love is the center of all we do

Let love be your greatest aim; nevertheless, ask also for the special abilities the Holy Spirit gives, and especially the gift of prophecy, being able to preach the messages of God. (1 Corinthians 14:1)

Love is the center of all we do. But there is more that God will give us.

God gives us love. It comes from him, because he is the Source of all love. He is, in fact, love. 1 John 4 tells us that. So there is no real way to have real love in your life without having him.

You might have a simulacrum of love, something that looks like it. After all, the image of God is so pervasive in this universe that you would see ghosts of him everywhere. This universe was built by love and on love, so it stands to reason love will be in it everywhere.

Boys will love girls, parents will love children and vice-versa – there will be love in all aspects of life. But it is not the real thing. It is just reflected love.

Without God, all you have is reflected love. You don’t have real love inside if you do not have God inside.

But when you get the love of God inside, what do you do with it? He doesn’t give us his love just so we can sit around and be happy. He gives it to us so we can enjoy it first of all and share it with others second.

That is the problem with the over emphasis of tongues. They are a private thing, something you do between you and God. As Paul says later in this chapter, tongues don’t really do anybody any good except you. You talk to God and he understands you and that is good.

But how do tongues bring anyone else to the Lord? They don’t.

Paul says that if you want something useful, want prophecy. Yes, tongues are good and he mentions that he speaks in tongues as much as anybody, but it is prophecy, or preaching, that brings people to Jesus.

You want something useful, want prophecy. If you really want to be an effective child of God, desire the ability to tell others about Jesus. That is the gift that brings others into the kingdom.