Bankrupt Without Love
We all need love. We are bankrupt without love because God is love and without God we are nothing. We were made to live in God, wrapped in his love and grace. Until we realize that the very essence of love really is God, we don’t know how dependent on God we are to love. We can’t love apart from God. And we are nothing without love.
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. (1 Cor. 13: 1-3, MSG)
If we live in God, we can unwrap love from all the pretense and falsehood.
If we live in God, we can capture what love is.
If we live in God, we can learn to love like God.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
(1 Cor. 13: 4-7, MSG)
This divine love changes everyone it encounters. Agape nurtures, heals, transforms. When we live and move in real love, we are partaking in God’s mission to share God’s abundant grace with everyone. When we don’t put ourselves first, but let God love others through us, also our own hearts and souls are made alive and vibrant. When we revel in Agape and trust God to take care of us, we brightly shine God’s light to the world. When we live and move in God, we are rich in real love.
Gracious God,
Without you we are nothing.
Without you we can’t love.
Pour our your love and grace.
Nurture, heal, and transform us.
So we could love others like you.
So we could shine brightly for you.
Pour our your love and grace.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Q4U: Have you claimed bankruptcy without love? How did you move on?
Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you revel in God’s love!
Image courtesy of Savanna Daniel. Linking up today with Thought-Provoking Thursdays &
9 thoughts on “Bankrupt Without Love”
So true, without understanding God’s love for us, we are empty, have little to give. Thanking God today for his lavish, generous, abiding love over me . . . and over you today! Blessings. Found you through Faith Jam.
Thank you for your comment & blessings. Great to connect, Shelly! May God bless you and keep you now and forever!
Love the verses you linked to here!
Thank you, Sarah! They’re are powerful. Blessings to you!
Praying your beautiful, heartfelt prayer was a blessing to me. I want to be filled with God and shine with His love.
Wonderful! But even more wonderful is that God delights in answering this kind of prayer. Abundant blessings to you, Pamela! And thank you for your comment love!
What a powerful (and truthful!) beginning to this post: “We all need love. We are bankrupt without love because God is love and without God we are nothing.”
And yes, yes, to this reminder: “When we revel in Agape and trust God to take care of us, we brightly shine God’s light to the world.”
Thank you, Mari-Anna. Your posts always give such convicting encouragement.
Thank you, Caroline, for your encouraging feedback! Abundant blessings to you and yours!