The Greatest Is Love

 

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

 

The greatest proof of the presence of the Holy Spirit in an individual or a congregation is the expression of Holy Spirit directed love. There of course were other manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the individuals at the church in Corinth, but in the rest of the love chapter, we will see that love trumps and outlasts them all!

Remember, love is not a feeling. It is action marked by a willingness to serve others in accordance with the instructions found in God’s Word. What we have been looking at over the past months’ worth of these devos is the attitudes that accompanies Holy Spirit directed loving actions.

These are the same attitudes that marked the love of Christ when He came to serve and give Himself up as a ransom for all. (1 Tim 2:6)

 

God is love. Jesus is God’s love personified in attitude and action and that’s why the love chapter can conclude with this statement. 1Co 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

 

The greatest is love! Yes while we are on this side of heaven, by all means live in faith, and live in hope. Because we hope and live for when the perfect will come….namely love personified, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Think about it, there will be no need for faith in heaven and no need for hope, for faith will be our transport and our hope will have been fully realized, but love is another story. It will be the saints permanent eternal state, it’s the ultimate goal for every believer  and that makes it greater than anything else. Now we love in part, but then we will know what it is to love our God fully. No wonder john prayed at the end of the Book of Revelation, “Come Lord Jesus.”

 

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word