(A Devotional by Pastor Dishan Wickramaratne, Senior Pastor of the People’s Church (Assembly of God), in Colombo, Sri Lanka).

roses 1566792 1280

1 Corinthians 13:13  “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”

Paul says it’s going to continue forever.  If you want a legacy to last, if you want people to remember you – love.  Love lasts.  In fact, nothing else does.  I hate to tell you this but people are going to forget all your work.  People are going to forget all your wealth.  People are never remembered for what they earned.  They’re remembered for what they gave away.  They’re remembered for their love.

And I even hate to tell you this, but the truth is one day all your trophies are going to be thrown away.  That Athletic trophy!  That Gold medal!  That report card!  That certificate of accomplishment!  Nobody’s going to remember those things.  I doubt that you have any of the awards that your grandparents got.  Some day people are going to throw away your graduation picture too.  The only thing that is going to last is what you did in love.  1 Corinthians 13:13  “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”  Nothing else you do on this planet is permanent.  You didn’t bring any of it in with you.  You’re not taking any of it out with you.  It’s all very temporary.  All those trophies will be thrown away one day.

The truth is every one of us will eventually learn the basic truth of life – Life is about RELATIONSHIPS not accomplishments.  Everybody’s going to eventually learn it on their deathbed.  When you’re dying you’re going to want people around you who love you, not things.  So we’re all going to figure that out.

In fact, the Bible says life without love is worthless.  It is a wasted life.  The Message translation says this – 1 Corinthians 13:3  “So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.”  Bankrupt.

My prayer for you as your friend and your pastor, who loves you – is this:  I want you to learn this today and not when you die.  I want you to learn that what matters most right now are RELATIONSHIPS.

  • What matters is do I love God with all my heart?
  •  And do I love everybody else like I love myself?

Similar Content:

  • Sermon: Torn Between Two LovesSermon: Torn Between Two Loves INTRODUCTION Those who are part of the generation I grew up in would remember the 1977 pop hit 'Torn Between Two Lovers" sung by Mary MacGregor. It spoke about a lady who was attracted […]
  • God’s Goodness in 2017God’s Goodness in 2017 ‘To achieve spiritual success, do not forget to give God the first hour of the day, the first day of the week, the first part of every paycheck, the first consideration in every […]
  • Sermon: A Man whose Death nobody RegrettedSermon: A Man whose Death nobody Regretted ‘Jehoram……….. reigned in Jerusalem eight years. No one was sorry when he died. ….’ (2 Chronicles 21:20) Introduction When I was a young boy, I remember a cowboy movie titled ‘A […]