I Am Nothing

If you have been to more than one wedding in your lifetime there is no doubt you have heard 1 Corinthians 13 or “The Love Chapter.” We often use this chapter to measure how much we love or don’t love the person we are dating, engaged to, or married to. Well believe it or not this chapter, while applicable to, is not limited to a marriage. Yeah, I was shocked too. Kinda. I mean I knew it wasn’t just about couples, but I had never applied it to my friendships and the way I love people.

As we stood and read the chapter as a class the other day I was almost giggling to myself because I could see where I had failed in every single one of the love areas that week. I was giggling to keep from crying because it was actually quite sad haha. Oh the irony. Anyway, I have tried to be more aware of how my actions reflect love. I am working on memorizing the attributes to keep in my head so I can filter my actions through them so I that they are loving and reflect God’s nature. That’s a lot of work. It doesn’t come natural…that’s for sure. I think my main problem is that I try to love people on my own. Well, I’m beginning to realize that it takes a pursuit of God and the Holy Spirit to empower me to love people. We all know it is against our nature to be selfless…especially in a world that is currently popularizing the phrase “I’m just gonna do me.” Yeah…that’s never really worked out for anyone. Don’t think I’ve never thought like that! I still think like that at times! I battle that mindset daily. Especially when people we care and love most hurt us, it is easy to want to slip into a mentality that is self-centered. After all these years of being a Christian, I am realizing why I have this emptiness and find that no matter how hard I try to grow closer I feel like something is missing. That would be love. I tend to get caught up in the dos and don’ts of Christianity that I fail to follow the greatest commandment.

In all reality I should be able to fill in my name for love. There are times where I display love accurately, but for the most part I struggle. Of all the things that convicted me in this passage was this,

13 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I AM ONLY A RESOUNDING GONG OR A CLANGING CYMBAL. 2 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 do not have love, I AM NOTHING. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I GAIN NOTHING.

Bottom line is I am nothing if I do not love. Wow. A resounding gong is annoying…and I’m not too fond of a clanging cymbal. I don’t want to be either of those.

No wonder I feel distant from God: I’m missing the key ingredient. I am extremely thankful and admire those people who have loved me in spite of myself. I know I’m not the most lovable creature. Thankfully God surrounds me with people who understand and live out His love better than I do. Realizing that I am not a loving person by nature isn’t the easiest thing to swallow, but it just proves to me more and more how much I really need a Savior.

Here’s a link to 1 Corinthians 13 if you would like to read it! http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20corinthians%2013&version=NIV