Nice & Wavy
Well-Known Member
I wrote this a few months back....looks like its needed here again.
*********************
I Corinthians 13
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.
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.
But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.
Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
************************************************** ***
There is this view of the Church that looks to the first church and states: "We should be more like them." In so many ways there are commendable things that we can learn from the early church. They were people who were willing to die and martyr for their faith. The passion that they had for Christ was powerful. But often these views believe that the early Christian church was without conflict and that every one got along wonderfully. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
A case in point is the church in Corinth. This was one of the first congregations that Paul started. Most of us love the words of the letter to the church at Corinth. We love Paul's description of love and it is read at most of the weddings that we go to. But we should not be sentimental about it. This letter was written to a group of battling church members who were in a "I'mma bout to take you down" mode.
When we look at that letter, Paul spoke about something specific and he said "Now we see in a mirror dimly." We are familiar with mirrors and their ability to reflect an image. The mirrors that we have today are made of glass and chrome so it gives us a clear reflection. The mirrors that Paul knew were more than likely made of brass that was highly polished. In spite of the polished finish, the mirror did not give a clear image. Details and images was often distorted. This was the mirror that Paul had in mind when he wrote those words: "Now we see in a mirror dimly."
He was stating that our perspective, our understanding, our experience is neither perfect nor complete. Rather it is fuzzy and often distorted as the image in a brass mirror. To the Christians battling it out in Corinth, he was saying "You are all seeing each other, but none of you has the complete picture. The reason you are fighting is because you believe you are right."
Christians fight and have fought for centuries believing that they were right and that everyone else was wrong. Christians fight when we believe that we, need to see and experience God in the same way. The truth is, we do not walk the same paths in life. The truth is that none of us has the same experience of God.
I am coming to believe that with most christian conflicts, one can find truth in both sides. But one also finds a degree of arrogance that asserts that my experience of God, my experience of Christ is the right one. "I'm right, you're wrong."
It is only from this that we see the call to love makes sense. Paul reveals to us that it is love that helps us as Christians. Why? Because none of us has the monopoly on the truth. All of us have a limited experience. All of us ultimately see in that mirror dimly, and when we act as though we have the ultimate final clear picture of things, that is when the conflict begins.
Paul's command to love each other included many virtues: patience, kindness, endurance, hope and belief. These are the virtues that should characterize our behavior with each other.
Christians will disagree. These disagreements can lead to conflict and fighting, and that is why we need to be patient with each other, but not only each other, but with everyone. Kindness and being civil towards each other, should be the characteristics of our walk as believers in Jesus Christ.
However, there are behaviors we need to avoid. Arrogance is one. This is the attitude that no one can be right but me. Paul lists other behaviors to avoid, but the one that jumps out at me is "irritable". We all have hot spots. We all have those things, those issues that set us off...no one is exempt. I am convinced that each of us has some chip on our shoulder, and woe be to the one who knocks it off. Being an irritable Christian isn't a good look on us...we don't wear it well at all.
(I'm not talking about you, just someone you know) words from Pastor Paul Shepherd
I truly believe that Paul's message has urgency for our time. Christians fight, but so does the rest of the world. We fight and disagree about many things, trying to be appealing to truth and justice. I truly believe that as the church, we need to be models for the rest of the world. We need to be the witness that God intended for us as the Church. We are called to show the rest of the world that we can disagree without biting and consuming one another. But if we are to do this we will have to acknowledge with humility that we (individually and collectively) see ourselves the way we really are, not how we think we look.
We need to commit ourselves to love.
I truly hope this blesses those who read it as much as it was a blessing for me to share my heart with you!
Nice & Wavy
*********************
I Corinthians 13
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.
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.
But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.
Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
************************************************** ***
There is this view of the Church that looks to the first church and states: "We should be more like them." In so many ways there are commendable things that we can learn from the early church. They were people who were willing to die and martyr for their faith. The passion that they had for Christ was powerful. But often these views believe that the early Christian church was without conflict and that every one got along wonderfully. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
A case in point is the church in Corinth. This was one of the first congregations that Paul started. Most of us love the words of the letter to the church at Corinth. We love Paul's description of love and it is read at most of the weddings that we go to. But we should not be sentimental about it. This letter was written to a group of battling church members who were in a "I'mma bout to take you down" mode.
When we look at that letter, Paul spoke about something specific and he said "Now we see in a mirror dimly." We are familiar with mirrors and their ability to reflect an image. The mirrors that we have today are made of glass and chrome so it gives us a clear reflection. The mirrors that Paul knew were more than likely made of brass that was highly polished. In spite of the polished finish, the mirror did not give a clear image. Details and images was often distorted. This was the mirror that Paul had in mind when he wrote those words: "Now we see in a mirror dimly."
He was stating that our perspective, our understanding, our experience is neither perfect nor complete. Rather it is fuzzy and often distorted as the image in a brass mirror. To the Christians battling it out in Corinth, he was saying "You are all seeing each other, but none of you has the complete picture. The reason you are fighting is because you believe you are right."
Christians fight and have fought for centuries believing that they were right and that everyone else was wrong. Christians fight when we believe that we, need to see and experience God in the same way. The truth is, we do not walk the same paths in life. The truth is that none of us has the same experience of God.
I am coming to believe that with most christian conflicts, one can find truth in both sides. But one also finds a degree of arrogance that asserts that my experience of God, my experience of Christ is the right one. "I'm right, you're wrong."
It is only from this that we see the call to love makes sense. Paul reveals to us that it is love that helps us as Christians. Why? Because none of us has the monopoly on the truth. All of us have a limited experience. All of us ultimately see in that mirror dimly, and when we act as though we have the ultimate final clear picture of things, that is when the conflict begins.
Paul's command to love each other included many virtues: patience, kindness, endurance, hope and belief. These are the virtues that should characterize our behavior with each other.
Christians will disagree. These disagreements can lead to conflict and fighting, and that is why we need to be patient with each other, but not only each other, but with everyone. Kindness and being civil towards each other, should be the characteristics of our walk as believers in Jesus Christ.
However, there are behaviors we need to avoid. Arrogance is one. This is the attitude that no one can be right but me. Paul lists other behaviors to avoid, but the one that jumps out at me is "irritable". We all have hot spots. We all have those things, those issues that set us off...no one is exempt. I am convinced that each of us has some chip on our shoulder, and woe be to the one who knocks it off. Being an irritable Christian isn't a good look on us...we don't wear it well at all.
(I'm not talking about you, just someone you know) words from Pastor Paul Shepherd
I truly believe that Paul's message has urgency for our time. Christians fight, but so does the rest of the world. We fight and disagree about many things, trying to be appealing to truth and justice. I truly believe that as the church, we need to be models for the rest of the world. We need to be the witness that God intended for us as the Church. We are called to show the rest of the world that we can disagree without biting and consuming one another. But if we are to do this we will have to acknowledge with humility that we (individually and collectively) see ourselves the way we really are, not how we think we look.
We need to commit ourselves to love.
I truly hope this blesses those who read it as much as it was a blessing for me to share my heart with you!
Nice & Wavy
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