Devotionals

---

Note: This devotional was originally published in the handbook of the "2004 CEM East Coast Churches Family Conference".
_______________________________________

Beyond the Gilded Cage

Scripture Reading:

I Corinthians 13
1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal….4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love 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. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When 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. 12Now 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. 13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.


There’s a huge difference between how the world defines love and how God shows us what it really is through His own. Especially in the age that we live in today, one doesn’t even have to go that far to see that difference.

To the world, love is easily sensualized with glamour and lofty romances that barely extend beyond superficial beauty. But to God, love can only be emphasized with humility and long-suffering that is meant to extend beyond anything else. In the world and the media, love is most often seen through the lens of celebrity gossip and short term relationships that were just “fun while they lasted”. But to God, true love can only be seen through the eyes of truth, goodness, and self-sacrifice (vv.4-7). And while the world emphasizes love mostly in terms of success and, in some cases, “trophy” companions who could be easily replaced once they lose their “luster”, God emphasizes love in terms of maturity, permanence, and, most of all, eternity (vv.11-13).

True love never fails, because God’s love never fails. God is love—He always has been and will be forever, no matter how much the world changes or how much people change. His love is eternal. But physical beauty, just like everything else in the world, fails along with all the things that many people may think should last forever but really don’t (vv.8-10).

The world’s idea of love is one that is always hungry and can never be filled. It demands expectations that will always make a person miserable if they are not met and only momentarily happy when they finally are, before reality takes it all away. Ultimately, how much have you unintentionally allowed the world to define what love is for you? How often have you allowed God into your life to show you what it really means? Don’t be a slave to the world’s idea of “love”, but strive only to be free through His.

-David Yuen

Bottom Line: God’s love is eternal—it never fails.


Destination Points:

• What does God’s love personally mean to me?

• In my life, how has God shown me His love?

• Does my life reflect His love?

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE