Our church concluded some special meetings with Life Action Ministry this past week. One of the evening messages was particularly a blessing to me. The speaker’s emphasis was on I Corinthians 13, the chapter on love. It made me think of the words of an old song by Jackie DeShannon:

What the world needs now is love, sweet love.

It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love,

No, not just for some, but for everyone..

Two other stanzas say, “Lord, we don’t need another mountain and Lord, we don’t need another meadow. But what the world needs now is love, sweet love.”

The more I think about those words, the more I realize how true they are. But how can this happen? Our speaker challenged us through I Cor. 13. If the world is going to see and know love, and also see Jesus and know His love, it needs to be seen in and through Christians. So we need to do a check on our own life and make sure we are really showing love. Here’s the challenge: take the word “charity (love) and change it to your name in verses 4-7 of I Cor. 13 and read it every morning. This is the example using my name:

MARLENE is patient and kind. MARLENE is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. MARLENE does not demand HER own way. MARLENE is not irritable, and SHE keeps no record of being wronged. MARLENE does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. MARLENE never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Now it’s your turn. Put it on an index card. Perhaps we can be key in changing our sin sick, hate-filled world into a world of love, sweet love, and kindness. Check out the verse and see how loving you are and/or what you need to change or work on to truly be loving. That’s what the world needs now!