“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” [1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV]
We spend so much of our lives striving for approval, whether it be man’s approval or God’s. In fact, some of us wear ourselves out doing so. The problem is that man’s approval is fleeting at best while God’s approval cannot be earned at all — we already have it.
So then, all our efforts to gain acceptance or favour are in vain, a chasing after the wind as Solomon would have put it (see Ecclesiastes). The only thing that matters is whether or not we have love.
What does that mean? Well I think, since God is love, basically if we have no relationship with Him, we have nothing. We can do all the good in the world, be the smartest, wisest, strongest, most amazing person in history, but if we do not have God’s spirit dwelling within us, it is all worthless. Meaningless.
I figure that life works best and is simpler if we just rest in God’s love and live out of that. No more striving. And what a relief that is!
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” ‘[1 John 4:8 NIV]
Romancing The Rock 
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