We Serve Out of Love/Love's Actions

Introduction

Last week, we began our study of 1 Corinthians 13. As noted, this chapter is famous for being the chapter of love. However, the love of 1 Corinthians 13 is NOT the love the world promotes. In fact, last week, I gave you this definition based on God’s example of love in John 3:16

John 3:16 KJV 1900

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

By the way, God is love according to 1 John 4:16

1 John 4:16 KJV 1900

16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

By His very nature, He loves us. Thus, He expects us, as believers, to love as He loves. What is that kind of love? It is Biblical love. What is Biblical love? It is a purposeful commitment to sacrificial action for another.

If God is love, which He is, and He expects His people to demonstrate the same love He has shown us, we must be people of Biblical love. We must purposefully commit to sacrificial action for others. That was the message last week.

God even tells us what others we are to Biblically love.

Matthew 22:36–40 KJV 1900

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

It is our duty to live our lives purposefully and sacrificially for God and others. In fact, all of God’s Word from Genesis to Revelations tells us to do so.

In our study of 1 Corinthians 12 and 13, the Holy Spirit folds our duty to love Biblically into His instructions concerning spiritual gifts. Why here? What is it about spiritual gifts that necessitate this encouragement to love Biblically? The answer is quite simple. The answer is people. Remember, we are instructed to love God. Loving God can, in a sense, be relatively easy, knowing that He loves us. It is easy to love someone who loves us back.

However, when it comes to others, it is not so easy. Even though we might express love to other people, they don’t often love us back. In fact, people can be downright hateful at times. The real issue with loving others is sin. Sin is the root cause of all our problems, including personal relationships. No matter the relationship, sin will always create problems. It creates problems within marriages, families, churches, work environments, etc. A fact that is quite clear from reading and studying God’s Word. And it is something the Holy Spirit understands will be an issue in every local church.

Think about it this way for a moment! What is a local church? It is a group of believers who have joined as a local assembly to worship and serve the Lord. By the way, Christ Himself established the local church. Whatever God ordains, He sanctifies. Thus, a local church is a holy entity established by God Himself. Yet, God, in His great wisdom, understands our sinful condition. We, as believers, are positionally washed, sanctified, and justified before Him. Yet, in this life, as we await death or the Lord’s return, we still struggle with our old sinful nature. Practically, we are still growing to become more like Christ as we overcome sinful tendencies. Now, when you get a group of people together struggling with their old sinful nature, no matter how much they desire to overcome that nature, they will fail. Yes, as believers, we unite to worship and serve the Lord rightly. Unfortunately, without fail, problems will come up from time to time. No matter what level of spirituality a person might achieve, the danger of sin and self is always lurking. Ultimately, there comes a point within local churches, marriages, and families when conflict occurs. That is the point of chapter 13. If you, as a believer, willingly utilize your spiritual gift, it will always involve working with and alongside other believers. When we do, personalities will clash, opinions will differ, and conflict will arise.

Personal conflict is one of the most, if not THE greatest hindrance to spiritual growth. There are many Christians who become incredibly excited about serving God. They learn that God has gifted them and are eager to use those gifts for Him. When they do, they often end up discouraged because of misunderstandings and clashes with other believers. I am sure that many of you know what I am talking about. Thankfully, God knows as well. Thus, He lays out a blueprint that instructs us on utilizing our spiritual gifts, knowing that conflict will arise. That Blueprint or formula is the one we learned last week.

Spiritual Gifts - Biblical Love = Catastrophic Spiritual Failure in Loving God and Others

Spiritual Gifts + Biblical Love = Complete Spiritual Success in Loving God and Others

As we come to today’s text, the Holy Spirit gives us a comprehensive list characterizing Biblical love. Again, Biblical Love is a purposeful commitment to sacrificial action for others. What does that look like practically? Well, I am glad you asked. The Holy Spirit provides us the answer.

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 KJV 1900

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

In these verses, there are...

13 Characteristics of Biblical Love.

You can divide this list into two categories. The two categories are what is Biblical Love and what it is not.

DISCLAIMER: It will most likely take us a few Sundays to work through this list. It is an essential list, and I do not want to hurry through it. Whatever time it takes to go through this list will be worth the time. We will do as many as time allows each Sunday until we finish.

Please remember that God instructed us to love others as we go through this list. That can be difficult sometimes, but it is still our duty to do our best.

Let’s look at what Biblical love is NOT first.

Biblical Love is...

NOT Envious

Note again that our text says...

1 Corinthians 13:4 KJV 1900

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

The word “envieth” in Greek indicates jealousy towards another. It literally means to be or become painfully desirous of another’s advantages. Advantages mean any strengths, privileges, or attributes we desire but do not possess. It mainly shows itself when we become aware of others receiving more attention than us. In other words, they receive the recognition that we think belongs to us or desire to have for ourselves.

