Love Test
What does love have to do with it?
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Paul tells the members of the church in Corinth that love has everything to do with it.
Love is not only the reason we do what we do to help and serve others, but to do so without love is meaningless.
Imagine you doing fundraising for a non-profit and someone comes up to you with a checkbook ready to make a donation. Would you ask him if he was doing it out of love?
You might not.
Paul would. He would want them to act out of love, even if it meant risking that they would walk away without donating.
Why we do what we do matters. When we do it out of love, people can tell and that can make a difference in their lives.
The other day, we had a middle school Spanish class come to work the pantry, each student assigned a job as a volunteer.
We had met with these kids in their school to talk about what they would do when they came to visit, and I told them the most important thing they can bring with them is a smile. Their joyful presence, I said, would change the mood in the room and make everyone feel good about visiting the pantry.
Their joy was infectious. And I could tell their was love in their hearts for what they were doing, and for those they were serving.
Anyone can hand out a meal or pack a bag to distribute, but it takes love to make the experience something so much greater.
Paul would have been pleased. The kids passed the love test.
What about us?
Do we go through the day doing good without feeling good?
Maybe we need to find the love first.
More to come...