The More Excellent Way

The More Excellent Way!

The Primary Building Block of Christ's Church is ... Love!

Paul - outlines in 1 Cor. Chapter 12 - several of the manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit. Yet - he almost seems to take a deep breath and pause (pulls up a chair) lowers his voice and shares a great mystery ... that there exists something even greater—something that transcends even the most extraordinary expressions of God's manifest power through us. It's the foundation upon which everything else must be built, the oxygen that allows the church to breathe, and the soil in which revival takes root. That supreme something (the secret sauce) is ... LOVE!

Paul, in this chapter - and down to v28 - reveals an interesting progression in how God establishes His church on earth. First come the apostles—those who launch out into new territories, spreading truth and planting seeds of faith. Second are the prophets, whose role is to edify, encourage, and comfort the growing body of believers. Third are the teachers, who build the church toward maturity, transforming believers more and more into the image of God. This isn't random. It's intentional. It's like watching a seed grow—first the roots descend deep into the earth, then the sprout breaks through the soil, then the plant matures and eventually produces fruit that spreads more seeds. The process is organic, beautiful, and divinely orchestrated.

Following this foundation, other manifestations emerge (v28): miracles, gifts of healing, helps (service and ministry), administrations (leadership), and varieties of tongues (our personal & direct connection with God). Each element builds upon the previous one, creating a mature, functioning body that manifests God's presence on earth. But here's the blunt truth: none of this can happen without that vital ingredient Paul calls "the more excellent way."
 
The Atmosphere of Love: After laying out this beautiful progression of spiritual gifts and church order, Paul pauses. You can almost sense his excitement as he prepares to reveal something even greater. He says, "Earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way." What is this more excellent way? Love. Just as a seed cannot survive without water, nutrients, and the gardener's touch—just as we cannot live without oxygen—the church cannot survive, flourish, or fulfill its purpose without love. Love is not merely one gift among many; it's the atmosphere in which all other gifts must operate. We often hear calls for revival, prayers for spiritual awakening, and desires to see God move powerfully in our world and in our lives. But true revival requires something specific: selfless love for others. Without this foundation, everything else crumbles.

Four Qualities of Divine Love In 1 Corinthians 13:7, we find four essential qualities of divine love—(not to say that they are the only ones - but essential nonetheless) the kind of love that Christ demonstrated and calls us to embody:
 
1. Love Bears All Things This doesn't mean merely tolerating or putting up with one another. The original Greek word for "bear" means something far deeper: it means to- "protect and preserve". It means having each other's backs, keeping one another safe, giving preference to others. In Romans 12:10, we're instructed to "be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another." This is a heart that says, "You go first." It's love that holds the door open, puts others above self and fosters unity and safety - despite our differences. In a marriage, this means weathering every storm together and celebrating every joy as one. In the church, it means we don't throw each other under the bus. We're unified, in union, protecting and preserving the body of Christ.

2. Love Believes All Things This speaks to trust—not gullibility, but genuine, deep trust. There is no greater treasure in any relationship than trust. If you can't trust, you can't love. If you don't trust, you won't love. It's that simple - that profound. The church should be a safe place where our guard doesn't have to be on high alert all the time. It should be where truth is spoken, 'cards can be laid on the table', where honesty prevails even when it's uncomfortable. The world is full of broken promises, bent truths, and shifting goalposts. But in the church—like in a healthy marriage—we should find a refuge of truth and trustworthiness.

Mother Teresa adapted a wonderful poem that captures this essence: "People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway... If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway... What you spend years building, somebody could destroy overnight. Build anyway." The poem concludes with this thought: "In the final analysis, it's between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway." This is a call to trust again—to trust others, yes, but more importantly, to trust God's sovereign hand over all our difficulties. God trusts us with His mission. We must trust Him and trust each other.

3. Love Hopes All Things: This hope isn't just wishful thinking, having high hopes or getting your hopes up. It's the positive expectation of a promise made. Christ is our hope of heaven, and it's a hope —not because we're uncertain, but because we haven't yet seen it - it's in our future (what He has promised). Yet God's promise (unlike mankind's) is as solid as a rock. In John 14, Jesus made this covenant promise with His bride (the church): "I go to prepare a place for you. I will not leave you orphans. I will return and come for you and bring you home." Hebrews 6:19 describes this hope as "an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast." Love operates with this same quality—it's a guaranteed promise. "I will be there for you. I will return for you. I am your guide, your guard, your strength." We may feel helpless at times, but in Christ - we are never hopeless! We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Hope is the settled expectation of a promise made, and love always keeps its promises.

4. Love Endures All Things To endure means to persevere, to fight for each other rather than with each other. Love hangs in there through thick and thin - through good times and bad. Christ is our ultimate example. Hebrews 12:2 tells us to look "unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." We were His joy. For us, He endured the cross. This is the model of enduring love—love that doesn't give up when things get difficult, love that perseveres through every storm. God Is Love The apostle John, known as "the disciple whom Jesus loved," wrote these timeless words: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." 

God doesn't just have love or give love—He IS love. It's His very essence, His nature, His being. When we look into the eyes of God, there's only one word that can capture what we see: Love. John continues: "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." And here's how we put this Love into motion in our world .... "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 

The Ultimate Manifestation- Jesus commanded in John 13: "Love one another as I have loved you. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." This love is the ultimate manifestation of God's presence here on earth. It's more excellent than all other gifts combined because it's what allows God's presence to grow and flourish in His church. How will the world know we belong to Christ? When they see His love flowing through us—when they witness protection instead of gossip, trust instead of suspicion, hope instead of cynicism, and endurance instead of abandonment.

Love isn't just a nice addition to our spiritual resume. It's the very foundation, the atmosphere, the environment in which everything else grows. Without it, we're just noise—"sounding brass or a clanging cymbal," as Paul puts it.

So let love flow - Let His love flow through your life as rivers of living water. Love the lovable and the unlovable. Love when it's easy and when it costs you everything. Then ... keep loving. Will people disappoint you? Yes, they probably will, but God won't - ever! - Love because He first loved you. Who knows - He might just be using your example to teach someone the way of Christ. This by the way ... is the more excellent way.

Sometimes random - sometimes not - some things I think - measured against scripture.

  "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."  
~ 2 Timothy 2:15