February 21, 2022 -- I Corinthians 14:1a -- Appropriate for Family Day

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts
I Corinthians 14:1a ESV

This fragment of the first verse of I Corinthians 14 is a summary of what has been explained in the previous two chapters. The people of God are the family of God and they belong to one another. They are assembled at the good pleasure of the Father in heaven. They are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ and so are reconciled to God. The redeemed in Christ are reconciled to one another in the family of faith. Very appropriate for Family Day, or Heritage Day. Believers in Jesus Christ are also reconciled within to their own hearts so that former sins and wayward rebelliousness against God is not remembered but one’s whole life is given in service to Jesus in the power of the Spirit.

So, believer, pursue love. Step out and make sure the people in Christ who are part of your local body of believers know they are welcome and belong because you speak to them, care for them, spend your strength offering spiritual gifts to them.

That is the point. Love is just a word, nearly meaningless unless there is a force of action behind it. Facebook users know they can click a like or love or care icon and someone else’s post is affirmed, noticed, or challenged. It costs the one clicking the icon nothing. There is no personal interaction in this activity. This is not what pursuing love looks like in the New Testament, or among believers today. That is why the second phrase is so important, before Paul continues his teaching.

Earnestly desire spiritual gifts. When you are a teacher, you show love by showing up and teaching with respect and tenderness so others grow in the faith. The use of the spiritual gift is love in action. If you are hospitable, you invite others into your home, feed them, listen to them, make them feel part of the family of God. That is love in action. The manifestation of the Spirit, that is, the evidence that the Spirit of God is living in you, is revealed when you use your spiritual gift for the glory of God and the blessing of others and in turn, the confirmation of your own faith in Jesus Christ. So, if you are given the gift of helps—help others. If you are a prayer warrior, pray for, and also importantly pray with, those in need. It is love in action.

Many believers feel lonely—outside the family of Jesus Christ. Even those who attend church can feel distraught and isolated. If this speaks to you, I encourage you to use your spiritual gift to bless others. Fight the feelings of not being needed or valuable. Use the gifts the Spirit of God has given you. As you activate those spiritual gifts, Jesus’ beautiful redeeming work is expressed among the people God has placed in your life, the Father is glorified, and the person (or people) you help is blessed and amazingly, in God’s wonderful economy of grace, you will find you feel part of the circle of belonging as well. The strangulating feeling of isolation is destroyed because you served. This too is the mercy of God.

My God,

Thou hast helped me to see,
that whatever good be in honour
and rejoicing, how good is he who gives them,
   and can withdraw them;
that blessedness does not lie so much
   in receiving good from and in thee,
   but in holding forth thy glory and virtue;
that it is an amazing thing to see Deity
   in a creature, speaking, acting,
   filling, shining through it;
that nothing is good but thee,
that I am near good when I am near thee,
that to be like thee is a glorious thing:
This is my magnet, my attraction.

Thou art all my good in times of peace,
  my only support in days of trouble,
  my one sufficiency when life shall end.
Help me to see how good thy will is in all,
   and even when it crosses mine
   teach me to be pleased with it.
Grant me to feel thee in fire, and food and
   every providence,
   and to see that thy many gifts and creatures
   are but thy hands and fingers taking hold of me.
Thou bottomless fountain of all good,
   I give myself to thee out of love,
   for all I have or own is thine,
   my goods, family, church, self,
to do with as thou wilt,
to honour thyself by me, and by all mine.
If it be consistent with thy eternal counsels,
   the purpose of thy grace,
   and the great ends of thy glory,
   then bestow upon me the blessings of
   thy comforts;
If not, let me resign myself to
   thy wiser determinations.
THE ALL-GOOD; The Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions. Ed. Arthur Bennett; Carlisle, PA: THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST. Reprint 2020, page 4.

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