JUN 28

1 Corinthians 16:14
Memorise 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
“we need to serve with love and out of love as well”

1 Corinthians 13:13 says that “the greatest of these is charity”. Indeed, charity or love is the greatest Christian attribute of all because our God Himself is love. 1 John 4:7-8 says that “for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love”. He performed the greatest act of love when He sent His only begotten Son to die for us. 1 John 4:10 says, “herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins”. When we do something in love, we are imitating God. Paul exhorts the Corinthian church to do all things with love. Not some things but all things. He encouraged them to conduct all church affairs in love and not in strife or vainglory. This would include worship service, interacting with one another, church meetings and all types of service in the church. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 explains exactly how to do all things with love. We should be longsuffering, kind, not envious, not proud, not selfish, not easily provoked, not thinking evil of others and rejoicing in truth.

We need to serve with love and out of love as well. What happens when we do not serve in charity? If love is not the motivating factor behind our actions, it will not take much to stop us from serving. If we only serve out of a sense of duty or obligation, we will very soon burn out and lose our desire to serve. We need to serve out of love for God and for our fellow brethren. If we do that, we will find that we will never find service burdensome or lose our patience with others. On the flip side, if we find that we have lost our joy in serving and start to become frustrated with others, we need to take a step back and reexamine our hearts. We may have forgotten why and how to serve. Let us then always be led back to charity and realign our motives for serving again. Let us remember that love is not just a feeling but it requires action on our part and effort to keep it in our hearts.

Thought: Do you practise true charity as described in 1 Corinthians 13:4- 7 when you serve in church?
Prayer: Lord, teach me to love as Thou love and help me to bring this love into my service to Thee.