The Greatest of These Is Love

“How much are you giving to the Church?” Did your mind go immediately to money? When it comes to GIVING, money is only one part of what we as disciples of Jesus are called to give to the “Church,” the Body of Christ. Paul wrote to the Romans, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the Law” (Romans 13:10). LOVE is the gift every believer receives from God and the gift every believer is called to return to God! Many people today say they love Jesus, but at the same time declare they don’t love the church. Notice the different usage between “church” and “Church.” In our thinking, “church” refers to a religious organization, whether a local congregation or a particular denomination or the “church” at large. Some imagine the “church” to include everyone who claims to be a Christian, who says they “believe in Jesus.” But in God’s Word, there is ONE true Church, the one Body of Christ, known and loved by God, redeemed by the blood of Christ and born again by the Holy Spirit. It is THIS group of people who are the Church that Jesus came to build! And it is to THIS group of people, His Body, that the Spirit of Christ gives spiritual gifts to use for the building up of the Body of Christ. Every true believer is part of this Body and is called by God to use the gifts the Spirit has given to him or her for the good of the whole Body. It is in so doing that our love for Jesus becomes more than words, for in using our gifts to serve one another in love we display the power of Christ at work within us and among us. “By THIS all people will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).