Having Nothing

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

We demand so much.

From ourselves. For ourselves.

We demand so much.

And others demand the same. Demand. Demand. Demand. It has to happen now. Faster, quicker, better.

The weight of the world

keeps us nervous at night

locks up the light

makes our efforts seem slight

We work ourselves into a frenzy, we push ourselves to the limit.

We are what we love (or so the argument goes).

But is any of this about love? And if it is, love of what kind?

We are what we love. And I don’t know how it is for you, I don’t know how it is where you are, but I’m not sure half the time what I love, how I love, that I love. Half the time, I’m not sure if the love I feel is enough, is the right kind. Not sure if the love I live is as deep and pure as I’d wish it to be.

There are times I wonder how self-congratulatory, self-motivated, self-righteous, self-absorbed, and self-aggrandizing this thing is that passes for love.

The apostle writes:

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. —1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Without it,

Talk is cheap.

So love.

Prophecy is overrated.

So love.

Knowledge is vanity.

So love.

Charity is frailty.

So love.

Sacrifice is bullshit.

So love.

Love with all you’ve got. Love in your talk, your prophecy, your knowledge, your charity and your sacrifice. Without deep, profound, self-giving love, it’s all a hollow, empty, fraud.

So love.

Deeply.

Profoundly.

So love,

Loudly.

Prophetically.

Wisely.

Charitably.

Sacrificially.

Love with all you’ve got. And even if it’s not that much, it will be enough.

Filed under: 1 Corinthians, Andrew Stephens-Rennie