If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
This is the start of one of the more popular chapters in our Bible. Although it is often read at weddings, the chapter is really more about the love God has for us and we are to have for others. All too often, I have sped through these verses to get to "the good stuff".
My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. 1 John 4:7-8 (The Message)Love for others is really the measure of our faith and our knowledge of God.
How does this all tie together? All too often, those who claim to be followers of Christ (Christians), appear too unloving. Like many of those around us, we often assume "the end" -- many times we have our favorite cause which we somehow attribute to God's cause -- "justifies the means". Instead we come across as spiritual bullies... As unloving.
As first passage I quoted points out, it doesn't really matter how you talk, how much faith you have or even what you do, if you do not exhibit love, the people who really need to hear are going to hear you as more of an annoyance.
Ultimately, I am bankrupt without love for those around me.
