1 Corinthians 14

One of the ways that the devil turns life upside down is by getting us to chase aspirations that are far from eternally minded,and focus us on temporal things.A lot of these may be honorable and even do a lot of good in the world,but we need to ask the question-“what does God define as GOOD things for us to be & do in the world?”When someone earnestly desires to run a marathon,or to seek after any other goal,if they are sincere about pursuing the goal they will establish a list of priorities about how their lives will need to be disciplined in order to achieve that goal.Everyone is chasing a goal of some kind,even if we have not “officially” claimed a goal to go after,we are chasing “default goals”.We are all “disciplining” our lives in some way...even the lack of discipline is a form of discipline.Point is that we are all choosing to pursue something(s).1Cor14 says that we should “pursue love,& earnestly desire the spiritual gifts,ESPECIALLY that you may prophesy.”To “pursue love” means that what Paul is taking about is not going to come naturally,nor without study,effort,&discipline.We need to seek the RIGHT&TRUE kind of love that is only found in the Bible,& how God defines&teaches about love. One reason the divorce rate among Christians is the same as non Christians is that we have the same deficient/meager/narrow/conditional ideas about love the world has,instead of the immense/unfailing/measureless/unconditional kind of love that God teaches us in the Bible.Therefore,the kind of love we pursue and end up having is empty and weak,unable to be sustained in the middle of challenges and the battles life stuff will throw at us.Next,Paul says that we should “earnestly desire the spiritual gifts”,the NIV says it this way-“eagerly desire the spiritual gifts”!I have eagerly desired a lot of things...but I have not spent a lot of time in my life eagerly desiring spiritual gifts.Sure,I have learned about them and prayed about them SOME,but not the way that would be “eagerly desiring” them!Then he says that we all should especially desire the gift of “prophecy” for the eternal benefits/edification of those around me... To have the gift of prophecy is to encourage others with a message inspired by God! For today’s believers,God reveals His messages to us through His Word,His Spirit,and Prayer as the bedrocks of His Voice,& then confirmed through the wise Godly counsel of other sincere believers God Sovereignly places in our lives.This a reason that a priority in our lives needs to be our personally seeking God’s Heart in His Word,& why we need to keep a few trusted sincere believers close,that are earnestly & prayerfully seeking the same things from God and His Word and His Spirit...and then we need to open our lives up to this trusted “quorum” of sincere believers for counsel/wisdom/discernment/guidance.Only when we are “pursuing” these things are we taking these verses to heart...for God to have His Ways and Blessings in and through our lives!Dear Lord, I am sorry that I have glanced over these verses so many times without taking their significance to heart.I pray for Your help in focusing my heart on these verses in ways that change me from the inside out...and direct my life to seek after pursuits that You deem important for my life & what You have blessed me with life for....the purposes that You say You know/have for my life as You Promise in Jeremiah 29:11 when You say,”For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”