Your goal for the day should be to live 1 Corinthians 13. Go there now and read it. If God is everything in your life and you can live in love, then there’s nothing that God won’t do for you. Can you do it? You’d better, because that is what Jesus called us to do. It’s not an option.  We don’t get to cop-out because of personality issues.

Love is the foundation for everything in the kingdom. Love like God loves, not the world. Love in worldly terms is selfish. It’s about how I feel. Love in God’s terms is giving. It’s about how other’s feel. It would be a good idea to read 1 Corinthians 13 every day. Memorize it. Get it into your spirit. Know where your weaknesses are and ask God to help.

Pursue love. (1Cor 14:1) Chase it down. Be who you are called to be in the kingdom. If you can live in radical love, you can change the world. You can call down heaven and heaven will come. Love completely, totally, sold-out. Stop judging. Stop complaining. Stop waiting for what’s yours.

The kingdom of God is backward. You get everything you need when you give. Love through the hurt. Let the peace of God cover up the rough spots. You can never go wrong when you love. It may not be received well, but God sees.

Let the love begin and see what happens next.

I Corinthians 13 makes is very clear that if love is not our motivation for everything, then all our efforts are in vain. Even if signs and wonders follow after us, we can still have the wrong attitude. Love must come first — before wisdom, before giving, before sacrifice. Why are we giving? Because we love the person in need. Why are we meeting with other believers? Because we love them.

What if you don’t? It’s a fair question, because love for other people outside our intimate circle does not come naturally. We may feel concern, but that’s not the same as love. What if that tank is really, truly dry? We go to God.

We’re told to pursue love. (I Cor 14:1), We’re told that because God knows that it’s not natural for us. And it’s not easy to attain. That’s why we have to pursue it. Pursuit implies that we have a moving target. We have to keep going after it. Once we grab a hold of it, we get a little bit. Keep pursuing. Get more.

All of the aspect of God are available to us, but they don’t just download completely when we ask. We have to want it and keep wanting it. Pursue love until you get it. Until all your motivations are driving by a desire to bless and love. Pursue more. Let love change your life. Let it open doors to heaven that you never even knew about. It’s the foundation of the kingdom, the very essence of everything that we do.

We all have a gift and calling from God. Some of us have figured that out and some of us haven’t. What if you have? What if you know you want to write, or sing, or play guitar in a worship band? Maybe it’s because you love doing it, or maybe you’ve been given a prophetic word that you’re called to do that. Awesome! That’s a great place to start. Now be excellent.

Take the time to develop the gift in you.

Just because you know that you’re called to be a writer doesn’t make you a great writer. It doesn’t even make you a good writer. You still need to learn how to write. But God gave you the story? That’s good, but you still need to learn how to write. No one’s life will be changed by a great story told badly. Take writing classes, go to writer’s conferences, join a local writer’s group. Write a lot. Everyday. Read good writers. (I want to be diplomatic here. Just because someone is a Christian writer doesn’t make them a good writer.) Read books that everyone recognizes as being good. You’ll learn things.

You’re a singer? For heaven’s sake, take a voice class. Learn how to sing well. Learn breath control and projection. Learn to sing in harmony. Sing a lot. Everyday. You play guitar? Learn to read music. Sheet music. Listen to great music that stirs the soul.

The church is famous for mediocre talent and God deserves better than that. Yes, it’s spiritual to learn your craft. You already have a Master’s degree in it? Then let God take you further. Once you develop the basics, He has an instrument to really use. Let Him take you as high as you want to go with Him.

What? You say that it doesn’t matter as long as your heart is into it? Because God will bless what you do if your efforts are for Him? To some extent that is true, while you’re learning. It ceases to be true when you show that you’re not interested in getting any better.

Being gifted does not resolve you from your need to develop your craft. Now you have work to do. Let’s stop being ok with ok. Let’s start pressing into excellence and show the world what gifting really is.

God never fails His promise. So why does it seem like we never get the breakthrough we’re waiting for? We wait and wait and trust and believe,  but the breakthrough seems to be so elusive. I think there are two reasons. One is that we are matured through patience. I wrote more about that here.

The other reason is that we forget that we’re commanded to love God first above all things. If you ask a Christian if they love God more than anything else, they’ll say, of course they do! And I think they  believe that. But when the wait gets long, or life gets in the way, or other plans are being made, is that still true?

If we’re honest with ourselves, our love for God slips down the list all the time. When we turn our hearts to Him, then He goes back to the top. His position in our focus and attention shifts back and forth. Flip-flip, flip-flip.

Part of our training as believers is to learn to keep Him first. How do we do that? By making a determined effort to spend time with Him. And why wouldn’t we? He’s the answer to everything. He’s the source of peace and joy.  And He has our best interest at heart.

But what about your husband or wife or children? Your love for them is great. Do you feel badly about loving them second to God? It’s ok. When you love God first, everything else is included. God has His finger in your whole life. It includes your love for the special ones that you love.

When you learn to set everyone and everything else aside and turn your love to God, He will open up heaven for you. You can actually love others better because your priorities are in order. And that opens the door for breakthrough.

Our life in the kingdom is not meant to be static. When we are born again, we become babies. There’s something supremely unnatural for babies not to grow and mature. The writer of Hebrews was frustrated with the church for being content to stay babies.

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Heb 5:12-14)

I believe that a lot of the negative circumstances we find ourselves in is a direct result of our immaturity in the Spirit. When we are young, God has us covered. We can get away with making mistakes because we’re trying to find our feet as believers.

But growth requires that we develop an intimate relationship with God. Jesus demonstrated the time He spent in prayer with the Father. It’s in that relationship that we learn to hear His voice and allow Him to direct us. If we don’t do that, He will allow us fail, not to punish us, but to show us the consequences of not listening to Him.

It get serious the longer we live in the kingdom. A full-grown man who continues to make childish decisions can’t be trusted with anything. The consequences of our lack of faith not only affect ourselves, but the people we should be blessing.

Maturity starts now. It starts by repenting for not being obedient to His word. It starts by wanting to know God in a greater way. Consider a baby’s relationship with its parents verses an adult relationship. There is so much more that we’re called to.

Maturity will keep us safe. When we’ve made a terrible mistake, I guarantee that God tried to warn us, but we either failed to listen, or failed to obey. We have to start walking humbly and obediently in the kingdom, not just for our own sakes, but also for those whose lives we affect.

**************************************************************************The Key of David, by Diana Symons                                                                                             A story that’s been told for thousands of years…  The Bible’s Book 1 Samuel tells the story of David’s life – from an obscure family to an unlikely king, from shepherd to warrior, from champion to king-maker. What does it mean for a man to love God and be loved by Him? This book explores what it means to be human in the light of the Kingdom.