Scripture
Love Is the Greatest
1If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;[1] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages[2] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
11When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.[3] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
Translation notes (3)
- 13:3 Some manuscripts read sacrificed my body to be burned.
- 13:8 Or in tongues.
- 13:12 Greek see face to face.
He said to his disciples, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields."
We have been thinking a lot about our own loneliness this week. Today, we are shifting our focus to the loneliness of others. There are many people living their lives who are extremely lonely because they do not know Christ. They live their lives apart from Him, trying to find purpose and fulfillment from other things in the world that we know will ultimately not satisfy them. If we know Christ, then it is our job to reach out to those lonely people and introduce them to Him, a God who will never leave their side.
Matthew chapter 9 emphasizes the importance for all of us to reach out to those who are lonely, without the hope of Christ. In these verses in Matthew 9, Jesus was teaching to a crowd of people. "The harvest is great," Jesus said, "but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields". When Jesus was saying this, He was explaining that there are so many people who do not have a relationship with Him, but there are fewer people who are actually sharing their faith to these lost people. My friends, we can be the workers Jesus has asked for!
Loneliness is difficult for most anyone, but can you imagine struggling with loneliness without the hope of Jesus? My friend, we are the people who are called to share our faith. We get to reach out to those who are lonely and share with them the hope of Jesus. Let's bring the hope of Jesus to those who are lonely today!
Moving Toward Action
Call or meet up with one person today who does not know Christ. Ask them how they are doing and really listen to them. Then, share the Bridge Diagram with them, telling them about a God who is with us always. Share the hope of Christ with them today. Invite them to go to Church with you online or in person. We will see you this weekend at Sagebrush!
Going Deeper
Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (NLT)
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