A New Devotion - The Most Powerful Word in the English Language

Here's a new devotion that I wrote. It's based on the passage below. You can find a recording of this devotion at the bottom of the page.

1 John 4:16b-21 [Contemporary English Version] 

God is love. If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us. If we truly love others and live as Christ did in this world, we won't be worried about the day of judgment. A real love for others will chase those worries away. The thought of being punished is what makes us afraid. It shows we have not really learned to love.

We love because God loved us first. But if we say we love God and don't love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don't love the people we can see? The commandment that God has given us is: “Love God and love each other!”

The Most Powerful Word in the English Language

“Do you know the most powerful word in the English language?” Now, for years, I’ve used that question in presentations. And generally, when I ask it, the folks in the class will say things like “God” or “Jesus” or “love.” Now, that’s what they tend to say, and even though I’ll tell them that their guesses are good, for me, there’s a word far more powerful. And it’s a simple, three-letter word we use all the time: B-U-T.  You see, for me, “but” is the most powerful word in the English language for one very simple reason. When used in a sentence, “but” negates everything that comes before. For example, if I say to you, “You certainly look nice today, but...” Of course, now you’re listening for the reason or reasons you’re certainly not looking particularly nice to today. You see, that single word cancels what comes before and draws attention to what follows; therefore, I think it has enormous power.

And it’s interesting, we see a pretty important “but” in the passage I just read. I mean, after focusing on love and establishing that God is love and that our love for others shows God’s presence in our lives and that the love we show is in response to the love God has already shown to us, John wrote, “But if we say we love God and don't love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don't love the people we can see?” [1 John 4:20, CEV] In other words, everything he said about the importance of God’s love is negated, at least in our own minds, when we make the decision not to treat others in a loving way. As a matter of fact, the love we show demonstrates exactly how much we understand and appreciate the love we’ve been shown. Now that was what John wrote.

And I think that’s something we need to remember as we go about our daily living. You see, it’s easy to talk about what we believe and it’s easy to talk about how close we are to God and it’s easy to talk about why following Jesus is the most important aspect of our lives. I’ll tell you, these things are easy to say. BUT they don’t mean anything, if we’re not willing to live what we believe and to show others exactly what it means to have God in our hearts and to do what Jesus both did and commanded us do, namely to love God and love each other. You see, that little three-letter word forces us to look at ourselves and figure out whether we really are the kind of people we claim to be. And for me, this is just another sign that “but” really is the most powerful word in the English language.