If we have all but this: Love, then we have nothing

13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have 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 do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. 

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

    

 Have you ever been in a Church that is rich in the Spiritual giftings, rich in knowledge, faith and yet somehow misses the biggie?  According  to Paul and his insights on love, we would benefit greatly if we paid attention to this one very profound scripture highlighted above.  A Church that boasts in such blessings as giftings given by the Spirit and has great knowledge and great faith and has one vision only will suffer if it does not have love within it's members.  That Church can grow cold, narrow minded, and enter into the very thing Christians ought not to...self righteousness, and seeking only those "giftings" that are supernatural and God-given can in and of itself be a trap.  I say this with the utmost caution because I have seen it and have been involved in that very thing.  It never started out to be that way but it eventually digressed into a very "lawful church" that in the beginning stressed Spirit that gives life over law that brings death.  How did this happen?  When as a group of 20 and thirty somethings we had in the beginning such newfound freedoms  free from the trappings of traditions (normally associated with "mainline" Church)  and a sense of the "realness of God" in our midst and the gifting of the Holy Spirit as well that added so much to the Christian walk and the building up of the Saints.  Over time this sense of being closer to God because of his presence and giftings this Church  was infused with something that was very subtle and insidious.  It began to form a Church that would not, could not,  and never would build with others. Period.  What had started out as revelatory and inspiring and community based scripture based, turned instead into a somehwhat paranoid group of people, with a government of Church heirarchy that was pyramidal and upside down.  In other words the group supported at all costs the leader and his vision. What had happened in this Church was scary.  Love was lost and the ministry that upheld a particular vision was walling off all other valid ministries available both within and without.   

                            Love keeps no record of wrongs.......... 

     When love is perfected and comes from the one who commanded "that we love one another" as I have loved you, then rest assured that a healthy Church will prevail.  The one whom Jesus loved...John bears testimony to this.

     9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister[b] is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister[c] lives in the light,and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.