In our study of the Gospels, my sophomores took a one period detour and looked at love from 1st Corinthians 13. So much of the Gospels deals with the motives for our actions; Paul addresses the same issue at the beginning of his beautiful treatise: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If 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. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." (verses 1-3) As I have done recently, I had my students put similar thoughts in their own vernacular, framing them with their own points of references. As they always do, they displayed a fascinating-and sometimes startling mature- grasp of life. Here is a sampling:
"If I am Asian American and I don't even try to learn my culture, I might as well have been born with no race." Lance
"If I love someone just because of how he looks, I might as well just love myself." Jenny
"If I go to Sunday School and don't pay attention, I might as well just stay at home sleeping." Oscar
"If I am nice to my brother only to use something of his, I show no love." Yesenia
"If I love God but hate my brothers, then am I a true Christian?" Jonathan
"If I join the golf team just to miss school, I should not have joined." Jalyn
"If I borrow my brother's tie for a concert but use it to clean the mouth piece on my instrument, then I should have used my own tie." Harrison
"If I only give someone a compliment to get one back, I should just not say anything." Audrey
"If I work out for one day and then stop for a month, that was a waste." Darius
"If I am nice to people just to be popular, I might was well be mean." Giselle
"If I say thank you in the cafeteria line just to get more food, I should stop saying 'thank you'." Justin
"If I'm respectful to everyone's mother except mine, then she shouldn't recognize me as her daughter." Sasha
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
"If I am Asian American and I don't even try to learn my culture, I might as well have been born with no race." Lance
"If I love someone just because of how he looks, I might as well just love myself." Jenny
"If I go to Sunday School and don't pay attention, I might as well just stay at home sleeping." Oscar
"If I am nice to my brother only to use something of his, I show no love." Yesenia
"If I love God but hate my brothers, then am I a true Christian?" Jonathan
"If I join the golf team just to miss school, I should not have joined." Jalyn
"If I borrow my brother's tie for a concert but use it to clean the mouth piece on my instrument, then I should have used my own tie." Harrison
"If I only give someone a compliment to get one back, I should just not say anything." Audrey
"If I work out for one day and then stop for a month, that was a waste." Darius
"If I am nice to people just to be popular, I might was well be mean." Giselle
"If I say thank you in the cafeteria line just to get more food, I should stop saying 'thank you'." Justin
"If I'm respectful to everyone's mother except mine, then she shouldn't recognize me as her daughter." Sasha
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
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