Eagle Point Church

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Ugly Brass

1 Corinthians 13:1

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

Definition: brass - noun
The state or quality of being impudent or arrogantly self-confident:

Thought For Today

The driving force behind every person should be love.
Love for God first and foremost, and then love for his neighbor. If someone were to ask you to define love other than it being God, just how would you describe it? When John wrote that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son (John 3:16), he was calling our attention to how God operates. God always operates in love, even if it’s through chastisement. The writer of Hebrews informs of this when he said, “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth”(Hebrews 12:5-6).
We may sometimes see God’s love as harsh, but it all works together for our good if we love God and are called according to His purpose. In writing to the church at Corinth, Paul wanted them to know that even though they had the Spirit of God and spoke in tongues, it did them no good unless they had love along with it. You see, speaking in another tongue as the Spirit gives you the utterance (speaking in another language other than your native tongue) is a sign that you have been filled with God’s Spirit (Acts 2:1-4; Acts 10:44-48; Acts 19:1-6). And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, etc. So Paul wanted this church to know that the fruit and the gifts of God’s Spirit, served them no purpose as far as being spiritual or having spirituality without the love of God being the driving force behind it.

Some people have tried to denounce speaking in tongues in the church because they fail to have an understanding of what Paul is saying. If Apostle Paul was attempting to denounce speaking in tongues why would he have then said, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all”? (1 Corinthians 14:18). He also said, “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe” (1 Corinthians 14:22). No matter what fruit or gift of the Spirit you may possess, if you do not have the love of God operating in your life it profits you nothing.

Sing This Song with Me:
I want to live the way He wants me to live, I want to give until there’s just no more to give, I want to love, love till there's just no more love, I could never, never out love the Lord.