The Love that Counts

I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "It's the thought that counts," in relation to a gift. What, exactly, does it mean? What is the 'thought' that counts? Do you think that thought is love? When love is the wrapping around a gift, is the actual gift itself as important?

The last line of 1 Corinthians 12, which is the chapter about gifts and the Body of Christ, is "And I will show you a still more excellent way. " It's the bridge between the gift chapter and the love chapter (13). The more excellent way is love.

Last Sunday, one of the lectionary readings for the day was 1 Corinthians 13. The choir's anthem for the day was based on that chapter. The final line of the anthem was the final phrase from Chapter 13. "The greatest of these is love."

The idea of gifts and love kind of slammed together in my mind -- perhaps as Paul intended with his phrase, "I will show you a still more excellent way."

I mentioned last Sunday in my post that I could probably make a list of the gifts that God has given to me to use in service to Him. We're always talking about that -- What are your gifts? There are tools designed to help us to determine them. In fact, I think I read that in the redesign of the UMC web site, a spiritual gift determination tool has been included. Books are written about spiritual inventories. When we meet to discuss ways to improve our church, we're always including the idea of helping people to determine what gifts God has given them, and then helping them to find ways to use them. It's all a good thing.

But, to paraphrase the cliche I used at the beginning of this post, it's the thought -- it's the love that counts.

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Do we forget that? Do I get so involved in the gifts that I have been given that I forget about the most important thing -- the love?

Remember the post from soulgardener that I mentioned yesterday? He addition to making the statement I quoted yesterday about the service, he also said, " Instead of asking "what is your gift?" we'll ask "are you a gift?"

Are you a gift? Am I a gift? May God grant that we are, and may he bless us with the awareness that it is the love that counts.