Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 08 04 2026 “A More Excellent Way”

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08 04 2026 “A More Excellent Way” · Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris

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  Speaker 1: Most of us eat every day, some of us too
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  Speaker 1: much because yesterday's food is not enough to supply energy
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  Speaker 1: for today's needs. Why then, do some of us expect
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  Speaker 1: yesterday's portion of heavenly manna the word of God to
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  Speaker 1: keep us through today's challenges. On this program, we are
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  Speaker 1: going to change all of that. Let's experience God's words
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  Speaker 1: today and receive the power we need to live healthy,
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  Speaker 1: vibrant lives. Welcome to your Daily Portion with your host,
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  Speaker 1: author speaker, Elle David Harris.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning, good morning. It is Tuesday, August four,
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty six. Hello, my name is El David Harris.
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  Speaker 2: I am your host, and this is your Daily Portion
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  Speaker 2: where we give you God's word every single day, and
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  Speaker 2: today is no exception. We are continuing in our Lesson
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  Speaker 2: study series through the books of First and Second Corinthians,
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  Speaker 2: and our caption for today is a more Excellent Way,
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  Speaker 2: a more ex Way. Before we get into that, i'd
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  Speaker 2: like to welcome you to your Daily Portion dot com.
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  Speaker 2: I want you to please go ahead and click something
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  Speaker 2: that looks like what you see on the screen where
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  Speaker 2: it says stop guessing what to do with your life.
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  Speaker 2: Click here to discover God's design for your life. And
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  Speaker 2: as I have said for the last couple of days,
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  Speaker 2: it's it can't be more appropriate than this week's study
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  Speaker 2: because it's on spiritual gifts. So I need you to
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  Speaker 2: go ahead. Well, I don't really need you to do it,
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  Speaker 2: but you do like you need to go ahead over
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  Speaker 2: there and click so you can learn more about what
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  Speaker 2: God has called you to do. And I promise you
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  Speaker 2: I'm not saying it's better, but it is far different
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  Speaker 2: and goes into some key areas than any other spiritual
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  Speaker 2: gifts assessment that I've ever seen. So please please go
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  Speaker 2: ahead over there, and also, please, will you contribute to
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  Speaker 2: your daily portion ministries because we are a listener and viewer.
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  Speaker 2: Supported minute, let's go ahead and pray and then we
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  Speaker 2: will get underway. Father, we do thank you for giving
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  Speaker 2: us the privilege of coming together today to learn a
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  Speaker 2: more excellent way to connect with you and with other believers. Father,
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  Speaker 2: will you make us holy in Jesus name. I pray, Amen, Amen,
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  Speaker 2: and a man again a more excellent way? Now? What
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  Speaker 2: would make the connection within the faith fellowship more excellent?
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  Speaker 2: Before I get into that, I just want to say
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  Speaker 2: that a gift exercised without love is just noise. And really,
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  Speaker 2: we just took that right out of the scriptures, right,
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  Speaker 2: just took it right out of the scriptures. Love is
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  Speaker 2: not one gift among many. I may I just say
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  Speaker 2: that this is how we contextualize our relationship with God
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  Speaker 2: and with people is through this blessing, this principle, this
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  Speaker 2: law of love. It is the one that it's the
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  Speaker 2: means by which every gift reaches its purpose. If you
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  Speaker 2: want to know whether whatever you're doing is meaningful, measure
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  Speaker 2: it against the principle of love. So let's go ahead
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  Speaker 2: and start with our first lesson for today, coming in
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  Speaker 2: from First Corinthians, chapter thirteen. And you would have anticipated
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  Speaker 2: that if you've not studied yet verses one and two,
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  Speaker 2: and the Bible reads, though I speak with the tongues
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  Speaker 2: of men and of angels, and have not charity or love,
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  Speaker 2: I am become a sounding brass that we say it's
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  Speaker 2: noisy without love, huh and tingling symbol. And though I
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  Speaker 2: have the gift of prophecy. So God knew, obviously, because
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  Speaker 2: he's all intelligent, all wise blessed be his name, he
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  Speaker 2: knew that there are some of y'all who are like
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  Speaker 2: who have a more introverted and tame style of experience.
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  Speaker 2: And He's like, okay, So for those of you who
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  Speaker 2: feel like we can just we can just lean on
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  Speaker 2: the gift of prophecy, knowing things that we can tell
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  Speaker 2: forth and knowing things that we can foretell. I want
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  Speaker 2: you to know that if it's without love, then it's nothing.
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  Speaker 2: And for those of you who are more expressive in
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  Speaker 2: your experience, you love tongues of men and of angels, well,
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  Speaker 2: God is saying to even those people who are more
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  Speaker 2: expressive that if you don't have love, biblical love, then
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  Speaker 2: it's just noise. So God knew how we would be.
