Thoughts on 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

It's not the most quoted of that chapter, but when I prayed for a thirst for the word (as my mind sadly tends to wander when I am trying to read the Bible) this is what ended up in my hands. It was almost comical, I opened the Bible and thought, "I need to read Corinthians, but not that chapter, it's so over done, I'll start at the beginning. Guess which page my Bible opened up to? So I started reading the whole chapter, not just the "Love is patient..." part.

Here's one translation (NIV):
1 If I speak in human or angelic tongues, [a] but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 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. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body [to hardship] that I may boast, [b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Actually, when I first went over the chapter, this part didn't hit me hard. The other two paragraphs did. But after praying again to be led in my scripture reading, I found myself back here. Obviously I need to learn about love, inside and out.

This time, as I read it I thought, "Well, what about what C.S. Lewis mentioned in The Screwtape Letters?" About how God wants us to act on a feeling we have in order to make in stronger. Given my recent experiences, I have seen that if there is even a kernel of a feeling, just acting on it can make it grow. So I was thinking if you have just the merest shadow of love, does that still count? I suppose at first it does, but if you don't put actions behind the feeling than it goes away. Likewise if you have actions, but no love behind them, then they are just empty.

We all know people that just do things because they think they should. When their time would be better spent doing something that their heart is calling to, if even faintly. Because acting on something you really don't want to do causes resentment or annoyance eventually and then the action begins to suffer. You put it off, or don't do it as well as you might be able to do.

But if you can find even that kernel of love, and follow where it prompts you instead of squashing it down, then it grows. Then your actions matter because your heart is behind it.

I think.