Why Not Now: Prioritizing My Relationship with the Church - Tuesday
1 Corinthians 13:1
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (NLT)
A noisy gong or clanging cymbal takes me back to the many concerts I’ve attended. I love live music and the artistry displayed by each member of a band, and the harmony they can create together to perform their songs. Picture this: A band is up on stage at a local county fair. People are milling about—some are interested and waiting for the performance to begin, while others are chasing down a funnel cake. The band finally takes the stage… but before they can even start, the sound system lets out a massive feedback screech. That jarring, repulsive sound impacts the people bought-in and enthusiastic about the performance just as much as it impacts the people eating deep-fried Twinkies, totally uninterested in the band at all.
A church that lacks love is very similar to the hypothetical above—it’s blaringly obvious to everyone that something is wrong, and everybody wants to avoid it. A church is obviously composed of the people who consider themselves part of it, which is why we emphasize loving people. As we talked about yesterday, God primarily asks us to love Him by loving others, and scripture backs that up from the Old Testament (Leviticus 19:18) to the New Testament (1 Corinthians 13:13). The benefit of a church that’s unanimous in its commitment to love others is the substantial impact that collective effort can have. One person loving their neighbor is awesome, but when a group of people come together to intentionally love a neighborhood—or even more, love their city—the impact is all the more powerful.
Loving people is hard, and God knows that as well—I’m certainly aware that I can be hard to love at times, too! And almost everyone has had plenty of experience with pain caused by loving others. It certainly isn’t a flippant or insignificant request to love others, but when we start doing it really well, we truly become an example of God’s love in people’s lives. You’ll reap the benefits, too, as you learn to see the good in people and see that your actions can bring true change in the world and in the people around you. The world needs it; you and I need it. Loving more can really change things—so let’s start today!
Tuesday’s Reflection
Think about a time when you were the one that was hard to love, but someone loved you anyway. How did that make you feel, and how did it appear to impact the person who extended that love to you? Now think about who in your life could really benefit from selfless kindness and love, and make a plan to start extending that to them.
