All You Need Is Love pt2

I & II Corinthians VIII. Issues for Discussion

Does Paul’s definition of love look more like something you feel or something you do?

Love not clearly and Biblically defined leads to a life of legitimized sin. people think that as long as I love.......then this, whatever it is, is fine

We are being called, by the study of God’s word, to acknowledge a few things

Acknowledge that there is no local church anywhere that does not need more love, but, because of such love lacking, be turned outward to look at the needs and interests of others.

2. we are to recognize these characteristics of love and A) decisively renounce the negative actions we walk in B) exercise the attributes which are positive

Love does not insist on its own way

It is not irritable

or resentful

does not rejoice at wrongdoing

DOES rejoice with truth

love bears all things

believes all things

hopes all things

endures all things

I & II Corinthians (C. The Characteristics of Love (13:4–7))

Love … is not self-seeking. Paul probably had in mind here the practice of always putting oneself in first place without due consideration of others. Many situations in life call upon Christians to choose between benefit to themselves and to others. The loving person puts the benefit of others over his or her own good. Paul exemplified this practice when he refused to receive money for his work as an apostle (9:6–15). Jesus’ humiliation was the greatest expression of putting others’ benefit above one’s own (Phil. 2:4–8).

Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered What Does It Mean that Love Is Not Self-Seeking (1 Corinthians 13:5)?

The corrective to self-seeking is God-seeking

Alan Redpath said, “The secret of every discord in Christian homes, communities and churches is that we seek our own way and our own glory.” R. C. H. Lenski put it, “Cure selfishness, and you plant a Garden of Eden”

self love is our default, A person who demands his own way, who tramples on others’ rights for the sake of upholding his own, or who insists on having his due is not showing love. Love is considerate of others, always. The one who loves is willing to forgo recognition and lay down his rights for the sake of the loved one.

It is also important to realize that this practice does not mean ignoring one’s own legitimate needs. Jesus himself withdrew from the crowds for his own benefit, sometimes just to get away and other times to pray (Luke 5:16; 22:41).

Love … is not easily angered. (NOT IRRITABLE)The NIV probably catches the sense of Paul’s expression even though the text says nothing explicit about the ease with which one becomes angry. Those who love others do not normally become irritated and angry whenever others do wrong, but rather are slow to anger. They are patient.

Still, there are times when anger is appropriate. Paul himself became angry when he saw the idols of Athens (Acts 17:16). Luke described him with the same word Paul used here (paroxunomai). Even Jesus became angry when he saw people’s hardness of heart (Mark 3:5) and the money changers in the temple (John 2:14–17). We must never allow an avoidance of anger to become indifference to the suffering of others or to the honor of God.

Love … keeps no record of wrongs. (RESENTFUL) People who love others do not keep meticulous records of offenses. They offer forgiveness time and again. Both Jesus (Luke 23:34) and Stephen (Acts 7:60) demonstrated this type of love by forgiving the people who put them to death.

One married man said to his friend, “You know, every time my wife and I get into a conflict, she gets historical.” His friend said, “Historical? Don’t you mean hysterical?” “No, I mean historical. She rehearses everything I’ve ever done wrong in the whole history of our marriage.” That’s keeping score! That’s not love.

But Paul did not speak absolutely here. With no record of offenses, one cannot help others with many of their problems. Paul received reports on the wrongdoings in the Corinthian church. Someone had to keep a record in order to give him these reports. Yet, the purpose of the records was restorative, not vengeful or begrudging.

13:6. Love … does not delight in evil (REJOICE AT WRONGDOING) but rejoices with the truth. Paul juxtaposed evil and truth in this description of love. This contrast suggests that the term truth means something like “living according to the truth.” In other words, those who truly love do not enjoy seeing their loved ones stumble into evil. They rejoice when their loved ones try to live according to the truth of the gospel. Sin destroys people’s lives, so to rejoice in their sin is to rejoice in their destruction.

Psalm 1:1–2 ESV

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

13:7. Love … always protects. (BEARS ALL THINGS) Major English Bible versions translate the term protects (stego) very differently from one another. The word can mean “to endure” or “to cover, protect.” If Paul had in mind the concept of endurance, he meant that love bears with many offenses and does not stop loving even under the strain of difficulties imposed by others, even going so far as to love enemies (Luke 6:27). If he had in mind the concept of covering, then he may have meant that love will not seek to expose the sins of others. Love handles the sins of others in ways that will not bring exposure or shame.

It is evident that Paul limited such endurance or protection. For example, he instructed Timothy that “those who sin are to be rebuked publicly” (1 Tim. 5:20). Likewise, he called public attention to the strife between Euodia and Syntyche (Phil. 4:2). He commanded the Corinthians to stop tolerating the man who had his father’s wife (1 Cor. 5:1–13). Wisdom is required to know when and how to protect or to expose, and love always tends to protect.

Love … always trusts. (BELIEVES ALL THINGS) Perhaps this characteristic of love is best expressed in contemporary English idiom as: “Love gives the benefit of the doubt.” Suspicion and doubt toward others do not indicate affection or love. On the contrary, when someone loves with Christlike love, he entrusts himself to the person he loves time and again. Still, love does not demand that a person trust even when the basis for trust has been destroyed. Love does not give the “benefit” when there is no “doubt.” In these circumstances trust is folly. Yet, the general practice of those who love is to trust the good intentions of others as much as possible.

Love … always hopes. Loving someone requires maintaining a measure of optimism on that person’s behalf. Hope is an attitude that good will eventually come to those who may now be failing. Failure invades every Christian’s life, and it often causes others to give up on the one who fails. Yet, Christians who love continue to hope for the best. This optimism encourages others to keep moving forward. This hope is based not on the Christian, but on Christ. The hope of each Christian is that Christ will preserve him to glory. When a brother falls, it is Christ who picks him up and makes him stand (Rom. 14:4). Christ is the one who promised to finish the work he began. Optimism can also become foolishness and wishful thinking. For example, Paul did not believe that the incestuous man at Corinth would repent without undergoing church discipline.

Love … always perseveres. (ENDURES ALL THINGS) Loving someone is easy when the other person does not challenge one’s affections by offending or failing. Love’s quality becomes evident when it must endure trials. The New Testament encourages Christians to persevere in their Christian walks (1 John 5:2–5). Here Paul had in mind particularly the need to persevere in love for others. Christians should look to the length and perseverance of Christ’s love as the standard for their own.

I & II Corinthians IV. Life Application: “Not My Daughter!”

Perhaps some of us can say that we treat other Christians well, and that we conduct ourselves properly in church. Some of us may even have learned to let love guide our use of spiritual gifts. But precious few of us use our gifts primarily because we love the church. We tend to exercise our gifts because service gives us a sense of personal fulfillment. And what of the rest of us? According to Paul, the good that we do profits us nothing if we do not do it out of love. This means that the good that most of us do might as well be so much rubbish. This does not mean that we have not done some good things, or that people have not benefited from our ministry. But we can forget about receiving any eternal reward for our efforts. If we serve for the wrong reasons, we lay up our treasures on earth, not in heaven.