Shine Out More in Love

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal”. I Corinthians 13:1 NKJV

It is not enough to be our best selves at home, work, school or church and forget about showing love to others. The question is “ are we really being our best selves if we are not showing love to others?” In this verse, God reminds us that we can be extremely eloquent but without love, we are as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

Galatians 5:6 also reminds us that in Christ Jesus, what counts is faith expressing itself in love. God expects us to be people of faith while showing love to others in the process.

In Matthew Jesus commented on the attitude of the Pharisees in that they tithed religiously but left the weightier matters of the law such as justice, mercy and faithfulness. He noted that both tithing and virtue had to go hand in hand (Matthew 23:23).

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8 NIV

During the time he was on earth, Jesus also spoke on the essence of doing good quietly. We live in an age where philanthropy and propaganda seem to go together. Someone donates to an orphanage and he goes along with journalists and cameramen so his good deed can be recorded in the news. There is a place for this but it must not always be the case. Jesus stated proverbially that your right hand should not know what your left hand is doing when you give to the needy. That’s how discreet he wants us to be! He says that when we receive our praise from men, we have received our reward. However, when we give in secret, our Father who sees what is done in secret would reward us openly (Matthew 6: 2-4).

In our quest to show love to others, people may doubt our motives, but we should not let that prevent us from showing love to others. The Paradoxical Commandments is a famous poem written by Dr. Kent Keith, a leading American educationist and it goes as follows:

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Shalom.