Why is this important?

What is love anyway and why does love not “delight in evil”? Why does Paul feel the need to say this in 1Corinthians 13? Some believe it’s because he’s addressing some major sin issues in the church in Corinth. A man is even sleeping with his stepmother for goodness’ sake and brags about his freedom in it. Paul seems to want to remind us that freedom in Christ doesn’t mean engaging in sin. LOVING Jesus results in being obedient to His word. So if we claim to love Jesus, why aren’t we obedient?

I think sometimes we love Jesus in the sense that we love the way He cleanses us and makes us whole. We feel alive when He comes and touches us, and we know we can’t live apart from Him. But we don’t really believe that He knows best. I don’t know why, but it’s true. We believe IN Him, but we don’t really BELIEVE Him. We kind of live with this question toying at the back of our minds:

“Is following Him really worth giving up everything for?”

Stop and think about your answer. You know in your head that the answer is yes, but really, stop and think about it in your heart. Do we really believe Jesus is worth giving up everything for? Do we really believe the gospel is Good News? Do we really believe it’s the best thing for everyone? If we have to give up something we love in order to follow Jesus, can we really claim HE is worth it?

Can we?

Can you? In your own life, do you really feel like giving up everything for Jesus was worth it?

Until we can answer this without doubt to the deepest part of our core, I’m not sure we can truly impact the world around us. When the world asks why their lifestyle goes against His law, I have to be able to say, “Because Jesus is worth it. There is nothing better.”

We have to believe this wholeheartedly: “Take the whole world, just give me Jesus.”

I have to know the following: You can take EVERYTHING away from me. My loving husband, my kids, my house, my possessions, even my memories, my past, my hopes and dreams, but Jesus can never be taken away from me, and that is really all I need. In life, in death, Jesus is the only thing I actually need. I could have EVERYTHING else I’ve ever wanted, but I will NEVER be satisfied unless I have the Living Water that Jesus offered to the woman at the well. (John 4)

Do I really believe Jesus is the Living Water, the satisfaction for my soul? Do I drink from it daily so that I never thirst?

If I’m constantly thirsty, maybe I’m not drinking the water. If I’m not drinking the water, I can’t tell someone else how important this water is, because I really don’t believe it.

Do you see what I mean?

Maybe I can fool people, maybe I can get them to drink the water even if I don’t know where it is. But eventually, it catches up to me. Eventually I stumble from thirst and exhaustion, I never really knew the Water, and I fall away. You know what happens to some of those people I helped along the way? They see me fall, and they fall too. So maybe I can impact the world around me for a short time, but in the end, I do more damage than good. Eventually, my doubt catches up to me, and when I fall down, I drag many with me.

I don’t want to fall. I want to run this race all the way to the finish line. I don’t intend to trip, but if I do, I won’t stay down, I’ll get back up again. I won’t let evil win. I’ll press on. I’ll dust myself off and try again. (Wow, there are so many songs here.) Paul talks about running the race, training our bodies so to speak, in order to reach the goal. The goal is unity with Christ. And I can run hard and not stop because I truly believe Christ is the ultimate prize.

Do you?