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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
By the way, God is love according to 1 John 4:16
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.
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.
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...
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.
As you can imagine, the words of their song did not set well with King Saul.
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