Love Is Above All

Our present culture puts a high premium on knowledge; but when it is knowledge not combined with God’s wisdom, it is next to worthless. God says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and fools die for lack of knowledge. Furthermore, Paul writes in I Corinthians 13:8, “Love never fails…whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.” So in the end, love will never fail us, but knowledge will be done away with. Now this is not to say believers are to sit back on their laurels and say, ‘I belong to God, therefore I do not need knowledge.’ Of course we need to study, and study hard; but be astute as to what you are learning. We know that anything learned from Scripture will never fail us. The Bible has everything we need for life and godliness; and it is to be taken in, not to make us proud and puffed up, but to edify and build up. Knowledge alone is an insufficient basis for proper behavior for Christians. Now the Corinthian believers knew the true God, and they were living among much idol worship. So in order to get along in the contemporary culture they thought they really had to set themselves apart from it; but they were negating the fact that love is above all things. And we are to edify one another with our love. Someone has said, “Knowledge is proud that it has learnt so much. Wisdom is humble that it knows no more.” “Love edifies both the giver and the recipient of that love. Genuine love for God can be seen in a genuine loving concern for the spiritual welfare of God’s children.” (Dr. Robert Gromacki). “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4). If marriage partners always held the other’s welfare above their own, it would do away with divorce. If parents had their children’s interests ahead of their own; and vice versa, the children had their parents’ interests uppermost in their mind, families would remain intact. If friends had that same view, much sorrow could be averted. Likewise, if strangers could see the other party’s viewpoint, how could war ever get started? It all begins in our hearts. If we love God first and foremost, then we can love our fellow man as we should. Abide in His love! Today’s Prayer: Father, I am grateful that You loved me so much that even when I was dead in sin and trespasses, Jesus died for me. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, let that be the standard by which I love others. In Christ’s name. Amen. Pray for divine intervention in Iraq; that God’s will prevails; that both our men and women and the Iraqi people will be spared further bloodshed; that those who do not know of God’s love will turn to Him through Jesus Christ._________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ “With a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” – The Declaration of Independence