The Power
“What is the greatest power known to man?”
A couple of years ago I wrote a blog on The Greatest Secret … in fact, those who have attended our “My Abundant Life” seminars or purchased the CD series will know the answer … Love!
Recently Rhonda Byrne (producer of The Secret) released a book called “The Power.” Guess what it is all about?!?
You might be saying, “How can love be the greatest power? Is it greater than faith?”  Absolutely … let me show you. Read and meditate on the following passage:
“If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
“If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
“If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.” (The Message Bible – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
I’m not speaking of the emotion of love, but rather the decision and lifestyle of love. Yes, love is a decision. Often two people will ‘fall’ in love but never make the decision to love, they get married and wonder why they fight constantly, then divorce. They never made the decision to love each other!  A decision means to cut off all other possibilities!
The Greek word ‘agape’ in the bible is translated as ‘love’; however the true meaning is ‘the God kind of love.’
We read on from the above scripture and we get a better understanding of agape love:
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back, but keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. (The Message Bible – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
I don’t know about you, but as I read this I check myself off against the list and I find myself saying “God teach me how to love like you love!”  In fact, this is the only commandment that Jesus gave in the new testament:  “But I say to you, Have love for those who are against you, and make prayer for those who are cruel to you;” Matthew 5:44
Put the same love passage in 1 Corinthians 13 from another rendition and in first person and it is even more impactful:
My love endures long and I am patient and kind;
I’m never envious nor boil over with jealousy; I’m not boastful or have a high opinion of myself.
I am not arrogant and inflated with pride;
I am not rude and I don’t act unfairly.
God’s love in me does not insist on my own rights or my own way;
I am not self-seeking;
I am not touchy or fretful or resentful;
I take no account of the evil done to me, I pay no attention to a suffered wrong.
I do not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoice when right and truth prevail.
I bear up under anything and everything that comes, I’m ever ready to believe the best of every person, my hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and I endure everything without weakening.
My love never fails, never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end.
Did you know that there is no fear in love … the bible says that “Perfect love (agape) casts out ALL fear.” (1 John 4:18)
If you have fear in your life you have to ask the question, “What or who do I not love?” A fear can be in the form of jealousy, hatred, revenge, anger, disease, poverty, lack, guilt, depression, competition for what someone else has, afraid of the future etc.
Love activates faith! (Galatians 5:6)Â Faith without love is nothing more than the sound of a creaking gate, a noise that fades away to nothing. Â “Now faith, hope and love abide in us; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)
We cannot know agape love with knowing God, because God is love (1 John 4:8). Maybe one day we should look at the character of God as most people have a warped and incorrect understanding.
Please feel free to comment below and share your insights.
Tagged with: bible • fear • god • love • Rhonda Byrne • the power • The Secret
Filed under: Featured • Secret Answers
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David, what you have written is the exact thing that God has been working inside of me for the past 6 months. I’ve written a number of blog posts and we’ve done some radio shows on the exact subject, but you’ve put this into words in a far better manner.
It is as if you are inside my heart and mind, seeing exactly what God has been doing in my own heart.
Unconditional love conquers everything and I think believers have completely lost sight of this. When I went through my stuff, God showed me how many who didn’t profess Christ, didn’t show unconditional love, while those who didn’t profess Christ in the manner I deemed the right way, did show me unconditional love.
Very well done. Bravo
Thanks Matt. I believe satan has done a job of deceiving the world (including Christians) about love. We know that satan only comes to kill, steal and destroy … he comes for the Word. The easiest way to destroy is to create disunity, and the easiest way to create disunity is to distort peoples understanding of love. When love is seen as an emotion then our relationships are governed purely by the soul or how we feel at any given time. That means our love is up and down like a yoyo. Agape love (which is put in every Christian when they are born again) means that we love unconditionally as you said. And as a body of people, Christians are to be know for their love for one another! I think I need to write another blog
I think there are a lot of people that believe in god, but for some reason, have a hard time expressing that, almost as if they are embarrassed. It is very inspiring reading this blog and the comments. I try to be a good christian, but there are a couple of things on the list above i need to work on. (i am rude sometimes, when i’m touchy, which probably causes me to act unfairly, but never resentful.) The only one i’m resentful with is myself after behaving badly. I printed this out to remind myself exactly what to pray for, strength to be this kind of christain/person everyday. thanks for sharing blog and comments, this is very helpful.