Week of January 28, 2007, 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13

One of the Scriptures for Sunday is 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13, often referred to as the chapter on love:
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 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 have not love, I am nothing.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 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.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
11 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 childish ways behind me.
12 Now we see but a poor 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.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Heavenly Father, thanks for Your love that You have showered down on us. Thanks for Your love evidenced through Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Help me to love – above all else – to love with kindness, with patience, with trust and perseverance. For love, Your love, Lord, never fails.

Jesus, may I think on these words often, and begin to understand the depth of love that You have for each of us, and how that love is reflected in others.

Help me, Lord, to fall more deeply in love with You. And may I be a reflection of Your love to others. And in my personal relationships with others, help me to love, respect and look for the good in others always.

Thanks for Your love, Your peace, Your presence….. Amen.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you His strength and His great peace. In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

You can leave a message or prayer request by e-mailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.
May you experience God's love in special ways this week.