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1 Corinthians 13 Let Love Be Your Guide
I may speak in different languages, whether human or even of angels. But if I don’t have
love, I am only a noisy bell or a ringing cymbal. I may have the gift of prophecy, I may
understand all secrets and know everything there is to know, and I may have faith so great
that I can move mountains. But even with all this, if I don’t have love, I am nothing. I may
give away everything I have to help others, and I may even give my body as an offering to
be burned. But I gain nothing by doing all this if I don’t have love. Love is patient and
kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, it is not
selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against
it. Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. Love
never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits. Love
will never end. But all those gifts will come to an end—even the gift of prophecy, the gift of
speaking in different kinds of languages, and the gift of knowledge. These will all end
because this knowledge and these prophecies we have are not complete. But when
perfection comes, the things that are not complete will end. When I was a child, I talked
like a child, I thought like a child, and I made plans like a child. When I became a man, I
stopped those childish ways. It is the same with us. Now we see God as if we are looking
at a reflection in a mirror. But then, in the future, we will see him right before our eyes. Now
I know only a part, but at that time I will know fully, as God has known me.
As Christians living in a world of self-destruction created by human greed for obscene power
and wealth at others expense, do we settle to sound like a clanging bell ringing out so much,
but the truth is “when all’s said and done theirs more said than done,” do we puff our chests
out and let everyone know how much we are doing but secretly we have lost hope and trust
in God’s power. How easy is it in these days to hang on to faith and hope and continue to
thrive in the love of God and believe that Jesus loves you and that love never gives up?
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