Without This I am Nothing

1 Corinthians 13 says:

If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, I am nothing.

Wow. This verse really hit me anew when I read it this time.
I have been praying and asking God for a lot of things. I have been earnestly seeking after a lot of things lately. I have asked God for more faith. I have asked him for health. I have asked him for finances.
I asked God to lead me in my Bible reading last night and this verse is where He led me.
Basically, He was saying to me, You can have all these things, Kristi, but without love YOU ARE NOTHING.

The first step for each of us is to receive God's love for us. How many times have we heard, "God loves you"? I think it kind of just bounces off of us we've heard it so many times. But how many of us really know that God loves us and accepts us? We have to receive His love, and then we will be able to truly love Him back. And then our lives will be about love. God is love. Our lives will be about loving God and others. Our lives will be about God.
This is the thing we must seek first. And then the rest will come.