BIBLE EXAMPLE:King Saul, the first king of Israel, is a great example. When Saul was king, he lost God’s favor upon his life because of his refusal to completely obey God’s commands. After losing God’s blessing, God chose David, a young shepherd, to become the next king of Israel. God’s favor was upon David. Very early in his budding military career, David wildly succeeded in defeating the Philistines, the enemy of Israel. David’s success was the talk of Jerusalem. Everyone was taking notice of how David was winning battle after battle. On a specific occasion, David returned to Jerusalem from one of his great victories over the Philistines. As he came into the city, the women of Israel met him singing and dancing. King Saul was with David as they went into the city. He and David listened to the song the women of Israel were singing. This was the song.

1 Samuel 18:7 KJV 1900

7 And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.

As you can imagine, the words of their song did not set well with King Saul. In fact, Scripture goes on to tell us...

1 Samuel 18:8–11 KJV 1900

8 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? 9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. 10 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. 11 And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

What was Saul’s problem? He was envious of David’s success. He believed he should be praised as having slain ten thousand instead of just thousands. Now, let me ask you this? In the greater scheme of things, what was more important? Was it killing ten thousand versus thousands? It certainly was not. King Saul should have been rejoicing with the women of Israel that God’s enemies had been slain, whether ten thousand or just thousands. He is envy caused him to lose sight of the real goal.

Saul’s issue is an issue that many still grapple with today. Even within local churches, people become envious of others who receive more praise and recognition than they. Instead of handling things God’s way, they let their selfish pride get in the way. They begin to grumble and complain within themselves. Before long, what is on the inside comes out on the outside. They say to others, “Well, I don’t think Sister So and So deserves that much credit. I was just as much a part of that project as she was. You would think I would get a little credit as well.” O boy! What is missing now? Biblical love is missing. How do we know? Look again at 1 Corinthians 13:4

1 Corinthians 13:4 KJV 1900

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Biblical love does not allow our service to the Lord to become a competition for approval or praise. Biblical love rejoices with others when they do things for the Lord. It does not operate on suspicion. Instead, it sets aside self and seeks to uplift or build up the welfare and good of others.

Biblical love does not envy others.

Here is the next characteristic of Biblical love.

It does...

NOT Boastful or Braggadocios

Look again at verse 4.

1 Corinthians 13:4 KJV 1900

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Note that it says “vaunteth not itself.” The word “vaunteth” is not commonly used today. In Greek, the connotation behind this word means to be or become boastful and exhibit self-importance. Basically, Biblical love doesn’t “toot its own horn.” The temptation for many is to let everyone know about their accomplishments. And, let’s be honest with ourselves, when we are around others, we always want to talk about what interests us. I have noticed that we always gravitate more toward those who like the things we like. And, when we get together, we have this overwhelming desire to dominate the conversation with what we have achieved or accomplished. That is the essence of “vaunteth up.” However, Scripture states Biblical love DOES NOT vaunt or boast of itself. In other words, we, as believers, are to set aside our desire to tell everyone what we have done or achieved and focus instead on building up others.

BIBLE EXAMPLE: There are plenty of examples of this in the Bible, but the one that stands out in my mind is this. Christ told this story during His earthly teaching ministry. It is recorded in Luke 12. Christ’s story centered on rich man who experienced a huge bounty of goods from his crops. He had so much produce that he was forced to tear down the barns he had and build bigger barns. As he did, he made the following claim.

Luke 12:19 KJV 1900

19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

This man boasted about the wealth and the bounty that he possessed. There was only one problem. What he had was given to him by God. He was bragging about it being his and how much he would set back and enjoy all he had, forgetting that God allowed Him to have it. He “tooted his own horn,” taking credit for something he should not have. What was God’s reaction?

Luke 12:20 KJV 1900

20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

The reason this particular story stood out to me as I was studying is this. Too many times, we, as believers, take credit where credit is not due. We brag either directly or indirectly about the spiritual gift we have. Our issue is the same as this rich man’s issue. We are taking credit for what God has so graciously bestowed upon us. That is not the way by which Biblical love behaves. Loving God and loving others means not flaunting ourselves boastfully and engaging in self-glorification. Yes, you might be very good at what you do. You may even have achieved a level of understanding and use of your gifts that far exceed others. However, you are not demonstrating Biblical love if you boast or brag about it. Instead of boasting, Biblical love works to lift (build up) the Lord and others, not ourselves.

Here is another characteristic of Biblical love.

Biblical love is...

