~Daily Devotion 9th~

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13, CHRISTMAS VERSION

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, Strands of twinkling
lights and shiny balls, But do not show love to my family, I'm just
another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen,
Baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
Preparing gourmet meals
And arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, But do not show
love to my family, I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen,
Carol in the nursing home
And give all that I have to charity,
But do not show love to my family,
It profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels And crocheted snowflakes,
Attend a myriad of holiday parties And sing in the choir's cantata, But
do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china
and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful
they are there to be in the way.

Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return, but
rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures
all things.

Love never fails!

Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will
rust...

But giving the gift of love will endure!!!

(1 Corinthians 13: 1 - 13)

1. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

2. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

3. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,but have not love, I gain nothing.

4. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

5. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

6. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

7. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

9. For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

10. but when perfection comes, the imperfect 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 childish ways behind me.

12. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Blessings, Love and Prayers,