“Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.”
The way of love is a major theme to all we have been reading in this book. Whether we’ve been talking about wisdom, knowledge, the Lord’s Supper, Spiritual gifts or church discipline, love has been the constant drum beat. It starts with the love that God has shown us in Jesus, and then flows to the love we release to God and to others. Now Paul turns our eyes to the application of love with two spiritual gifts and also to worship.
What does love have to do with desiring spiritual gifts – especially the gift of prophecy? God gives us our gifts to serve Him and one another. That happens in the context of our day-to-day lives as we serve one another, work hard to the glory of God, and apply our abilities to care for our families, feed them, give them shelter, etc. The use of these gifts is an expression of love. This is part of God’s design. We help, edify, and build up one another because of the love of God.
The gift of prophecy is one of the important ways we do this because in this gift we actually speak God’s Word. This is the Word that gives life, forgiveness and salvation. This is the Word that is, “living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, dividing soul and spirit, joint and marrow.” This is the Word that alternately convicts us of our sins or comforts us with God’s love. This is the Word where the Spirit of God dwells to call, gather, and enlighten us as the disciples, and create faith in those who hear. John tells us these things have been written down that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and by believing we may have faith in His name, and in Romans we are reminded that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
Prophecy is an important gift when we think about how we love others. By prophecy – the speaking of the Word of God – we help to rescue people from sin, death and Hell, and help to lead them to eternal life. God’s Word actually does the work, but we become the messenger that brings that Word. That’s cool!
So tongues and all the other gifts are exciting and wonderful, after all God gives them, and God does not give bad gifts! The gift of prophecy, however, communicates the love and gives the grace that moves us so that others may receive Jesus’ salvation. Some of the other gifts may be more glamorous – speaking in tongues, healing, miracles – but even these, in love, are meant to draw people to hear God’s Word and be called out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Worship is an important context in which this happens. It is therefore important that worship be orderly in order to not obscure the message. In love we want people to receive the Word of Life so that they might be strengthened, comforted, refreshed and re-sent as God’s people, because we live by the power of the Word.
That sparks a thought for me. How can we give that which we do not have? We can’t. Right? All this talk about love and prophecy and service . . . how do we live this out? What we are doing right now is absolutely foundational to that. To share God’s love, we must receive it. To proclaim God’s Word, we must hear it. To serve God and one another, we must first be served by Jesus.
Do not underestimate the power of the Word – the power of the Holy Spirit – to change us, shape us, and renew us in Jesus. What a marvelous gift our Father has given us!
The way of love is a major theme to all we have been reading in this book. Whether we’ve been talking about wisdom, knowledge, the Lord’s Supper, Spiritual gifts or church discipline, love has been the constant drum beat. It starts with the love that God has shown us in Jesus, and then flows to the love we release to God and to others. Now Paul turns our eyes to the application of love with two spiritual gifts and also to worship.
What does love have to do with desiring spiritual gifts – especially the gift of prophecy? God gives us our gifts to serve Him and one another. That happens in the context of our day-to-day lives as we serve one another, work hard to the glory of God, and apply our abilities to care for our families, feed them, give them shelter, etc. The use of these gifts is an expression of love. This is part of God’s design. We help, edify, and build up one another because of the love of God.
The gift of prophecy is one of the important ways we do this because in this gift we actually speak God’s Word. This is the Word that gives life, forgiveness and salvation. This is the Word that is, “living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, dividing soul and spirit, joint and marrow.” This is the Word that alternately convicts us of our sins or comforts us with God’s love. This is the Word where the Spirit of God dwells to call, gather, and enlighten us as the disciples, and create faith in those who hear. John tells us these things have been written down that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and by believing we may have faith in His name, and in Romans we are reminded that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
Prophecy is an important gift when we think about how we love others. By prophecy – the speaking of the Word of God – we help to rescue people from sin, death and Hell, and help to lead them to eternal life. God’s Word actually does the work, but we become the messenger that brings that Word. That’s cool!
So tongues and all the other gifts are exciting and wonderful, after all God gives them, and God does not give bad gifts! The gift of prophecy, however, communicates the love and gives the grace that moves us so that others may receive Jesus’ salvation. Some of the other gifts may be more glamorous – speaking in tongues, healing, miracles – but even these, in love, are meant to draw people to hear God’s Word and be called out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Worship is an important context in which this happens. It is therefore important that worship be orderly in order to not obscure the message. In love we want people to receive the Word of Life so that they might be strengthened, comforted, refreshed and re-sent as God’s people, because we live by the power of the Word.
That sparks a thought for me. How can we give that which we do not have? We can’t. Right? All this talk about love and prophecy and service . . . how do we live this out? What we are doing right now is absolutely foundational to that. To share God’s love, we must receive it. To proclaim God’s Word, we must hear it. To serve God and one another, we must first be served by Jesus.
Do not underestimate the power of the Word – the power of the Holy Spirit – to change us, shape us, and renew us in Jesus. What a marvelous gift our Father has given us!
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