Wed., 2/26/20 Devotion (1 Cor. 13:8a)

Today's encouragement comes from the few, but powerful words of 1 Corinthians 13:8a, where we read this:

"Love never fails. . . . "

Why does love never fail? Because love is the best barometer of the heart. It always exposes the truth; and everyone—without exception—is subject to its scrutiny. This is one of the reasons God insists that we love Him. Without sin-cere love for God, none of our other "services" rendered to Him mean any-thing—(in fact, they become repulsive to Him).

The real important question for us is, "Who (or what) do we love the *most*?" If the answer is not Christ, then we should honestly face the fact that we are idolaters. The Lord would have us love other people, animals, and even many inanimate things—but these must all be subordinate to love for Him (through Jesus Christ alone).

[AUGUSTINE quote of the day: “Some of our fellow Christians are astonished to learn that Plato had such ideas about God and to realize how close they are to the truths of our faith.” —from, “City of God,” Bk. 8.]