If I write a book, and it becomes a bestseller, and wins the highest award for Christian fiction; and if people reading it begin to believe that God is real, and powerful, and they never forget one word that I write about Him, and some of them open their Bibles for the first time-
And I do it without love,
I am nothing but an annoying noisemaker, jangling ceaselessly.
If I memorize whole books of the Bible, and give compelling answers to everyone who asks me about my faith; if I know all of the historical and scientific evidence of the Bible's reliability, and convince every atheist I meet, and share Scripture to encourage people whenever they encounter difficulties; if I work tirelessly in service to my church and my friends,
And do it without love,
I am nothing.
If I give away everything I have including my books and my beloved cat and move to Haiti; if I rescue a thousand children from prostitution and labor day and night taking care of them; if I teach adults to read, so that I open up their entire world, and many turn to Christ, and become His faithful servants; if I contract a terrible disease and die in a tiny hut, forgotten by the rest of the world,
And do all of that without love,
I gain nothing.
Jesus was patient and kind; He did not envy or boast.
He was not arrogant or rude.
Jesus did not insist on His own way.
He was not irritable or resentful.
He did not rejoice at wrongdoing, but He rejoiced with the truth.
Jesus bore all things, believed all things, hoped all things, endured all things.
Jesus never fails.
