LOVE trumps everything - 1 Corinthians 14:1-25

Traveling to a foreign country where one does not speak nor understand the language is scary at best.  The times I went to Honduras I felt off kilter when put into a situation where I was one on one with a local and could not communicate.  I could not make them understand my needs nor could they tell me what they wanted.  It wasn't until our translator arrived that I began to relax and even enjoy the time spent there.

It makes sense then that Paul is telling the followers about Spiritual Gifts and namely the gift of speaking in tongues.  His instructions are that it is better to use the gift of prophecy than to speak in tongues.  Speaking in tongues is a personal gift, meant for the user, but prophecy is preaching and/or teaching.  This is a gift everyone can profit from and be comfortable with. I can appreciate how the Message Bible puts it in 1 Corinthians 14:1-3:


"Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you. Most of all, try to proclaim his truth. If you praise him in the private language of tongues, God understands you but no one else does, for you are sharing intimacies just between you and him. But when you proclaim his truth in everyday speech, you're letting others in on the truth so that they can grow and be strong and experience his presence with you."

Once again we are reminded of the importance of love.  Other versions of the Bible open with eagerly pursue love. Only then do the words go on to explain speaking in tongues.  Sharing the Good News is our charge and the way we love our neighbors as ourselves.

Read the 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 text here.  Listen to an audio reading of 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 here.