Today in the Word for February 17-21

Today in The Word

Tuesday Feb 18, 2020

February is the month that we talk the most about love. Did you know that Paul in I Corinthians 13 explains how love is more important in our relationships than other very admirable qualities that we often value? Welcome to The Word with Pastor David. VV 1-2 read:

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I...can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge…but do not have love, I am nothing.”

Many relationship books speak of communication as being key to relationships. And it is important, yet Paul states that the most amazing communicator is just making noise without genuine love. He states that the smartest, most wise person isn’t enough by those qualities alone. If their wisdom is not infused with love it is worthless. It has been said that people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. And that is precisely Paul’s point 2,000 years ago. Big brains plus a shriveled heart equal zero. Neither our vast knowledge nor our considerable skills in communicating what we know is enough alone. Genuine love must come across to others in the use of these admirable qualities if we want them to be of any value at all.

And that’s The Word from Pastor David of Deer Lodge Assembly on the corner of 5th and Montana. 

Today in the Word

Wednesday Feb 19, 2020

February is the ‘love month.’ Did you know that Paul in I Corinthians 13 explains how love is more important in our relationships than other very admirable qualities that we often value? Welcome to The Word with Pastor David. Verse 2 reads:

“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”

Spiritual gifting is really powerful stuff. And especially in the church, such spiritual power is valued. People who have insight from God about the future and others who have been given a gift of faith to see miracles come to pass are often looked at with wonder and awe. We can think to ourselves that if God gave such amazing gifts to someone, the works that he does through them must be very important. Yet Paul says such spiritual power doesn’t amount to a hill of beans if not done out of genuine love for others. Our spiritual gifting does not make us valuable. Our sharing of real love is what matters most. It is love, and not spiritual power that ‘makes the world go round’.

And that’s The Word from Pastor David of Deer Lodge Assembly.  Join our Wednesday adult Bible Study at 6:30 for more of the Word.  

Today in the Word

Thursday Feb 20, 2020

This February is the ‘love month.’ Did you know that Paul in I Corinthians 13 explains how love is more important than other very admirable qualities that we often value? Welcome to The Word with Pastor David. Verse 3 reads:

“If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

A person giving away every dollar of their wealth to the down and out is a tremendous act of self-sacrifice. Another person who sacrifices their very body and health for something they believe in is considered a hero. Yet Paul is stating that these acts of self-sacrifice are of no lasting value if they are motivated by a desire for glory—so someone can boast. Does person give 3 million to a university out of love for the students or out of a desire for their name in brass on the side of the building? Can a person be a martyr in the belief that others will be impressed and their name will make the pages of the history books?

Even self-sacrifice doesn’t matter if it is just done to impress others. Any sacrifice we make must be motivated by real love for others to have any true value.

And that is the Word from Deer Lodge Assembly on the corner of 5th and Montana. 

Today in the Word

Friday Feb 21, 2020

We live in a consumer culture. Can that be a danger to our love relationships? Welcome to The Word with Pastor David. When Paul in I Corinthians 13 makes his first statement of what love ‘is not’, he states in verse 4: “It does not envy.”

What does envy have to do with love? Enviousness is a statement that “I want what you have.” Envy and jealousy are always looking at the possessions of others, whether those possessions are things, or talents, or beauty, or status, or relationships. Envy is the green-eyed monster that always feels cheated. We think we deserve what the other guy’s got.

Paul is telling us a truth. As long as envy has a hold of our heart, there is no room for love for that other person. Envy sucks all the juice out of real love. We literally cannot truly love a person and be jealous of them. The envy will kill the love, given enough time. If we hope to find and share true love, we need to keep it clear in our mind that love is the opposite of envy.

And that’s the Word.  You can enjoy more of the Word this Sunday at 10:45 at Deer Lodge Assembly on the corner of 5th and Montana.