You have 15 minutes to address
the whole world live (on television or radio — choose your format). What would
you say?
Radio: And Paul said, “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.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it
is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not
easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres.
Love never fails. But when there are prophecies, they will cease; where there
are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what
is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought
like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of
childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we
shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I
am fully known.
And now these three remain: Faith, hope and love. But the greatest of
these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13.
No other words I know could better address the problems of the world
today. We have forgotten what real love
is and how it should act. If we could
live and love today with even a fraction of the type of love Paul was
describing and that Jesus showed us when he walked the earth, we’d understand
its full potential and power to change us and make us the best we can be.
I’m certainly not a wise woman or a prophet, and I don’t even come close
to comparing to Jesus or any of his disciples who gave up everything just to
walk with him for a few years, but I do know that love is the answer for it
all. When all else is taken away from
us, when all else falls down around us, love will stand. I challenge all the individuals of the world
to try love, respond to challenges with love, greet life each morning with
love, and go to bed each night with love in your heart. Practicing patience, kindness, respect,
selflessness, protecting others, rejoicing with truth, trusting, hoping, and
persevering….that’s where our minds and hearts need to go first, no matter the
situation. Even if you don’t believe in God or religion and have never read the
Bible, you can’t disagree with the good being more patient and kind can
bring.
So, in this New Year, let’s practice love and see what it can do. Thank you for listening and may love change
you this year.
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