Have you ever been to a concert of young children playing instruments? It can be a great joy to watch children learn new things. But often when a musician is just learning, they only know two volumes: loud and louder. This is particularly true when you are talking about percussion. In particular, the cymbals. Even when you go to a professional symphony, hearing those cymbals crash makes your heart jump. For a moment, it is all you can hear. Imagine if you were right next to the cymbals when they crashed. You wouldn’t be able to hear anything but your ears ringing for a long while.

I think this is the reason that 1 Corinthians 13 starts out with the analogy: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Without love in your speech, all anyone can hear is loud crashing every time you open your mouth. It hurts their ears and keeps them from hearing anything else. You can have a lot to say, but unless love is part of it, no one will be able to hear it.

When we speak to people in our world about our faith, we need a heavy dose of gentleness and love. We should not be pushy or unpleasantly aggressive. Instead we need the agape love of Christ to be present in our words. Then others will be able to hear and receive the beautiful music that is a life with God in our Lord Jesus Christ.   

This is Luis Palau.