“Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.” – 1 Corinthians 12:31

From the short amount of years I have lived on this earth, I have realized that not really too much from generation to generation has changed in life, besides the way in which things are done. We live, we die. We work towards things we desire to have skill in, yet several million others work towards the same goal. Some become greater at what they do than others. Some make more. Some are known by more. Some achieve more. But in the end, what is different?

In no way am I diminishing the hard-earned achievements of anyone. But like the writer of Ecclesiastes says, “There is nothing new under the sun.” So really, what makes us stand out in the end? Is it something we did? Is it something we achieved? Is it fame– how many people knew of us? Is it money– how much we earned? I think not. For fame will one day be: how many people have forgotten who I am. Money will one day be: who got what they did not work for but what I toiled for.

What makes us stand out in this world is the most beautiful of all things that exists– Better than life itself– the Love of Christ! We can have all things, but If we have not Love, we have nothing! We can know all things, but if we know not Love, we are nothing! We can be something “great” in this world, but if we have not Love, we are nothing! We can do all things, but if we have no Love, we have nothing! Without Love, we are the poorest of poor. We are like darkness, being broken up by the smallest beam of light. We can hold no ground.

As soon as we clothe ourselves in the robe of Love, we become a beacon of the most beautiful Light, piercing through the darkest fog! We will stand out like a lighthouse on a stormy shore! We become one who is in the world, yet without the world inside us! We become Light carriers– bearing the greatest name of all– Jesus Christ our Lord! Our greatest achievement we could ever achieve would be to walk in the most excellent way– The Way of Love.