Key #1: Love

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Intro

Your best life is just a click away.

How many of you have heard something along those lines? It could be an ad for a truck, a book, the latest fitness regime. Whatever it might be, this is the line that almost everyone uses because to guarantee anything less isn’t worth your time.

As a teenager I was a golf fiend, and one of my favorite past times was to watch the paid programming, just to see what the latest and greatest golf tech was. There were different approaches to drivers or swing mechanics. Different coaches would guarantee their method was better than anyone elses. No matter what it was, the line was always the same. Your best golf awaits, buy today.

I believe that you hear this line so much that you begin to tune it out. If everyone is promising that their product will unlock your best life, then what makes each one unique? Often, what they consider what your best life is doesn’t line up with what you think it is. This single line becomes increasingly untrustworthy.

But what if the Bible made that claim? What if the word of God said something along those lines? We’re going to look at a verse that makes that very claim. I wonder how many times we’ve heard it in media that when you read it in the bible, you just breeze over it, missing the implication. If God’s word says, “_____ is the best life of all,” that is probably worth taking note of, right?

In 1 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul lays out the gifts of the Spirit, and how each one of us has an important role to play in God’s kingdom. Each part works together seemlessly, and when all parts are activated, the kingdom is advanced. The picture Paul paints makes it feel like living with the gifts of the Spirit is a pretty fulfilling life. But then the Apostle says this:

1 Corinthians 12:31 NLT

So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

Paul says we should pursue these gifts, and that in of itself is a life long pursuit. But the teacher pauses, and encourages the church that even though this is a worthwhile pursuit that we should not quickly dismiss, there is still a better way. In fact, the NLT says that this way of life is best of all.

Which leads into chapter 13, infamously known as the Love chapter, our first fruit of the Spirit and our first key to healthier relationships. This should come as no surprise to us. Scripture teaches from Genesis to Revelation that love is the highest Christian ethic. The Apostle John said that God is the very embodiment of love. God is love. Jesus taught that love is the fulfillment of the law. He quotes Deuteronomy in exhorting the disciples to love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. He then quote Leviticus 19:18

Leviticus 19:18 NLT

“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Jesus says this is the second great commandment. Jesus would go on to teach in the gospel of John that the world would know you are Jesus’ disciples by your love. Love isn’t just one of the teachings of Jesus, it is the core behind every teaching. Love is what fuels and inspires the law given through Moses.

But there is something important you need to understand about the love we are going to look at today. It is not like any other kind of love. Prior to the writing of the New Testament, there were three Greek words that English translated as love. When the church cames along, what they were describing wasn’t like anything the Greek language had a word for, so they created a forth word to capture this new level of love that the church was teaching. It is the Gree word, agape. When Greek was originally translated into Latin and then into English, love wasn’t the word that was orginally used. If you read the KJV, 1 Corinthians 13 speaks of charity, not love. The reason charity was used was because what Scripture describes, and what we are going to look at, is the kind of love that gives for the sake of giving, expecting nothing back. When you give to charity, ultimately you are giving for the benefit of the cause, not really needing a return. This is what love looks like in the church. The kind that gives without expectation of payback.

When the newer translations came around, charity started to have the connotation of pity, and so the modern translators starting using love because it suited better, though not without losing something in the process.

So what does love look like in the church, and what difference would it make in your relationships? Let’s dive in.

We are going to pick it up in verse 4 of chapter 13. Verse 1-3, Paul essentially tells the church that if your pursue the gifts of Spirit and fail to love people, then the gifts are meaningless because you have missed the whole point. Then he dives in.

1 Corinthians 13:4 NLT

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud

Paul starts with what love is. Love is patient. Love is willing to wait, even when it is being tested. And in the midst of the testing, love never fails to be kind. You know the whole, I love you but I don’t like you right now. The love Paul is describing doesn’t make room for that. Love is patient, and it never stops being kind in the midst of the patience.

Paul then swtiches gears and says what love isn’t. I need you to catch what Paul is saying. If you are any of the following, then you cease to be loving. It is the whole one foot on either side of the line thing. I am loving, but I am also blank. The Apostle, inspired by the Holy Spirit, says no, you are one or the other, you can’t be both.

