#1 Love is... essential.

"1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." -- 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

This passionate, crescendoing declaration sounds like it could have come straight from "The Moulin Rogue" itself, and this is how God (via the apostle Paul) preps his definition of love. Like Natalie Cole, the Beatles, and Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge, God wants to remove all doubt and reassure us that truly, "All you need is love!" In fact, he says that if you have everything or anything else in life, and if you can do the greatest things, but do not have love, you have nothing and you have gained nothing!

God is saying that, above all, love is essential. We're not talking like deodorant or toothpaste is essiential; we're talking like breathing is essential. Like your heart beating is essiential. Love should be our motivation, our implementation, and our destination. If love is not what motivates us, eventually we will burn out and quit trying. If love is not how we implement our actions, eventually we will burn bridges and destroy relationships. And if love is not the destination we have in mind, then we are ultimately heading toward a selfish, fearful, and lonely end.

A few years back I read a magazine article about Muhammad Ali. The reporter who wrote the article told about how the now frail, Parkinson's afflicted Ali escorted him to a barn that Ali used to use as a gym. On the floor, leaning against the walls were mementos of Ali in his prime. There were photos and portraits of the champ punching and dancing. Sculpted body, fist punching the air, championship belt raised in victory.

But like the aged champ, the photos on the walls were not in the best condition. The pictures were covered with white streaks - bird droppings. Ali looked into the rafters of the barn at the pigeons who now made their home in his gym. Then Ali did something significant. Perhaps it was a gesture of closure, or just maybe a statement of despair. Ali went over to a row of pictures and turned each photo, one by one, towards the wall. He walked to the door, looked out over the countryside and mumbled, "I had the world," he said, "and it wasn't nothin'. Look now."

Muhammad Ali accomplished great things through incredible physical training and skill. He was truly "The Greatest" boxer in the world. And yet, because his accomplishments were not motivated, implemented, or ending in love, their glory and consequence lasted a very short time, so that even Ali himself declared their hollow significance.

On the other hand, when love is our motivation, implementation, and destination, even our smallest actions can have immense significance that endures through the ages. As Mother Teresa once said, "Small things, done in great love, bring joy and peace. We can do no great things on this earth, only small things with great love." She would know. She did things ANY of us could do. Feed someone who's hungry. Listen to someone who's troubled. Hold someone who's hurting. And because these were motivated, implemented, and ending in love, their significance will echo into eternity.

Without love we are nothing. Love is essential.

APK