There are many foods that require one main ingredient that if it's missing, the entire entrée is just lacking. It requires each ingredient to make it special and to set it off, but there's typically that one ingredient that truly makes it. And leaving that main ingredient out can sometimes be disastrous. Take the morning I turned my coffee pot on after attending a concert and as I poured from our stainless steel pot, I noticed that there one major thing lacking - COFFEE! That hot water just didn't have the same kick.
When we try to play sports without the right equipment, some things can be substituted while others simply cannot. Thomas and I have propped up old wooden pallets in the yard to substitute as soccer goals, but we have to have a ball (the main ingredient) to kick. And when businesses or companies are evaluating potential employees, they are reviewing resumes for certain requirements. They want to see your education, your experience, and maybe even certain required certifications. And while all of those are important, the hardest thing to communicate through a few sheets of paper is often the most important ingredient - love and a passion for the position you'll have and the people you'll serve.
Love is, has been, and will always be, the most important ingredient in anything that we do. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul wrote a letter to the church explaining spiritual gifts and how and when they should be used. Then as he closed that chapter he wrote in v31, "But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a more excellent way." All of those gifts are important, but there was more! He then went on in chapter 13 to write what many of us know as the "Love Chapter" in the Bible. Those 13 verses sum up so much about love that we struggle to understand and act on.
He takes the most popular and prized spiritual gifts of the day and shows their futility without love. He compares speaking in tongues to being a noisy gong or clanging cymbal, and says that having all knowledge and prophetic powers if you're lacking love is nothing. All these gifts, all your talents, all your abilities will one day cease, but love never ends.
How does this apply? My son doesn't care if I can teach him how to kick, throw, or catch a ball if I only give instruction in rough tone and with an impatient attitude. My wife won't care how fast I climb the corporate ladder and how much money I make if the only thing I can contribute at home is my paycheck. Your next employee, or employer, won't care how good you are what you do if they can tell that you hate doing it.
The main ingredient in all of our actions must be love. Love is not easy and it is not simple, but it is a spiritual gift that we must exercise and include in all of our actions if we want to have an impact. The old saying is true - No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.
When we try to play sports without the right equipment, some things can be substituted while others simply cannot. Thomas and I have propped up old wooden pallets in the yard to substitute as soccer goals, but we have to have a ball (the main ingredient) to kick. And when businesses or companies are evaluating potential employees, they are reviewing resumes for certain requirements. They want to see your education, your experience, and maybe even certain required certifications. And while all of those are important, the hardest thing to communicate through a few sheets of paper is often the most important ingredient - love and a passion for the position you'll have and the people you'll serve.
Love is, has been, and will always be, the most important ingredient in anything that we do. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul wrote a letter to the church explaining spiritual gifts and how and when they should be used. Then as he closed that chapter he wrote in v31, "But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a more excellent way." All of those gifts are important, but there was more! He then went on in chapter 13 to write what many of us know as the "Love Chapter" in the Bible. Those 13 verses sum up so much about love that we struggle to understand and act on.
He takes the most popular and prized spiritual gifts of the day and shows their futility without love. He compares speaking in tongues to being a noisy gong or clanging cymbal, and says that having all knowledge and prophetic powers if you're lacking love is nothing. All these gifts, all your talents, all your abilities will one day cease, but love never ends.
How does this apply? My son doesn't care if I can teach him how to kick, throw, or catch a ball if I only give instruction in rough tone and with an impatient attitude. My wife won't care how fast I climb the corporate ladder and how much money I make if the only thing I can contribute at home is my paycheck. Your next employee, or employer, won't care how good you are what you do if they can tell that you hate doing it.
The main ingredient in all of our actions must be love. Love is not easy and it is not simple, but it is a spiritual gift that we must exercise and include in all of our actions if we want to have an impact. The old saying is true - No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.
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