In our pursuit of spiritual gifts, prophetic words, and powerful ministries, we've missed something fundamental. Paul calls it "a more excellent way." While we can excuse ourselves from operating in certain gifts—not everyone is called to be an apostle, prophet, or teacher—there's one thing every Christian is called to without exception: love.
Here's the uncomfortable truth: you can prophesy, understand all mysteries, possess mountain-moving faith, and even give everything to the poor—but if love isn't your motivation, it profits you nothing. Not just "less effective." Nothing.
We've built a culture in the church that judges maturity by gifts. We get excited about manifestations of power while overlooking the character that should undergird them. This is why we sometimes witness the tragic spectacle of great ministries collapsing despite operating in genuine spiritual gifts. Power without love is unsustainable.
The tragic irony? People died so the Bible could be translated into English, yet we argue about which version to read instead of actually reading any of them.
Consider this: for 400 years between the Old and New Testaments, there was silence. No prophets. No miracles. No word from God. The darkest period in Israel's history. What broke through that darkness? Not more prophecy or greater miracles—but love.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." What wars couldn't accomplish, what prophets couldn't deliver, love did. It was the greatest act of love that still impacts the world today.
When we examine Galatians 5:22-23 alongside 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, something remarkable emerges. Every aspect of the fruit of the Spirit—patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control—is simply a description of love. The Bible doesn't say "fruits" (plural) of the Spirit. It's singular: fruit. And that fruit is love.
This means your patience problem isn't really a patience problem—it's a love problem. Your lack of self-control isn't primarily a discipline issue—it's a love issue. We demonstrate these qualities with people we want to, but struggle with others. The real challenge is learning to love everyone consistently.
First John 3:10 makes a startling declaration: "In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother."
The world doesn't identify Christians by their spiritual gifts. They identify us by our love—or lack of it. And it's not love we merely feel or talk about. It's love demonstrated through action. "Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth."
Love means being others-centered. It means looking for ways to bless rather than ways to benefit. The world has trained us to ask, "What can I get?" The Kingdom asks, "What can I give?"
We cannot give the world what we haven't practiced with our fellow believers. If you can't speak well of the person beside you in church, how will you bless your city? If you can't show patience to your family, how will you minister to strangers?
God puts us in families—both natural and spiritual—to prune us, to teach us how to love people we didn't necessarily choose. These relationships are the training ground. Once we learn love here, God sends us to demonstrate it to the world.
This generation especially needs people motivated by love. Not people who preach from contention or competition, but those who genuinely care. If we're not patient, kind, and self-controlled with young people, they simply won't listen. And honestly, why should they?
The church should be the most loving organization the world has ever seen. When people think about love, they should think about us first. It's an indictment on us when they don't.
Everything rises and falls on love. It's time we made it our foundation again.
Based on a message by Kavan Allen linked here.
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