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  Speaker 2: And by the way, let's go back for those who
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  Speaker 2: understand all mysteries and knowledge, back to those, to those
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  Speaker 2: more tame styles. I just made that up as I'm
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  Speaker 2: talking to you now. And though I have all faith
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  Speaker 2: and can remove mountains the more expressive types and have
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  Speaker 2: not charity, I am nothing. So God is like the gamut.
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  Speaker 2: We can run the gamut of believers. If love is
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  Speaker 2: not the central thing, the central principle God is love.
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  Speaker 2: Therefore all that we do must be godly and loving.
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  Speaker 2: If that is not the central principle, everything else is
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  Speaker 2: really a sham. It's not real. It's not real. And
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  Speaker 2: so here we are using the term from the scriptures agape,
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  Speaker 2: that kind of love, the self giving love that seeks
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  Speaker 2: the good of another without conditions. Paul places this word
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  Speaker 2: above tongues, above prophecy, above knowledge and faith. Without it,
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  Speaker 2: every gifts gift collapses into nothing. That's the fruit of
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  Speaker 2: the spirit. Brothers and sisters love, okay, And so Paul
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  Speaker 2: does not say that the gifts without love are less effective.
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  Speaker 2: He says that they make us nothing. Let that settle in.
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  Speaker 2: So it's not that love is an ideal and if
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  Speaker 2: we have it, then we're better off. That means that
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  Speaker 2: God is love, and therefore we are converted by love,
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  Speaker 2: and we can love him because He first loved us,
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  Speaker 2: the most gifted person in the world. Without love has
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  Speaker 2: missed the entire point of why God has given us
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  Speaker 2: spiritual gifts. And so what do we need to do?
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  Speaker 2: We can begin to ask and say, God, will you
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  Speaker 2: help me before you exercise whatever your gift is today?
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  Speaker 2: In my case, one of my gifts is teaching. Another case,
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  Speaker 2: I am a person who knows how to get people
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  Speaker 2: from step one to step six, Step six to a
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  Speaker 2: step step one hundred. I'm a coach, like I know
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  Speaker 2: how to get people to perform well and become the
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  Speaker 2: better version of themselves every time that we are together.
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  Speaker 2: But if I do any of that without God, without love,
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  Speaker 2: then something is severely wrong. And so today, before I
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  Speaker 2: exercise any of that, before you exercise whatever your gifts
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  Speaker 2: and callings are, ask God to fill you with love
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  Speaker 2: for the people that you're serving. I want that to
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  Speaker 2: settle in. Ask God to fill you with love, and
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  Speaker 2: not just generally, but for the people that you are serving.
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  Speaker 2: Let that love be the feel of whatever you do.
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  Speaker 2: Don't let the abilities that you have be the few. Well, okay,
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  Speaker 2: let's go to our second lesson from verses four and five,
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  Speaker 2: same chapter one Corinthians, Chapter thirteen. Charity or love suffereth
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  Speaker 2: long and is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself.
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  Speaker 2: It is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly,
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  Speaker 2: seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked. Thinketh no evil.
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  Speaker 2: Oh this is good. This is good. And so there's
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  Speaker 2: a long word I can't pronounce that has to do
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  Speaker 2: with patience and long suffering. From this text, it is
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  Speaker 2: to bear long with people and circumstances without giving way
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  Speaker 2: to anger.
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  Speaker 1: Ooh.
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  Speaker 2: Love's first quality is the refusal to retaliate or give
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  Speaker 2: up on the other person. So Paul describes love entirely
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  Speaker 2: in verbs. These are action words. Remember that from primary school. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: what does, what it does, what it refuses to do?
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  Speaker 2: Love is not just a feeling, brothers and sisters, you
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  Speaker 2: don't fall in love like you are elevated and transformed
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  Speaker 2: by love. It's not a feeling that you wait for.
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  Speaker 2: It's a decision that you make, a practice that you sustain.
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  Speaker 2: You see all this action and a discipline you return
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  Speaker 2: to you how frequently every single day? So what is
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  Speaker 2: the action? Since we're talking about action, pick one of
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  Speaker 2: Paul's fifteen descriptions of love today. How many people actually
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  Speaker 2: counted the number of descriptions? And practice it deliberately in
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  Speaker 2: your most challenging relationship? Is it patience that you need
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  Speaker 2: to Is it kindness? Is it refusing to keep a
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  Speaker 2: record of wrongs? I got ask him to do that
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  Speaker 2: through and for you. Yeah, I think we'll just go
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  Speaker 2: ahead and pause right there, A more excellent way. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: that has all to do with us becoming the love
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  Speaker 2: that God is. Make it a great day. Peace.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us listening. Friends, Always remember we cannot
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  Speaker 1: live by bread alone, but by every word that comes
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  Speaker 1: from the mouth of God. This has been your daily
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  Speaker 1: portion with El David Harris. Make it a great day. Yeah,