Biblical Truth
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 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 have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13
Musical Offering
Ben’s Offering
I’ve spent the better part of a week looking for this song. When your music collection is quite large, and not all of it is correctly categorised, it can be hard to find something that you’re looking for, if you can’t remember the title or the band. For this week, I’ve wanted to post on 1 Corinthians 13, that famous reading about Love. And While I could have chosen my old school hymn “In Faith and Hope and Love” – it’s rather quite boring, where as this song by Third Day is much more interesting.
Why did I feel a strong need to write about this passage? Well, On Monday I drove my (then) girlfriend out to Northam. After taking her for a walk around the Avon River, we climbed a lookout that overlooks the river, and while standing on there, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. Thankfully for me, she said yes!
There were times in my life where I honestly questioned if I’d ever find anyone that would want to spend the rest of their life with me. Yet just when I’d stopped looking, and become comfortable with myself where I was, God brought this incredible girl into my life. A girl who made me laugh, made me be silly, made me nervous when I was going to see her, yet be completely comfortable when I was around her. God has given me more than I could have ever dreamed of, and I’m so incredibly happy that I will be able to spend the rest of my life with her.
Ben Clapton 