What Has Love Got To Do With Spiritual Gifts?

Dear Bethelites,

How can we know whether a person is spiritual or not?  The Corinthians would answer, “Spiritual gifts!  The more amazing and remarkable your spiritual gifts are, the more spiritual you are.  If you are able to speak in a language you have never studied before, then you must really be close to God.”  But the Apostle Paul would answer, “Love!  If one does not have love, it does not matter how many spiritual gifts he has.  It will mean nothing!”

Paul was still on the topic of spiritual gifts (c.f. 1 Corinthians 14:1), and he was not pitting love against spiritual gifts.  But rather spiritual gifts ought to operate or exercise in the power of love, otherwise it was useless.  A person may be the best organizer, or greatest pianist, or most excellent teacher, but if he or she does not have love, it will be meaningless!

I. The ability to speak

1 Corinthians 13:1, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

The word charity means love (agape).  Love (agape) is the highest form of love, and it is more concerned with giving than receiving (King James Bible rightly translated it as charity).  The supreme example of agape is expressed in John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Jesus Christ was the perfect example of agape.  At the Last Supper, Jesus took off His outer garments and began to wash the disciples’ feet as a demonstration of love.  While He was anticipating the agony of the cross, yet His disciples were arguing amongst themselves as to who was the greatest.  Humanly speaking, they were most unloving, undeserving, selfish and insensitive, yet the Saviour chose to love them supremely and taught them how they ought to love another as He had loved them.  Ultimately, He went to the cross to die for such wretched sinners.

If you remember, the Corinthians were focusing on the gift of tongue-speaking, thus Paul began with tongues.  When he said, though I speak with the tongues of men, it means “even if I can speak the languages that I have never studied before.”  And he went on to say, though I speak the tongues of angels.  Some people conceive that this means angels speak in some special language.  But scripture never said that angels had their own language; whenever the angels spoke, they always spoke in a language that the people who were listening could understand.   

Here, Paul was speaking in a figurative sense, just like in verse 2, if I know all mysteries and all knowledge.  It does not mean in a literal sense that Paul was all-knowing (that is impossible).  Or if I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains; it does not mean Paul could shift the mountains around.  They were spoken in a metaphorical sense!

Have you ever heard cymbals tinkling or clashing?  When I was young, I used to join a lion dance group (I was an unbeliever then).  I was assigned to learn different things.  Those who were more acrobatic were privileged to learn the physical lion dance.  Others learnt the drums, and yet others learnt to play the cymbals.  All of us hated the cymbals because they produced no music, notes or rhythm.  It was just some clanging noise!

In a sense, Paul was saying, “Even if I may be very eloquent, or I am able to articulate God’s truth in a way that others would not be able to do so.  Even if I may be gifted with such amazing abilities such as speaking the tongues of men and of angels, but without love, I would be just making a bunch of noise.  It is meaningless!”

II. The ability to understand

1 Corinthians 13:2, And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not charity, I am nothing.

The gift of prophecy is the ability to communicate spiritual truth or proclaim God’s truth.  Before the Bible was completed, the gift of prophecy would include special revelation, but once the Bible was completed, as far as special revelation was concerned, it had ceased.  The gift of prophecy would only be based on the written Word of God.

The mysteries of the Bible were not like the mystery novels.  Oftentimes, biblical mysteries were references to truths hidden in the Old Testament, but were revealed in the New Testament.  The word knowledge means biblical understanding.

In other words, a person may have the ability to preach, and understand things hard to be understood.  He is able to take biblical mysteries or truths and relate them to the people.  Many would conclude that such a person is spiritual.  But Paul says, “No!  That is the wrong way to evaluate the person.  The question is, does he have love?”

Paul went on to say, and though I have all faith.  Here he was not talking about saving faith, but the faith to trust God to do mighty things on behalf of His children. And he quoted the teaching of Jesus when His disciples failed to deliver the demon-possessed boy in Matthew 17:20, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.  Isn’t it great to have such strong faith?  Yet Paul said, “If I do not have love, I am nothing!”

Dear friend, you may be teaching the Word of God in Sunday school, or serving actively in various fellowship groups, or visiting the elderly residential homes.  But you do not have love.  You do not care for the people whom you minister to nor for their salvation, and you are simply doing those things as a meaningless spiritual exercise, then it is all empty.  You are nothing!

III. The ability to be sacrificial

1 Corinthians 13:3, And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

When we hear of people giving in the most generous way, it surely touches our hearts.  I remember the testimony of William Colgate, the founder of the famous toothpaste, Colgate.  He used to make soap and candles to sell, and whatever he earned, he faithfully tithed ten percent.  God blessed him so much that toward the end of his life, he was tithing almost ninety percent of his earnings, and yet he was still extremely rich.  That was an amazing testimony!

But the example Paul gave was way beyond William Colgate because it was not just ten percent or ninety percent.  It was everything, I bestow all my goods to feed the poor.  This is the kind of person who visits the mission churches in third-world countries, and he witnesses the great poverty.  He goes back and sells his house, car and withdraws all his money in the bank, and gives everything to feed those poor people.  Surely people will say, “He is a great Christian.”  But Paul says, “No!  Wrong evaluation!  Does he have love?  It is not what he does.  If he does not have love in his heart, even if he gives everything away, it profitteth him nothing!”

Even if one becomes a martyr and performs the ultimate act of giving his body to be burned.  Some people may ask, “But would that not mean that the person loves, and that was why he was willing to be burned?”  Not necessarily so!  There are people who engage themselves in such sacrificial acts because they want to earn the approval of God, “If I do this, maybe God will forgive me.”  Or they want to earn the approval of people, “If I do this, maybe the people would name the building after me.”  Or they just want to feel good about themselves because deep inside, it makes them feel good.  Paul says, “Without love, it profiteth me nothing!”

There will always be some people who will read these three verses, and then they will be looking around and judging the people around them, “Is he doing what he is doing with or without love?  We must never do that because firstly we will never know what is in the heart of others, and secondly, it is never our business to try to ascertain the actions of others.

Notice, Paul used the first-person pronoun “I,” which means, “Even though I may do this or that, if I have not love, I am nothing.”

God does not want us to go around and question one another’s motivations, but He wants us to look into our own spiritual mirror and ask ourselves, “Why am I doing what I am doing?  If it is not with love for God and man, then it is useless!”  In the final analysis, there are only two things that really matter, loving God and loving people.  Regardless of how gifted we may or may not be, if we do not have love, we are nothing!.

What has love got to do with us?  It has everything to do with us!  If we are true believers, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and we have to walk in the Spirit.  When we do that, we will produce the fruit of the Spirit.  What is the first fruit of the Spirit?  Love!

With love in Christ,

Pastor Paul Cheng