Without Love 

   “If in speaking I use human tongues and angelic as well, but do not have love, I am nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and the ability to understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and have all the faith necessary to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give away everything to feed the poor and hand over my body to be burned but do not have love, I achieve nothing.” (1 Cor 1 – 3) 

   I can spend my life doing good, but if I do not have love it is of no value.  Nothing is accomplished by all the good I may do unless there is love behind it; the love of Christ who exists within everyone we encounter.

   Many people do a lot of good in this world but the good they do does not edify them spiritually because it is not done for love.  Charity and good works must come from the heart, not the mind.  It is a means of loving Christ.  “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brethren of mine, you did for me.” (Matt 25: 40).  Loving and caring for others is loving and caring for Jesus.

   Loving others can be difficult, especially those who are evil.  A brutal tyrant or an abusive spouse tempts us to condemn them for all they do rather than love them as a neighbor.  But I must remember that God “…causes his sun to rise on evil people as well as those who are good, and his rain falls on both the righteous and the wicked.” (Matt 5: 45).  It is not up to me to condemn, but to love and to pray for the wicked in the world.

   “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12: 31).  Do I love myself?  Am I forgiving of myself?  If not, I am not accepting the love and mercy of the Lord.  Though I may, at times, seem unlovable, still God loves me.  When He forgives me I must also forgive myself.  That is how we must view others.  They may also seem to be unlovable, but God loves them just the same.  If we have the love of God within us, we are obliged to share that love with others, even those who are difficult to love.

   God is love.  If we do not have love we do not have God within us.  Without love, we will never enter the gates of heaven.