CAN THIS BE LOVE?

1 Corinthians 13



When I was first becoming familiar with my Christianity, and was mostly living in the flesh, I read this chapter for the first time. I was surprised by the words I read and I thought to myself, “I can use this.”
And, I did. For all the wrong reasons. I used the chapter to fulfill my worldly desires.
As my faith grew, and I became less and less the old me, I would hang out on Friday and Saturday nights at the coffee counter at the old Bickford's in Kingston. There was a group of regulars that showed up and we would spend the evening talking about one thing or another.
For reasons I cannot remember, the topic of the Bible came up in conversation. I then vocalized the first three verses of chapter 13 as best I could.

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If 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.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

I know that I didn't get it right, but I conveyed the idea, which really got the chit chat rolling.
We all wanted to know what it meant to love like that, and I was determined to quote the word right, so I went out to my bike for my Bible.
As I read the whole chapter, I saw faces soften, people who were not in our little group began to listen. Heck, even the waitress stopped pouring coffee so that she could hear what God had to say.
Peace and love erupted that night at a coffee counter in a cheap diner.
That was the first experience in using the word of God.
At first I just used it, but as I said, when my faith deepened I used the word for a Godly purpose.
I am sure that we all have an experience with the first time we read these particular verses.
Remember back to that feeling. Let the love, that God wants us all to have, come to full bloom.
Read this chapter to your spouse during a quiet moment.
Love each other with a wild abandon.
Enjoy reading the word of God.