A Surprise Message To Me Today

I never thought my message would be such a one as this one. There has always been a hesitation in my life time about certain gifts of the Spirit being talked about. Paul speaking to the Corinthian church said to them, Love is the greates of all the gifts of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 13, Paul speaks these words. I may be able to speak the languages of men even of angels, but if I have no love, my speach is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell. I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have all knowledge and understanding all secrets; I may have all the faith needed to move mountains--but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burned--but if I have no love, this does me no good. Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; Love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs, love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and it's faith, hope, and patience never fail. Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass. For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only partial; but when what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear. When I was a child, my speech, feelings, and thinking were all those of a child; now that I am a man, I have no more use for childish ways. What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face; What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete--as complete as God's knowledge of me. Meanwhile these three remain faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love. I have been given the gift of speaking in tongues, but I never talk about it only in privacy. It is something I do daily in my prayer time. The Word tells us that when we speak in tongues we do not know what we are saying, but the Holy Spirit does. Paul does not say speaking in a stramge laungsuge is wrong in the church. But he does imply that the gift of love is much greater. I love when the Holy Spirit allows a message to be given in tongues, when there is an interpreter. Without one the speaker of a strange laungauge is speaking only to God, as I understand the Word. God Bless Myrtle Jean Sharp