Who Can Express the Power of God's Divine Love?
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Clement was a leading member of the church in Rome in the late first century, becoming the bishop of that large congregation in 88. In his letter to the Corinthinians, the earliest authentic Christian document outside the New Testament, Clement emphasized the unity of the church and the unity of the body of Christ with all its various members, brought together by God to live and work together in harmony for the good of all.
Who Can Express the Power of God's Divine Love?
Let the man truly possessed by the love of Christ keep his commandments. Who can express the binding power of divine love? Who can find words for the splendor of its beauty? Beyond all description are the heights to which it lifts us. Love unites us to God; it cancels innumerable sins, has no limits to its endurance, bears everything patiently. Love is neither servile nor arrogant. It does not provoke schisms or form cliques, but always acts in harmony with others. By it all God’s chosen ones have been sanctified; without it, it is impossible to please him. Out of love the Lord took us to himself; because he loved us and it was God’s will, our Lord Jesus Christ gave his life’s blood for us – he gave his body for our body, his soul for our soul.
See then, beloved, what a great and wonderful things love is, and how inexpressible its perfection. Who are worthy to possess it unless God makes them so? To him therefore we must turn, begging of his mercy that there may be found in us a love free from human partiality and beyond reproach. Every generation from Adam’s time to ours has passed away; but those who by God’s grace were made perfect in love have a dwelling now among the saints, and when at last the kingdom of Christ appears, they will be revealed. Take shelter in your rooms for a little while, says Scripture, until my wrath subsides. Then I will remember the good days, and will raise you from your graves.
Happy are we, beloved, if love enables us to live in harmony and in the observance of God’s commandments, for then it will also gain for us the remission of our sins. Scripture pronounces happy those whose transgressions are pardoned, whose sins are forgiven. Happy the man, it says, to whom the Lord imputes no fault, on whose lips there is no guile. This is the blessing given those whom God has chosen through Jesus Christ our Lord. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Clement of Rome
John 15:1-17
1 Corinthians 13:1-8
Barbara Gauthier
O Lord, you have taught us that without love
whatever we do is worth nothing;
Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts
your greatest gift, which is love,
the true bond of peace and of all virtue,
without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you.
Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Pray with us today's prayer request:
Bishop Marcio Simoes is the bishop of the Diocese of Vitoria, in the Anglican Church in Brazil. He has oversight of eleven churches in various cities in Pernambuco State. During the pandemic they have made use of streamed services using YouTube and Instagram. This new hybrid way doing things has been challenging. Thank God that He has provided the means of proclaiming the gospel and strengthening His church despite the challenges.
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