Thursday 29 August 2019

If I have not Love

If I have not love
The apostle Paul writes,
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. 
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 
But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.... 
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1Corinthians13:1-8,13.
Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, in a December 22nd 1940 sermon said,
“There is one other fundamental difference between love and hate.  Love is always a refuge.  Hate is never a refuge.  Only a mentally sick person can find refuge in his hates.  But love is the enduring sanctuary of life.  Life may rob you of many things.  It often does.  But it can never bereave us of love itself.  That remains.”Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver.
Love is a fundamental universal emotion we can all understand, atheist or theist. When love is absent horrible things can happen. An extreme example of that was the Nazi party of Germany during world war two. Their hate filled agenda led to the killing of six million Jews alone in addition to millions more in the death camps.
Their hate cause the worst war in human history in which in excess of 56,000,000 people died. Men women and children, soldier and civilian.
Today in 2019 hatred still fills the earth and not just in terrorist groups. Hate is prevalent in numerous groups in the western democracies, and even among elected politicians.
We as Christians must not tolerate hate. It is our duty as believers in Christ Jesus to present the Love of God to all people. Friend, neighbour and enemy alike.
This is what God did in sending Jesus to this world.
This is what Jesus wants us to do.
Are you?
Please think about it.

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