A Daily Devotion for Friday, November 13

I Corinthians 13:1-13

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 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. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

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

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

John 6:37

“All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”

The verse from John reads differently for me today. Jesus promises that any who come to him will be accepted and never turned away. And in the verses from 1 Corinthians we are reminded how to show God’s love to others- how important it is to get the loving part fully and completely right. Maybe a slightly different way to see these common messages is to realize God sends others to us, and sends us to meet other people. If we are to be like Jesus, we are to consider all of these encounters as holy and divine invitations from God. Maybe we should think of Jesus’ words in John 6:37 and make them our own: “whoever comes (all those the Father gives me) will be accepted and never turned away.” I believe I am to show love to everyone God puts in my path, starting with a welcoming smile.

Holy Lord, you put others in my path each day. Help me to shine your light of love to all I meet. Let no one ever feel turned away, as Jesus would never turn away anyone you sent to him. Amen

Becky, transforming