Right Perspective

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love [for others growing out of God’s love for me], then I have become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal [just an annoying distraction]. 1 CORINTHIANS 13:1 AMP

The Christian life is a rich experience. It exposes you to grace on various levels, helping you see God in different dimensions, and boosting your relationships with other people. I have never seen anyone who showed off his inner convictions just being by himself alone; the test of the inner quality is always revealed by the strength of the outer relationships. It is in this context that today's extract makes sense. It appears that we are no longer seeking to make impact God's way; we now want to be known, recognized and celebrated.

Rather than appreciate our differences and understand that it is in our differences that God's amazing power and grace are best seen, we now build closed empires and shut out others who don't align with our point of view or share our own convictions. Our gifts, given for the edification of the church and to aid the maturing process of the people whose lives they were meant to bless, now become bargaining chips on how much we earn, or how much control we can have.

Tongues is a gift from God, and is one of the many given for the edification and strengthening of the body of Christ. In so many New Testament passages, particularly after the Pentecost experience, this became one of the many early gifts given to people who identified with the message of Christ. The decision to give was God's; and he decided who and when to give. If I understand this, on what grounds do I stand to manipulate the gifts to my advantage? On what grounds do I use the gift in any other way, except in God's love towards other people? Note today's extract: I can have the best of the Christian graces, and yet my life will have no impact whatsoever. It all depends on the environment in which my life's impact is sown.

Love is the defining difference. It does not matter what else I have or don't have; when love is absent, noise is the only thing left. Man can stand up and applaud my presentation, diction and grammatical construction, but if not done in sincere love, defined by God, I have only made noise. It is my heart, not my tongue, that makes the greatest impact. Because the heart is unseen, I must take care of it, and ensure that what it produces is such that God can use to bless others. Anything else is a waste of time and divine resources. His time of favour is here.