“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have LOVE, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, BUT DO NOT HAVE LOVE, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; for now I see in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13

(Progressively)True maturity is not how much Bible you know; rather reading and learning more SHOULD affect the way you love others. Then LOVE shows true maturity.  The Bible defines a  mature Christian as a Christian who walks in the Spirit because he/she abides in Christ and in His word. So I’m not saying “Don’t read” or “Don’t learn;” I’m saying “Application truly matters,” and applying God’s Word shows maturity.

1. Christians are told to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25 “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”)
2. Love is a fruit of God’s Spirit (Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness…”)
3. What does this love looks like? (See 1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

“No matter how extensive one’s scriptural knowledge, or how amazing one’s memory, it is self-deception if that is all there is. True knowledge is the prelude to action, and it is the obedience to the word that counts in the end”- Peter Davis

 Lord, I’m sorry that I think my Bible knowledge makes me a mature Christian. I know you care about application not just knowledge. Lord, Your love is the greatest, deepest love that has ever existed. Thank you for loving me. Please help me today to not only “love as you love others,” but to be filled with your love. Help me to walk in obedience with such a Joy that true love, in actions, will just flow naturally out of my life for the sake of Your glory. Amen

See related posts- http://livesharp.org/2011/08/24/power-and-wisdom/

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