The Greatest Of These Is Love

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not 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 have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NIV)

January is the month when we are most likely to get our lives back in order. We

1. Start reading the Bible all the way through
2.Join a gym
3. Start a diet
4. Reorganize our personal space
5. De-clutter
6. Quit smoking
7. Start reading Moby Dick
8. Vow to cut back on social media or television viewing

...And the list goes on....

I, personally, am an enthusiastic advocate of New Year's resolutions. As the old adage goes:

"Failing to plan is planning to fail."

I believe life has natural rhythms and the New Year is one of those annually occurring opportunities to get a fresh start.

In the spirit of fresh starts, I will be teaching a three-part series on "Spiritual Disciplines" in the Ocheltree Shepherding Group during January. We will address some serious disciplines, the kind we would expect from full-time monks or nuns or Jason Locke: prayer and fasting, obedience, service, community, active listening, hope, simplicity, stability, balance and hospitality.

But, without a solid and stable foundation of love, these disciplines will function more like weapons that hurt people than like tools that help them. That's pretty serious.

We will discuss the biblical definition of love and the opposite of love. (Hint: read 1 Corinthians 13; 1 John 3:17,18; 1 John 4:18 and 2 Timothy 1:7).

I look forward to a spiritually healthy 2016, built on the solid foundation of LOVE!

--Posted by Mama O.