Yesterday, in my devotions I read in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 and this part really hit me:
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
I have read this passage before, but I began to think about it, and I realized that we can do as much to serve God as our bodies can take or even more, but if we don't have love (the definition of charity in these verses) it doesn't matter at all. If we don't do these things out of love for God and the people we are helping, then the things we do are pointless. These verses so struck me that I read them again this morning and it is helping me to do the right thing for the right reason.
It hit me hard because I am not always a loving person. I usually only do things because I have to. I really need to work on this as well. This is very important. I think we should all examine our lives with these verses. Also, my pastor said that you could use these verses to examine yourselves as well:
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
He said to see if you could put your name in the place of Charity and see if it's still true. Like this:
4 Eldaah (put your name here) suffereth long, and is kind; Eldaah envieth not; Eldaah vaunteth not itself, Eldaah is not puffed up,
5 Eldaah Doth not behave himself unseemly, Eldaah seeketh not his own, Eldaah is not easily provoked, Eldaah thinketh no evil;
6 Eldaah Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Eldaah Beareth all things, Eldaah believeth all things, Eldaah hopeth all things, Eldaah endureth all things.
Then you just examine it to see if all these things are true about you. I find that most of the things are not true about me, but that helps me to know what to change. I'd encourage you all to try it. I'm not entirely sure about the meaning of the things in the last verse, but the rest are evident.
As I go on trying to live up to this pledge, I keep finding more and more areas I need to work on in my life. I find new faults practically every day. I suppose in a way it's good, because then I can deal with them and draw closer to Him, but I would rather that I just didn't have them at all. lol. But I have them, and I, with God's help, will fix them.
