We hope you enjoy this re-post from September 2, 2013. Be blessed! The Today’s Quote From God Team

…the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13:13, AMP

If you were in Solomon’s place, and God gave you the opportunity to ask for anything in the universe, what would you ask for?  Wisdom, as Solomon requested? Peace? Happiness? Freedom from financial stress or personal strain or anxiety of any kind?  Our answers to such a question can be as diverse as the human race. But in 1 Corinthians 13, God tells us through the Apostle Paul the answer that would be most pleasing to Him: charity, which is true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us.

Have you ever met someone for the first time, talked with him or her for a few minutes, and then realized that this person in front of you has the Spirit of God “all over him/her”? There are those special people who, when we meet them, strike us as having the very character of Jesus Himself. This is God’s goal for all of His creation, to trust Christ as Savior and then to see their character transform into the very reflection of Christ’s character. But for this transformation to happen, the Christian must be filled with the same charity that Christ Himself was filled with. Until he or she is, Christ’s character in them will be hard for others to detect.

Charity produces a character that (from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, AMP):

1.  Endures everything
2.  Is patient
3.  Is kind
4.  Is never envious
5.  Is never jealous
6.  Is never boastful
7.  Is never vain
8.  Is never haughty
9.  Is never arrogant or proud
10. Is never rude
11. Never insists on its own rights
12. Is never self-seeking
13. Is not easily offended
14. Is never fretful
15. Is never resentful
16. Pays no attention to a suffered wrong
17. Does not rejoice at unrighteousness or injustice
18. Rejoices when right and truth prevail
19. Bears up under any stress
20. Is ever ready to believe the best of every person
21. Produces hope that never fades, no matter what the circumstances
22. Does all of the above forever

If we lack in any of these areas – and we all do – then we lack in charity.

The cure for falling short of Christ’s example is to pray specifically, regularly, and diligently for charity. Only God can supply us with true affection for God and man, and if we are not asking Him for charity, we don’t have it.