Love is not jealous. Other translations say that love doesn’t envy. Where coveting is wanting what someone else has, envy is hating someone because they have it. Love never questions why somoene is exalted or promoted, it simply rejoices in it.

Love is not boastful. It doesn’t heap praise on itself but rather prefers to work behind the scenes. Love is not proud. Love actually prefers to associate with the humble and lowly and is not wise in it’s own site.

1 Corinthians 13:5 NLT

or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

Love is not rude, but rather seeks to outdo others in showing honor. Love does not demand its own way, rather seeks to live in harmony with others, or tries to live peaceably with others as far as they are able.

Love is not irritable or easily provoked. A minor inconvenience does not cause love to explode with anger, which may be the case with other kinds of loves. Love keeps no record of being wronged because it has no interest in getting even.

1 Corinthians 13:6 NLT

It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

Love doesn’t rejoice in injustice or misfortune, even if the other persons actions or stupidity suggested that they had it coming. Instead, love rejoices whenever truth wins out. Other translations use the word good instead of truth, suggesting that love celebrates the victories and successes of others, rather then hoping for their downfall.

1 Corinthians 13:7 NLT

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

This goes back to the patience line. Love never stops, loves endures through everything. Nothing can make love stop.

Love never loses faith. This is not suggesting that love requires us to be naive, but rather love believes the best about someone without being sinfully cynical, as can be the norm in our society.

Love always hopes for the best in others, even when they don’t deserve it.

WOW

there is one underlying theme through each of these love statements. Love is selfless. To truly love someone means to take yourself out of the equation and continually love them through whatever may come your way.

But the question that may be in the back of your mind is, “What about me?” What do I get? This list is whole lot of giving and absolutely no getting. That doesn’t seem like something I want to be a part of.

Imagine what would happen if you loved someone the way Paul has described. Regardless if it is your spouse or your friend, imagine if that person knew that you were going to love them through their shortcomings and personality flaws. What would that do to them? It will instill a deep sense of value, that they are worth that kind of love. It would free them to be the person God has called them to be, designed them to be, because they would operate in the confidence that no matter what happened, you had their back. You would get a spouse who is full of life, you would get a friend who knew they could rely on you.

What do you get? Well, as a disciple of Jesus, you already have everything you need. Remember, this kind of love is a fruit that is produced in you when you remain connected to the vine that is Christ. This kind of love is only possible because you are loved by a Savior who shows you this love constantly. Imagine if God’s love wasn’t patient and enduring. Imagine if God kept a record of all your wrongs or was irritable. You and I take this kind of love for granted when we take into account God’s grace and mercy. If God pours it on us without measure every day, who are we to withhold it.

In order for you to truly love someone the way Paul describes, it requires constant connection to Jesus. It requires a healthy prayer life. It means when you need to step away and rest, your step away and rest in the Lord. You allow the Holy Spirit to recharge your batteries.

Church, you are called to a different kind of love, one that gives and gives and never expects anything back because you are loved by a God who gives and gives and doesn’t ask anything back. When Jesus says if you love me, you will keep My commands, He isn’t saying that it is a prerequisite. He is stating a fact. If you live life, loving Jesus with everything in you, you will by default be fulfilling the law.

Love is the highest ethic, it is the gold standard of being a disciple. So this week, I challenge you to one of two things. Either pick one of these love statements, and consciously put it into practice. Maybe it is your record of everything your spouse has done wrong. This week, you need to hit the delete button and stop holding it against them. Pick one love statement you are going to put into practice in EVERY relationship. OR, pick one person and commit to love them better this week. Pick one person and you are going to put each of these lines into practice.

Paul says that this is the way of life that is best of all. This is the gold standard. The world will know you are His disciples by your love, so grow in love.

Discussion Questions

What stood out from the message?

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 NLT

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Which of the “Love is” statements stood out to you?

Which challenge are you going to take on this week?

Work on one aspect of love towards everyone

Work on loving one person better?