Life Is About Relationships, Not Accomplishments
By Rick Warren
“If you are a follower of Christ Jesus . . . all that matters is your faith that makes you love others” (Galatians 5:6 CEV).
We learned yesterday that the Bible is very clear about what really matters in life: “If you are a follower of Christ Jesus . . . all that matters is your faith that makes you love others” (Galatians 5:6 CEV).
If you don’t live a life of love, then nothing you say will matter, nothing you know will matter, nothing you believe will matter, and nothing you give will matter.
Finally, if you don’t live a life of love, nothing you accomplish will matter.
The Bible also says in 1 Corinthians 13:3, “No matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love” (The Message).You can rack up an incredible list of personal achievements. You can get your picture on the cover of Fortune magazine.You can win the Nobel Peace Prize. You can have enormous accomplishments, be entrepreneur of the year, build a billion-dollar company, have incredibly great successes in your field of endeavor. But the Bible says it isn’t worth much if you don’t love. The Bible says — God says — relationships are more important than accomplishments.
Life is about relationships, not accomplishments.
It’s as simple as this: You can have the eloquence of an orator, the knowledge of a genius, the faith of a miracle worker, the generosity of a philanthropist, or the achievements of a superstar, but if you don’t have love in your heart, it is worth zero. It doesn’t count. The only thing that matters to God is this: Do you love him, and do you love other people?
One day you’re going to die, and you’re going to stand before God. When he evaluates your life, he’s not going to look at your bank account or your list of accomplishments or your grades. He won’t care about all your sports trophies. He’s not going to look at your endorsements or your resume.
God is going to evaluate your life on one basis: your relationships. He’s going to ask, “How much did you love me and other people?” That’s called the Great Commandment. Did you love God with all your heart, and did you love your neighbor as yourself?
That’s why Paul teaches us that what matters most is our faith being expressed through love (see Galatians 5:6).
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Talk It Over
If you died and stood before God today, how would he say you did at loving him and loving other people?
What opportunities has God given you in your job to love the people around you well?
Why do you think God wants us to spend our lives learning how to better love him and other people?
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!
Discover what it takes to “be love” to the world!
Of all the commands in the Bible, Jesus tells us which is most important: love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.
But living out those commands isn’t easy – which is why we want to encourage you with Pastor Rick’s complete audio series, 40 Days of Love.
The 40 Days of Love complete audio series is available on CD boxed set or by downloadable Mp3. And it’s our way to thank you for your gift below to help more people learn, love, and live the Word.
We pray it encourages and equips you to “be love” to the world!
This devotional © 2017 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.
