BLURRY MIRRORS LIE TO YOU

TODAY’S READING: Job 39; Job 40; 1 Corinthians 13; 1 Corinthians 14

SCRIPTURE: 1 CORINTHIANS 13:11-13

“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.  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.

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

OBSERVATION:

We can sometimes use our “Spiritual Maturity” as a point of division.  We can sometimes be frustrated at people’s lack of progress in their lives.  After all, shouldn’t they have it a little more together by this point in their walk with God?  “What do you mean you struggle in your faith?  And you don’t speak in tongues?  You’ve never given a prophetic word in church?”

The truth is that we are all in the same boat to God.  We all smell like sheep.  All of these things that we build ourselves upon and diminish others against will all pass away.  When all is said and done we will see how blurry our mirror was that told us we are right, and mature, and got it all together.  The only thing that we can truly rely on is faith, hope, & love.  Mostly love.

Faith, because it believes beyond our own goodness and ability.  Hope, because it acknowledges that there is something inherently wrong with us while believing that God can make us right.  Finally, love, because all the faith and all the hope in the world is meaningless if we do not have the ability to give and receive love - that is the intent of relationship.

APPLICATION:

I need to make sure that I have patience with others, knowing that I am a work in progress as well.  God has a lot left to do in my life.  I need to have a faith and a hope that is deeply rooted in God’s ability to make all of us better than we are.  I need to make sure that love is at the core of every relationship - that it is the motivating force in my behavior, interactions, and conversations with people.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for giving me me a faith beyond myself and a hope in your ability to change me.  Help me to continue to grow and develop in those areas of my life.  In Jesus name - AMEN!