We rejoice in His goodness and declare His greatness.  God is good.  “Oh, I heard about this situation you’re in and I appreciate you praying, but let’s just remember, as we pray together, that God works all things together for good, Hallelujah.”  That ought to come out of your mouth, not the ones that are trying to comfort you.  As we declare His greatness, “Covet, but I show you a more excellent way.”  Now, remember the context.  Who is he talking to?  He’s talking to this group of Corinthians who are all, as a whole, looking to be seen and heard and elevated.  We start reading about the Corinthians, these are a carnal bunch, and Paul wants to set these things in order by the Holy Ghost.  He said, “I’m going to give you some guidelines but the guidelines will never work if you don’t love each other.  The guidelines will never work when you love yourself first.”  “Love.”  Look at this thirteenth chapter.  Love is patient, kind, it doesn’t envy, it doesn’t vaunt itself, it’s not puffed up, it doesn’t behave itself unseemly.  It doesn’t seek its own way.  “All the time, everything’s got to be my way.  It’s got to be done my time, my way.  You’ve got to love me this way or I don’t feel loved.”  There are so few people in this world that have people that love them.  You ought to be thankful for what you’re getting; amen?  Especially for some of us that are harder to love than others.

I was watching a thing on Netflix called Quarterback.  It’s an eight-episode series.  It’s got Kirk Cousins in it.  One of the scenes that came today, one of the quarterbacks was just getting ready for the wife to deliver.  They were at the hospital ministering to other children and there was this little girl, she might have been eight years old, and one of the quarterbacks went up, I think it was (Marcus) Mariota, went up to this little girl and said, “Well, I’m getting ready to have a little girl myself, do you have any advice for me?”  She thought, stopped for a moment and thought, she says, “Give her a lot of hugs.”  I think that says it, doesn’t it?  Don’t buy her a new car for graduation, don’t worry about the finest clothes, don’t worry about the finest education, give her a lot of hugs.  “I show you a more excellent way.”

I believe that the gifts of the Spirit operate most proficiently in an environment of love and in an environment to be a servant, praise God.  The Greek word used here for serving is diakonos, the same word used for deacon, just to become that one who serves.  That one that sees that all of the needs are being met.  It’s done through their conveying of needs.  They’re in fellowship, they’re in communion with one another.  They’re hearing what’s going on at the ground level.  They know about the individual hurts.  They know about the individual lack, et cetera, and in their service, they’re hearing these things.  Represent them, then, so all of these needs can be addressed; amen?  That’s how we serve one another.  If we can’t meet the need, let’s pass it to somebody that can.  Having the same care one of another.

God wants to move in our midst.  He will move as we love one another.  He will see to it that His body gets edified when we care; amen?

Father, we thank You for Your Word and we ask that You would strengthen us, that your wisdom would manifest itself.  We look for Your power to become servants.  We look for the free flow of Your Holy Spirit that not one person in here would lack in their pursuit of Christlikeness.  We need to help each other become more like Jesus.  So, we ask You to effect that in us by filling us with the Spirit that we might love as we’ve been loved.  We will praise You for it, Father, in Jesus’ name.  Amen.