"Loving God" - 2

"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is part shall be done away." (1 Corinthians 13:9 & 10) The word perfect in this verse is 'teleios' which means Finished, that which has reached its end, term, limit: hence, complete, full, wanting in nothing. Generally, it means that a person has reached God's expectations, or that one is completely blameless before God. But what is God's expectation? This I believe can vary from one person to another, which was part of the point Paul was making; because he was completing his last statement in verse 12:31: "And yet show I unto you a more excellent way", as chapter 13 begins. And in chapter 12, Paul is speaking about One Body with many parts, and that all these different parts are different, having also many different levels of service, gifts, or even abilities. That is why loving God is our number one priority, because we may not know what His will for our lives may be; but as we continue in His Love, then He will show us what His will is, as He moves us in His will. Paul was gifted in his knowledge of what God's will was for his life, because God told him so; but not all of us have such a gift of knowing, and some step out into a work, only to be frustrated by that work not being God's will for their lives. We really do not know what we must be doing until God tells us, and in most cases, He will not tell us until it is pressing into our hearts, or we have been so radically changed by circumstance, that we are spun out into His will from that ordeal. Which was the case of Paul, as he met the Lord on the road to Damascus... Now, when it comes to 'perfect Love', like the love that John spoke of in 1 John 4:18, which casteth out fear; this perfect love means the love which is mature, not lacking boldness or confidence and therefore not hampered by the insecurity or anxiety which are characteristic of immature love. This 'perfect love' coupled with the will of God for our life is the more excellent way that Paul was talking about, because without loving God first and foremost above all things, we can not know 'perfect love' or His perfect will...