2.14.2008

The Greatest Quest

"Love never fails."
-1 Corinthians 13:8

What is the number one goal in your life? What is your dream?

Maybe you want to build a successful business. Or be a teacher. Or join the Armed Forces. Or maybe you're called into the ministry. Those are great goals, but something even more important should be "your aim, your great quest" [1 Corinthians 14:1, AMP].

What is it? Living a life led by and filled with God's love.

Human love is changeable and unpredictable. On the other hand, God's love, which is the kind of love you and I should walk in, is entirely different. It doesn't act one way today and another way tomorrow. It doesn't let circumstances or emotions alter it. It is sure and consistent.

[First Corinthians 13:4-8] tells us precisely what its characteristics are. This passage of Scripture sets a very high standard for love--so high that you might be tempted to think it's beyond your reach, but it's not. In fact, if you're a Christian, it's natural for you. It's in your heart. You may not be letting it out, but it's there. When you made Jesus your Lord, God put His love inside you [Romans 5:5].

Without time with God and His Word, however, you'll naturally pull towards selfishness. We all have a natural mind that has been trained to believe things like, "You have to look out for yourself...and stick up for your own rights." Plus, Satan continually tries to draw us out of love, because he wants to steal the answers to our prayers.

The bottom line: Love is the foundation for your new life. When you walk in love, you put yourself in a place where God Himself can protect you--and then nothing can stand against you [Romans 8:31-34]. Love is the key to God's wisdom, power, and protection. No wonder the Word says, "Make it your aim, your great quest!"

Backup: [1 Corinthians 13:4-8]
"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!
"


"I eagerly desire and follow the way of love. I make it my aim and my great quest in life."


-*-*-

All the above is from the February 14 devotional from "Load Up" by Gloria Copeland. [emphasis added]

2 comments:

Will said...

Hi newbie blogger here,

Not sure how you are supposed to comment, but I'll try to add my two cents to what was said so far anyway:

"..to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." [Eph3.17]. God is love. To know God is to yield to His perfect love, which passes knowledge and drives out fear [1John4:18]. As far as love through trust goes: God is the same yesterday, today and forever! This assurence of His unchanging love towards us is something we can peacefully rest in. God loves us because of our identity in Christ Jesus. That is pretty amazing to me.

To understand the Father's heart and indeed the bible, we need to cultivate a healthy balance between His awesome love for us, and the fact that He is a holy God. Without both, we may be under the illusion that we need not fear [a respectful reference for His holiness] Him or that He is out to "get us". But indeed we do not serve, worship and have a relationship with Him out of fear, but out of this amazing love that HE indeed has introduced us to. A love that let's US choose...even choose wrongly. A love that gives us s p a c e. It is His love that win's our hearts over to obedience, as indeed in marriage (our earthly mirror of our relationship with Him) husbands are instructed to love their wives (into submittion) [Eph 5.25].

I've never thought about it this way, but in Mark 9.50 where it says (parahrasing) "..you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses it saltiness, how will it be made salty again?" Partially it is referring to us having the Father's love instilled in us, whereas a life without true, undeviled, unconditional love is pretty tasteless. But should we "loose" that love (through not establishing it as our foundation, just as the text so beautifully says), we are no good in flavouring peoples lives! We can quickly become the clanging symbol [1Cor13:1] in the room. We don't have any real value to add, but for that which is done from a heart of love, and that not from ourselves.

Have an uber-bless'd day!=)
~W I L L

Prem-aka-Prince said...

Yey you got a comment from someone you don't know! And he seems like a nice fellow! :D
Anyway, nice...'talk' again^^ (I don't know what else to call it?). Wow, you sure did have a lot of quotes in that one. So, God's love should be our goal in life? Not only is it great and unchanging, but it is also the key to everything. It only just occurred to me, but reading your interpretation of these sermons and whatnot has proven a lot more interesting than any service I ever went to. Either you have some pretty brilliant preachers around there or you're just very good at making it so! Either way, I'll add this to mind and look forward to the next one.^^

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