Week One: 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 If I Have Not Love

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” Esv.

In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 the Greek word used for love is agape. Paul wrote an entire chapter on love to point out that even if christians possessed spiritual gifts, those were of no use to them if they used the gifts for selfish gain. The concept of having a spiritual gift is not common in today’s western church. I believe this is in part because of selfishness. The western church is caught up in selfish gain. Just look at doctrines that teach prosperity as a blessing or manifesting as a way to ask for blessings. Paul is clearly speaking against selfishness in regards to how the church is to operate.

Mommas, you are blessed with spiritual gifts to help raise kids who love the Lord. You know better than anyone what it means to be charitable. Being a mom is sacrifice. Yet somehow I look at the kids who surround my own children in the church and sometimes I’m surprised. Are we teaching our children how to learn their spiritual gifts and use them charitably? 

I see a generation that desperately needs to return to the truth in these first three verses of the love chapter. The western church has access to most of the world’s wealth, knowledge, and freedom to help others. And you know what, mommas, we are powerful in changing the trajectory of the church. To live in the knowledge that they can do hard things and use selflessness as a tool to get through those hard tasks would be a blessing. We can raise a generation that knows their spiritual gifts, and use them to agape. 

I encourage you to learn more about spiritual gifts this week, or if you are someone who is aware of your own gifts then consider how you can use them to show love today. 

Here are some tools for you and the kiddos:

Bible Study - Understanding Spiritual Gifts by Kay Arthur, David Lawson, and B.J. Lawson

Link to book

Spiritual Gifts Survey - Team Ministry’s at https://gifts.churchgrowth.org/  

P.S. The blueletterbible.org site is a great resource for looking into the Greek word for love “agape”. I’m not a scholar of the language; however, and may have used the word as a verb when it’s mainly used as a noun in Corinthians. Agape also refers to a feast, so it can be hard to find the reference that speaks to it being love as a verb. If you want to look at more on the word “agape”, go to G26 reference in the dictionary section of blueletterbible.org. Happy studying!