The Annoying Gift from the Love Standard Series
“If I speak human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” I Corinthians 13:1 CSB
Have you ever bought your child a gift that you wish you hadn’t bought? That has happened to us a few times but one time in particular stands out in my mind. Our son, Isaac, went through this stage where he “drummed” to the beat of every song that came on the radio. He would pat out the beat with his bare hands, pencils, water bottles, or whatever he could find. He sounded really good and seemed to really enjoy it, so we decided to buy him a drum set for Christmas.
We were beyond excited to surprise him with the set and couldn’t wait for Christmas morning to get here. Finally, the wait was over – Christmas morning had arrived! Isaac came running into the living room and grabbed the drumsticks and immediately started banging. And banging. And banging.
It didn’t take long before my husband and I looked at each other and wondered what in the world we had done. We moved the drum set to his room and still more banging. I bought special noise blocking headphones and still more banging. We would put the headphones on and close the door and still more banging. None of the banging sounded like beautiful music. It just sounded like annoying noise.
Our key verse from 1 Corinthians 13:1 says, “If I speak human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” God tells us that if we don’t have love – we are like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. He goes on to say in vs. 2-3 that we can have the gift of prophecy, understand all mysteries and all knowledge, have all the faith to move mountains but don’t have love, then we are nothing. He goes on to say that we can go as far as to give away all our possessions to the poor and give our bodies over in order to boast, but if we don’t have love, we gain nothing.
Friend, we can do everything in the world, but it means nothing if we are not showing love above all. I’m learning that if I am not showing love above all else, then I am no different that those annoying, noisy drums that my son has. I don’t mean showing love by my definition but by God’s definition. We will learn more about God’s definition in the coming weeks.
One thing that helps me is to keep the picture of those annoying clanging cymbals in the forefront of my mind. It helps me to remember that if I am not showing love by God’s standard, then I am no different than those cymbals that get on my last nerve. And friend, we don’t want to be that. Not by a long shot!
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for giving us such a clear picture in your word of what we are acting like when we don’t show love by your standard. Forgive me of all the times I have acted in a way that doesn’t show love to my spouse. Teach me to love like you love. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Dig Deeper:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself” Mark 12:30-31 CSB
Reflection:
How might you show love differently if you were to view yourself as a noisy, annoying, clanging cymbal?
Challenge #2
Every time you are tempted to get angry at your husband, think of a clanging cymbal and challenge yourself to rise above your initial reaction.