In the midst of his discourse to the Corinthians and all their problems, Paul gives them the famous chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. What is the essential message here? More important, how can we apply this to our lives and worship today?

Fundamentally Christianity is a message of love.  No matter how much knowledge or culture we may obtain this truth is something that we can never escape. Paul mentions things that Christians do, but when these things are devoid of love they become meaningless. While we may do good things, we must remember that love is the essential thing.

In order to apply this we must take this divine principle of love and use it to examine our lives (2 Cor 13:5). When it comes to worship are we creating an atmosphere of love and devotion to God or are we creating a place of fear and judgement? As we look at ourselves and as we look at our worship and compare it to this divine principle we  see where we fall short. Even though we fall short God helps us in our deficiencies.

How much does unselfish love for others impact your daily life? That is, how much of your own time and energy do you spend on seeking to minister to others? How much of self are you willing to renounce, all for the good of other people? It is not so easy, is it?

I will have to admit that this is something that I need to work on. It is easy to get caught up in our own needs and our own worries and our own struggles and forget the world around us. Though we are messed up people God promises that He will be with us to help us in our every difficulty.

Prayer: Father thank you for the example of love that you have given us in Jesus Christ. Help us to demonstrate this love to all and in all that we do. Thank you in Jesus name amen.