Banging the gong!

1 Corinthians 13:1 NLT

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

Do my words match my devotion?

When I speak of Jesus, am I just banging a gong loudly in someone's ear?

James 2:15-16 NLT

Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, [16] and you say, "Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well"- but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

As the old saying goes:

"Someone of words but not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds."

Jesus expects us not only to be His mouthpiece, but also His hands and feet!

Time to examine my words and see if they tie up with my behaviour and motives.

Do my words reflect Jesus' love and do I have the desire to act on that love?

How will people know that I belong to Jesus?

John 13:34-35 NLT

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. [35] Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples."

The kind of love Jesus was talking of wasn't an easy love.... it was a "foot-washing" love... a serving kind of love...

Recently a close friend of mine showed such a love...

For nigh on 30 years an uncle of hers had refused to speak to her (even though they lived on the same street). He had been offended because she had gone on holiday with his wife - in his view, taking her away from him for 2 weeks!

Now, in his nineties, riddled with cancer, his wife in hospital, he was alone and in a bad state.

Incapable of looking after himself, he needed help.

This lovely lady, after all the bad treatment he'd given her, cleaned him up, where he'd wet himself, made him tea and tidied his home.

I'm not sure I could love like that!

As a result, he was reduced to tears and said: "Thank you, what would I have done without you!"

That's "dirty foot-washing love" - love that reflects and demonstrates that Jesus is alive.

Compared with that, I've been banging a noisy gong!

Selah!