•I Corinthians 13:4-7
•Love is…
•4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
(I Corinthians 13:4-7, ESV)
•Main Point
•Paul defines what love is
•The Corinthians have been divisive, selfish, and rejoicing in what is wrong
•Paul must show them how love truly acts rather than how they perceive it does
•Application Points
•Love is…
•I Corinthians 13 is one of the greatest known chapters in the Bible…especially during weddings
•The love described in this chapter is of such quality and purity it can be put into practice…in any relationship
•The first thing to notice is that love is not purely emotional
• Is an emotional connection necessary for the love in this chapter to be practiced?
“28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
-Mark 12:28-31, ESV.
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34-35, ESV.
•Application Points
•Love is… (2)
•If love were primarily an emotional connection it would be impossible for us to be commanded to love
•You cannot command an emotion
•You can command and direct actions
•Not grasping this is why so many find it hard to love their enemies
•If love is not based primarily on our emotions but on our actions and character, then it makes sense
•Can we act toward our enemies as Paul describes…?
•Application Points
•Love is… (3)
•Such attitudes and actions are entirely possible to perform even to our enemies
•In order for us to understand what kind of love Paul is talking about such an example is necessary
•Whether we have spiritual gifts or not, whether we have knowledge and wisdom or not, whether we sacrifice or not, in the end this love is the way
•To practice this love with those we are closest to, and then le that expand to everyone else
•If I am at home I can love my wife in this way
•I can love the customer service representative this way
•No relationship is outside the bounds of this kind of agape love
•As time goes on this love will probabilistically lead to better relationships
•Application Points
•Love is… (4)
•We can see why Paul had to start this chapter the way he did
•Let’s say I provide well, yet my relationship with my wife is unloving, I gain nothing
•Let’s say a wife/mom who works incredibly hard for her family
•Without love she gains nothing despite the hard work
•While love is not necessarily emotional it is certainly relational
•It is what all of us should be seeking as the foundational relational principle of our lives
•Application Points
•Love is… (5)
•The closest neighbor we have are the ones who share the same roof
•No matter what you may do, if you are part of every organization, and every ministry…but do no not seek love then you are nothing despite all you do
•Oftentimes we essentially equate love with accepting a person or their actions
•This is far from the case with Paul
•“Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing and it rejoices in the truth.”
•We cannot say, “Good the sinner keeps sinning!”
•We cannot say, “That sinful lifestyle is good!”
•Application Points
•Love is… (6)
•Wrongdoing is wrongdoing
•To rejoice in someone who rejects God…is to be unloving toward them and unloving toward God
•If our lifestyles of sin were walking us off the edge of a cliff, then mere acceptance is only pushing each other over the cliff
•I can not accept something and still be patient and kind
•I can reason, proclaim the truth, all while loving them, and still reject someone's personal beliefs and actions
•The idea that individual boys and girls can change their gender based upon their internal feelings
•I find no reason to disassociate gender from the physical since gender is a physical property
•Likewise, what one thinks or feels may not be true of reality because of cognitive malfunction
•Application Points
•Love is… (7)
•Still, let’s say I come into contact with someone who is transgender
•I can be patient and kind toward someone I completely disagree with
•My hope is that in time they will become more receptive to the truth
•Let’s say it isn’t even someone I totally disagree with…but someone I do agree with
•Do I accept their unloving characteristics?
•I do not rejoice in wrongdoing nor do I support or accept it
•In love, in patience, in kindness, I seek to bring them to the truth of their error
•Application Points
•Love is… (8)
•We do not decide what wrongdoing is, only God can do this
•He alone knows the repercussions, and He alone can be the source for all things good and moral
•To rejoice in wrongdoing…would be unloving toward our good Creator
•This requires us to know the Scriptures
•It requires us to know God
•Application Points
•Love is… (9)
•It is foundational because it shows the very character of God
•It is to seek a foundational relational principle founded on God Himself
•Be challenged by these verses
•Consider this… “Your Name is…” “Your Name does not…”
•Let this be the starting place because it will lead to great things
•Be what love is…not what it is not
•Application Points
•The Gospel of Christ
•Origins
•Where it begins
•Fall
•What went wrong
•Redemption
•How it is fixed
•Glorification
•Where it at leads
