Noisy Nothings

To live without love is to be a NOISY NOTHING. That is what the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not 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 have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing."

I can exercise the greatest spiritual gifts and abandon my body in life-giving sacrifice and it all count for NOTHING! A sobering thought. I can "minister" to others and it only be a loud, obnoxious NOISE to them. I can "give, give, give" and gain absolutely NO REWARD in heaven for it in the end. How? If I do all these things but "have not love."

More important than the question, "am I serving others?" is "do I LOVE others?" If my ministry is seeing no fruit perhaps the problem is lack of love. I have known believers who for all appearances had very little in the way of giftedness, but yet had a great impact on many people. Why? A "little" gift with a "lotta" love goes a long way. Too much of our (my) ministry is plagued with lovelessness.

What can a love-lacking servant of Christ do to move from being a "noisy nothing" to a bearer of much, lasting fruit?

1. The FRUIT of the Spirit is LOVE. Cry to the Father for the Spirit (Luke 11:13). He loves to give the Spirit of love to those who ask. As you face your next "ministry" opportunity...stop and pray for God to give you the help of His Spirit.

2. Meditate often and deeply on God's love for you. We love because He first loved us (1John 4:19). Think of the One who spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for you (Romans 8:32). Think of the One who knew no sin but became sin for you (2Corinthians 5:21). To know His love is to be transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another (2Corinthians 3:17-18).

3. Remember that love is not first of all a feeling (yet when healthy and free it feels plenty!) but a choice to act for the good of others. God so loved the world that He GAVE (John 3:16). I can love those I do not at present like. That is, I can act for the good of someone I feel little positive feelings for. God has given to us a spirit of power, LOVE, and self-control. I have power to love. I have power to act, to speak, to pray for even my enemies.

4. Develop real relationships. It is easy to live in a world of critical, judgmental, arm's length relationships. I can easily lack love towards those I live at a distance from. Perhaps your family past is shallow. Perhaps you don't know how to develop close relationships. Be honest about it. Ask for mentoring in love. Cling to Christ for the safety your heart needs when launching out into the deep of real-life relationships with others, even in the church. But decide that you will live in a fantasy world no longer. There is hope for the most love-less amongst us in the grace and Spirit-supply of our Father and our Lord.

May God be pleased to transform us "noisy nothings" into lavish lovers for His name's sake.