NOT Arrogant

Return again to 1 Corinthians 13:4

1 Corinthians 13:4 KJV 1900

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

The last phrase of this verse states, “charity…is not puffed up.” Again, if you study the Greek behind the word “puffed up,” you will find that it means to be or become proud. It is conceived as being puffed up with air like a balloon. Such a person is a person who once again thinks more of themselves than they do others. They are arrogant believing they are superior than others. Additionally, they look down upon others and have an attitude that they are always right and everyone else is wrong.

BIBLE EXAMPLE: King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4.

Daniel 4:30 KJV 1900

30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

King Nebuchadnezzar achieved a level of greatness not many have ever accomplished. He was the ruler of a vast empire that spanned much of the known world in his time. I don’t think anyone could argue that he was a great intelligent man with a special gift of military and political strategy. However, he made one huge mistake. He became proud and arrogant. We see his arrogance in the verse we just read. He forgot that Jehovah God was God.

Additionally, he attributed what he had done and gained to his ability, not giving glory and recognition to God. There was no Biblical love, or love of any kind for that matter, exhibited by Nebuchadnezzar. No, he was puffed up with selfish pride. What was God’s reaction?

Daniel 4:31–33 KJV 1900

31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. 32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.

Some might respond to this story and my application by saying it doesn’t apply. The foundation of their argument is that Nebuchadnezzar was a heathen and pagan king. My reply is this! If God thought enough to humble a pagan whose heart was filled with pride, what does He feel about those who claim to follow and love Him? Remember that 1 Corinthians is written to believers, which means us. We are the ones who have committed our lives to live according to His commands. His instruction, then, is to live a life of Biblical love. What does that look like? It is a life of humility and not arrogance. We must humble ourselves even when we think we are right and others are wrong. We are not to assert ourselves or become overbearing in our relationships with others.

‌Here is the last characteristic of Biblical love we will study today.

Biblical love...

DOES NOT Act Unseemly of Unbecomingly

1 Corinthians 13:5 KJV 1900

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

The first part of verse 5 states, “Doth not behave itself unseemly.” Again, if you go to the Greek, it means to behave unbecomingly-to not behave in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in certain social groups. However, in context, Biblical love never acts against the accepted standards of what is correct or appropriate according to God’s righteousness. In other words, God’s Word is the standard by which we live. Thus, Biblical love always acts according to His standards, not the world. The world or society has its own standards. The world says it is okay to be rude, boastful, and overbearing to get what you want. If someone crosses you or steps on you, you should step up and put them in their place. Make a big scene. However, God expects us to love others Biblically. In fact, Biblical love is sacrificial action. It means we sacrifice our wants, desires, and even whatever amount of respect we think we are owed for the wants, desires, and respect God and others claim.

BIBLE EXAMPLE: I point you to the prophet Jonah for this example, and for time’s sake, I will give you a quick rundown of his story. God instructed Jonah to go to the great city of Nineveh. He was to preach repentance to them, warning them of God’s judgment. However, Jonah refused to go. Instead, Jonah jumps on a ship heading in the opposite direction. By his very actions, Jonah demonstrated a life unbecoming of a prophet. Why did he do it? Why did he refuse and purposefully go in the other direction? If you know the back story of Nineveh, you will see that they, as a people committed great atrocities against the people of Israel. Some of the things they did are improper to mention here in a public forum. Jonah knew all this. He held a deep hatred for the people of Nineveh. Jonah also knew that following God’s instructions could lead to them repenting and God’s forgiveness. So, instead of loving his enemy with Biblical love, he rudely disobeyed God. Jonah acted unseemly and unbecoming as a man of God. Later, even when he had fulfilled God’s instructions and Nineveh repented, he continued to operate without Biblical love. He parked his butt outside Nineveh and pouted that God had not destroyed it.

‌Sometimes serving God does not go how we intended it or thought it should. In fact, being a servant of the Lord means we carry out His will, not ours. It is the same when it comes to utilizing our spiritual gifts. God gifts us to serve Him, not ourselves. And, when things do not conform to what we think is right, fitting, or appropriate, we must submit to Him and act out of Biblical love. What does that mean? It means we stay obedient to the standard of God’s Word. We don’t color outside the lines by acting unseemly.

Conclusion

Head - This morning our focus is Biblical love. As we close, may I remind you that God is love. If we, then, claim to follow Him, we have no choice but to love others. He is love, He loved us, and He loved us first. Therefore, we are to love, love him and others, and love them before the love us. Any believer who claims to love God must be love others as well.

1 John 4:10–11 KJV 1900

10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Heart - This means that was are to love then Biblically. Essentially, it means loving others even when we don’t fee like it. And, it also means loving others according to the characteristics indicative of Biblical love.

Hands - Let’s get busy living a life of Biblical love.