “Mt. Everest, shrink!” –and it does!-, but I can’t pray for the President nor my enemies, it’s not worth it.
If I give a tithe to my church and another one to every charity, and if I’m killed or tortured or shot in a firing squad on Colombia because of what I preach or raped or beaten to death or enslaved by pirates on the Red Sea –all for Jesus- but can’t even love those who abuse of grace, it’s worthless, worthless, worthless!
What’s the point of having gifts if we can’t show love to those who are around us? (You may say, “better not have gifts than have them and not use them wisely with love”, but it’s pointless: God gave us gifts according to His grace.) Without love? Without God? THE SAME! Without love, the world goes to a standstill. Without God, the world would never even be on His priorities… He wouldn’t made us at His image, borne us His Spirit, saturated us with grace. He doesn’t need us… but we to Him, yes.
All is worthless without love… Even the nearest of dreams.
All is worthless without God… Even the closest of eternity.