A girl I know texted me and asked me if I knew anything about “essential oils”. She was talking about sandalwood and lavender and such things and was starting a business of selling essential oils. I didn’t know a thing about them but the thought came to me, “I do know about one essential oil!” Not being one who wants to miss a chance to talk about God, I texted her back and said, “I know that the Holy Spirit is an essential oil!”
That’s about the only thing I did know about essential oils. But I decided to Google them and learn a little bit about them. One of the things that I discovered was that when using essential oils it’s important to make sure that they’re used with a carrier oil. Each individual essential oil needs to be in a carrier oil. Without the carrier oil the essential oil itself has the power to burn! The carrier oil allows it to come into contact with the body without it hurting you.
“Carrier oils and essential oils are made from plants. Carrier oils are used to dilute essential oils and “carry” them to your skin. That’s because essential oils are potent and can cause irritation when applied directly to your skin.” -Healthline
If you look at the spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians you’ll find the Apostle Paul talking about love right there in the same section! We need to understand that the Bible was not written with chapter and verses. If you remove the chapter and verses what you’re going to find is the Apostle talking about the various spiritual gifts, and then you find him talking about love, and then you find him talking about what is always been one of the most controversial spiritual gifts- the manifestation of tongues.
Why does he do this? Why does he start talking about love right in the middle of teaching us about spiritual gifts? Because the love of the Holy Spirit is the carrier oil for all the other spiritual gifts!
I would even go so far as to say that the love of God is the greatest spiritual gift that the Holy Spirit gives. Love is the super excellent manifestation of the Spirit!
Paul wasn’t writing a “love chapter” in 1 Corinthians 13. He wasn’t writing it as something to quote at weddings. He very specifically places it right in the middle of his discussion about the various manifestations of the Holy Spirit that we call “spiritual gifts”.
Love is the carrier oil that allows every other manifestation of the Holy Spirit to touch us as human beings the way God intended. No spiritual gift was ever intended to be manifested by itself without love. Just as essential oils need a carrier oil, spiritual gifts need love to be used in a healthy way.
A spiritual gift without love, is like an essential oil without the carrier oil, it could actually do more harm than good!
I was reading on another website that it’s not uncommon for the essential oil to be diluted by the carrier oil to the degree that the carrier oil represents 98-99% of the total mixture. What a wonderful and divine recipe it would be if every spiritual gift was used in those proportions!
2% prophecy, 98% love!!
1% word of knowledge, 99% love!
The Oil of God’s love is an indispensable element of the Holy Spirit’s ministration.