So the question is: What does God find as success?
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Am I loving like I should? Am I investing in the things God would invest in? What is God really going to look at when everything is over? How much I had? How many people came to the church I was a part of? If I do not have love then I have nothing and I have invested a lot of time and energy into meaningless and unworthy task that God would not even consider worthy of sacrifice.
Malachi 1:7-8 "You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that the Lord's table is contemptible. 8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty.
How would seeking after love change everything about me? How I spend my time, money, and energy? Learn to love God and you will love what He loves. Love is what makes your sacrifice acceptable to Him, not the fact you accomplished a task.
What are you succeeding at? Is it worth it in God's eyes? Are you sure?
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This post brings to mind our young Christ-following friends that are soon heading off to college. We have noticed that those who continue on in deepening faith are people who have the spiritual skills and theological tools to engage the brokenness of the world; artistically, politically, economically, sociologically and on and on, in the name of Christ.
ReplyDeleteThe college years are critical years as so much of who you will be, what you will believe, and how you will live for the rest of life, is being shaped. For you who are serious about God and the worldview that grows out of the word of God, listen and learn to the saints who have gone before you. And above all, make sure that your every experience as a student; every class you take, every book you read, every friend you make, serves to deepen your love for what God loves. That is what the college years are really all about.
"For when there is a question as to whether a man is good, one does not ask what he believes, or what he hopes, but what he loves."
-St. Augustine