Have you ever been busy...or are you busy now? Too often in our christian lives, we become like beauty queens....stacking up trophies of what we "Do" for the Lord. We wear the crown, proudly, of our gifts and talents. We become "holier than thou" when others don't have quite the number of gifts or talents that we do. Their christianity suddenly doesn't measure up in our eyes. We get "busy" about God's business, in church, in our communities, in our neighbors, in our homes, on MyChurch, on Facebook, on MySpace.........we're "Busy". And we feel good about ourselves, the bible has a word for it....."Puffed Up" We want our gifts and talents to shine, we know there are so many brothers and sisters that need fixing. So, we use our gift/talents to fix them.

Don't get me wrong, God gives us these gifts/talents...but they're HIS, not our's. We're just the vessel HE chooses to use them through. But we claim them, we use them, we help others...we become Dr Fix It All or Dr. Do-It-All.........and we smile, thinking how good we are for God's kingdom.

We have become gift-aholics. And we soon forget that the end of the verse says that without love.......I am NOTHING......that's harsh isn't it. Why, I can't be NOTHING with ALL that I'm doing! Wrongggggggggg. Without LOVE, I am NOTHING.

You see there was a man who walked this earth who had all the gifts......yet, He humbled himself and bore the pain and suffering for you and me. He used the greatest gift there is...Love. Close your eyes and walk through His life...everything He did, He did out of love.....there were times he wanted rest, he gave it up out of love, there were times he wanted to be alone, he gave it up out of love, there were times when he probably wanted to give in, give up and walk away, but he didn't.....he used his gifts, but in each instance there was love. On the cross, he showed us the greatest gift there is.......LOVE. He never got puffed up. He suffered. And through His suffering and love, you and I have a place with Him.

But we fail sometimes. We become self centered in God's gifts. We don't think about using them on ourselves...because we don't need them, everyone else does. Truth is, had I never been born, God would have used those same gifts through someone else.

Back to the first paragraph, have you been "busy", are you "busy". Have you left out the greatest gift in your life......Love? I've been guilty many times. The gift/talent is not fully used if it's not used in love....and love doesn't end. Love doesn't stop when you've accomplished what you set out to do...you still feel the need to nurture, to keep up with, to stand along beside, whether it be a project or a person.......Love keeps you there.....your heart doesn't move on.

The gifts, talents, works are a product of love. Love is what should be our motivating factor for them. If not......I am NOTHING.

Real Love stays, it doesn't move on and it doesn't expect anything in return. So, move that mountain without Love.....and watch it come right back.