“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV)

God’s love pours out upon us every day, and He asks us to shine that same love to other people. This can be manifested in many different ways. One of them is through the gift of speaking in tongues.

When we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, one of the common manifestations of this is speaking in tongues, a prayer language that we can use through the Holy Spirit when speaking to God. Paul refers to this in this manner in 1 Cor. 14:2: “For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.” (NIV). There is, however, another manifestation of speaking in tongues. Peter was given this gift on the day of Pentecost. He spoke to people from all over the known world, and they all heard him in their native language! “Utterly amazed, they asked: ‘Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs–we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!'” (Acts 2: 7-10 NIV)

I was given the first type of speaking in tongues years ago; but God has also blessed me on two occasions with the same gift as Peter had on the day of Pentecost. The first time was in Poland. Now I do not speak any Polish whatsoever; but when I asked a man for directions, and he answered me in fast-paced Polish, I understood him. When I got back to my car, I told my family exactly what he had said and where we should go.

Another time, I was given the gift of understanding Arabic. There was a student who was a Syrian refugee at my school. She didn’t understand English or French. We had all gathered in the gym for an awards ceremony, and when I saw this student, I began to talk to her. She smiled, and we had a little conversation. The educational assistant assigned to her saw me talking to the girl. She watched with amazement as the girl laughed with me. She knew the girl didn’t understand English or French, but there she was, understanding me. The girl was so happy because she felt like she was no longer alone, thanks to our Heavenly Father.

Since having these two experiences, I know that I was understanding in speaking through Jesus Christ and His Spirit alone. He was pouring out His love through me to that Syrian girl. I didn’t have to try to communicate with her, but God’s love poured through me and I had no choice but to try and speak with her.

We may not completely understand what is happening; but we can accept it with open arms for our Heavenly Father is guiding us. I know He will do it again, when the time is right. That’s how much He loves us, that’s how much He cares.

Sometimes we are like children. We don’t know what is happening, but when we give it all to God, He Spirit will guide us. It may not be the gift of tongues that we are given, but it will always be given in a Spirit of love. Genuine love is the most important thing: “And now these three remain: faith. hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV)

Remember that without faith we will go nowhere, and if we have no hope, we will never get to know Jesus, for He is our hope. These things are vitally important, but, “the greatest of these is love.” May we follow Jesus, our guide. He was always helping, healing, caring. He never stopped, and He still heals today. I’m living proof of this: Jesus healed me ftom my Alzheimers. Doctors cannot heal Alzheimers, but Jesus can!

Walk in the steps of genuine love and you will never get lost. Jesus is with you, and His love will flow through you.

Rob Chaffart

(To access the entire “God’s Love in YOU” devotional series, please click here.)