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The Primacy of Love: Reflections on 1 Corinthians 13:3
Is piety your highest priority? Join us as we reflect on 1 Corin… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
Is it important to be pious? Well, maybe, but not as your highest priority says Paul. Let’s meditate on one Corinthians chapter 13 verse three. If I give away all I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned but have not love, I gain nothing.
Paul says, even if you have been absolutely massively generous, so generous, you’ve given everything away, but you did it without love, then that’s of no benefit. And what other motive could you have for giving everything away? Would it be for you to look good? Would it be because you thought you were in some way buying God’s favour?
None of that is the way that we need to interact with our heavenly Father. If we are to do anything good, Paul says that should come from a heart motive of love. If we are giving lots of things away, it should be because we love to do what pleases our Father, and we love the people who are receiving what we are giving. We’re not doing it with the express objective of obtaining some advantage in some way, or of staving off the “fires of hell”, if that’s the way we view it.
And speaking of fire, this odd thing about delivering up our body to be burned, whether that might be attempting to purify ourselves or whether it might be some form of martyrdom, none of that is important if we aren’t loving. We potentially can be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walking through the fire, but if we do that with wrong motives, it doesn’t benefit us and it doesn’t benefit the gospel.
Paul says, love has got to be your primary motivation. And why would he say that? If you boil down the entire 10 Commandments into two commandments, they are these. Love God, and love people. That’s the most important principle.
And so when we are doing good deeds, let us consider our motives. Why are we doing these good deeds? Do we look at them and say, haven’t I been good? Watch out, says Paul. That’s not going to help you. And there is a better way.
