December 2 - 1 Corinthians 12-14: Using Your Head to Love

As I sit down to write on these great chapters of the Body of Christ and of Christ's love, I just finished cleaning up the third dog mess on my carpet.  And it's not my dog. And he's not even cute.  The little furry, cranky, pooping, yapping bundle belongs to my parents who are caring for my grandparents in Oklahoma.  Caring for the dog so that they can care for their parents is a real-life, real-time reminder that every part of the body is important and necessary to be the love of Christ.

Reading these very familiar passages in the Message has highlighted and clarified some themes for me.  It's not primarily about the spiritual gifts that we've been given, it's not just about being a responsible part of the Body, it's not about the traditional verses spoken at weddings about love, it's not about whether to speak in tongues or not.  Through Paul, Christ is calling me to intentionally and thoughtfully turn from myself and to turn toward His love.

What I want to talk about now is the various ways God's Spirit gets worked into our lives.... God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can.... Each person is given something to do that shows who God is... By  means of his one Spirit, we all said goodbye to our partial and piecemeal lives.  We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything...  (12:1-2, 12-13)

I'm bankrupt without love.... Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly.  And the best of the three is love.  Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it - because it does. (13:4, 13; 14:1)

I should be spiritually free and expressive as I pray, but I should also be thoughtful and mindful as I pray.  I should sing with my spirit, and sing with  my mind... Only mature and well-exercised intelligence can save you from falling into gullibility. (14:15, 20)

I hear God saying to me to love with thought and intentionality, not for myself but for others.  This kind of love supercedes and guides the rules, the methods, the expressions of ministry.  It thinks first of what would honor Him and would most show love to the person in front of me.  It does not consider what works with my schedule or what's in line with my spiritual gifts or how I like to pray or sing or minister.   Putting my preferences and natural tendencies aside requires me to use my head and to think outside of myself.

"I long to enjoy My people's worship, to delight in their unselfish exercise of the gifts My Spirit has given them (chapters 11 through 12); to take pleasure in seeing My community, My way of relating mirrored in their relationships (chapter 13); and to be honored in their genuine commitment to encourage each other without displaying themselves (chapter 14)." (66LL)

So, when my parents drive in late tonight to pick up their dog, God has clearly shown that I must intentionally express love to them.  I'm thinking that means that I'll keep the dog's messes to myself, not even a hint about the inconvenience he's been.  And I'm thinking I need to focus on their immediate needs, drive a few extra miles to meet them and shorten their trip, and lean on the Holy Spirit to speak meaningful words of appreciation for their sacrifice.