God is Love

By Belinda


Yesterday morning I retreated to the solitude of our north deck and sat in the steamy heat of Saturday, reading, reflecting, and hanging out with God for a few minutes before starting my busy day in earnest. 


Just as I was putting my books away I had this thought about a passage I wasn't even reading: 1 Corinthians 13--commonly known as "the love chapter," and often read at weddings.


Since, according to 1 John 4:8,  God is love, I wondered how the passage would read if I substituted "God" for "love" all the way through. I reopened my Bible and read it like that and it was cool to see a "quality" personified. So here it is with the word "love" replaced by God--just for today.

1 Corinthians 13

New International Version (NIV)
13 If I speak in the tongues[a](A) of men or of angels, but do not have God, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy(B) and can fathom all mysteries(C) and all knowledge,(D) and if I have a faith(E) that can move mountains,(F) but do not have God, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor(G) and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b](H) but do not have God, I gain nothing.4 God is patient,(I) God is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud.(J) 5 He does not dishonor others, He is not self-seeking,(K) He is not easily angered,(L)  He keeps no record of wrongs.(M) 6 God does not delight in evil(N) but rejoices with the truth.(O) 7  He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.(P)8  God never fails. But where there are prophecies,(Q) they will cease; where there are tongues,(R) they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part(S) and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes,(T) what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood(U) behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror;(V) then we shall see face to face.(W) Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.(X)13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and God.(Y) But the greatest of these is God.(Z)

Comments

Anonymous said…
Love it - what a nice reflection.
3:35 AM
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