June 26th, 2008
Of tongues and love.
In alot of ways, I think my christian cousin is a great exemplary for other christians.
I am always amazed at how I, a christian who speaks in tongues, can pray, talk about God with a christian (my cousin) who does not speak in tongues.
I hold my cousin in high regard because, though she does not speak in tongues, she displays love, and she displays the goodness of Christ.
For the Bible is true about this,
1 Corinthians 13
Love
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.
Though she does not speak in tongues (which is contrary to what I believe), she has love. She has love for my family members who are christians and non-christians. She displays the characteristics of love (being patient, kind, not boasting and envying, not proud, not easily angered etc).
And now these 3 remain : faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. I always believe that as a christian, I can do many things, and profess many things, and behave in a right way, but if I have no genuine love for people, then I am nothing but an empty shell.
My cousin, in this aspect, is far more Christ-like, than many christians who speak in tongues and yet not show love.
For God is the perfect expression of Love, and in essence, God is Love.
John 4:16b - God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
We who love God, must love His people too. Yes, even those who are unlovable.