In All Things, Love

Introduction

One of the great theologians of the 20th century, Tina Turner, famously asked, “What’s love got to do, got to do with it? What’s love but a second-hand emotion?”

(Obvious pause for uproarious laughter)

I find that I am prone to ask the same questions all the time. Maybe not in my reflections or stated intents about life as a Christian in a church, but rather in my actions, as they have so often begged the question, “What does love have to do with your life?” So many poets, musicians, TV, book, and movie characters are seen wondering where the love is and why it is missing. It is often the absent but necessary ingredient that changes everything when it is baked in to what we do. The lack of love is the reason why we can so easily be self-serving instead of sacrificial, fickle instead of steadfast, distracted instead of vigilant, and flesh-treasuring instead of Christ-treasuring.

As we come to Paul’s final words in this letter to the Corinthians, we find they are not wasted on anything. These are no mere filler phrases or pithy quips with a few anecdotes about some folks who have done Paul some good. There is no emptiness to people just wanting to say, “Hi!” at the end. Rather, as we will see, everything is drenched in love in the hopes that they would, by God’s grace, become the kind of loving and unified people that God has designed them to be. And so, let us approach God’s word expecting to understand and be encouraged by the challenge to love in all things, and display our love through Christ-treasuring unity.

A love displayed in all things (vv. 13-14)

The passage begins with five imperatives. Five commands to follow. 1 Cor. 16:13-14 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

Let’s begin with the last of the five, let all that you do be done in love. All things should be done in love. The greater part of this book has been spent correcting either the Corinthians behavior or their doctrine. Chapter 13, so often referred to as the love chapter, is no detour from Paul’s purpose. Rather, what the Corinthians needed perhaps more than anything was to do all things in love. So he reminds them of it here at the end, and like a firefighter uses water to battle an inferno, Paul takes the motif of love and douses the Corinthians with it to conclude the letter.

All Christians ought to do all things in love. It is the way of Christ, isn’t it? Even Paul’s stern rebuke of the Corinthians throughout the letter has been done in love, for he has the love of Christ flowing through him, and echoes the Lord’s rebuke of us, when he gives it. Christ’s rebuke is always given in love. Hebrews 12:6 says, “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” And so all things must be done in love, even correction.

A Christian needs love to cover all their thoughts, their attitudes, their words, and their actions. In fact, there is not one thing you can do that is of any value if it is not done in love. Let me remind you of what Paul has already said just a few chapters earlier in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 ESV

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Are you watchful? It means nothing if you do not love what you are defending. Are you trying to stand firm in the faith? You cannot do it if you have no love for Christ, the object of your faith. Do you seek maturity in Christ? You must love him and those whom he loves! You have no strength if there is no love. It is like a muscle without nerves, ligaments, or bone. The muscle means nothing if it is not guided properly or held firmly in place. And so love must guide, it must bind, it must be the cover all things. Indeed, it ought to be the source of all things.

The other four imperatives are how Paul begins verse 13. 1 Corinthians 16:13 “13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”

These four commands are a final reminder of what Paul has labored to teach the Corinthians, and they reiterate the many concerns Paul has for the church: Corinth has carelessness, instability, childishness, and moral weakness. Instead of being carless, they are to be watchful.

What does it mean to be watchful? It is a command you might here given to a soldier standing guard at the gate. Be on the alert! Be ready! Keep your eyes open to what is coming.Being watchful assumes that an enemy will attack. You cannot be ready for an attack if you are not watchful. The command to be watchful is given 22 times in the New Testament and is often in reference to the Christian being spiritually awake and alert. At Corinth, they had given up their watchfulness by becoming drunk at the Lord’s table 1 Corinthians 11:21 “21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk.” They had busied themselves with litigation against one another in chapter 6. They were operating with confusion and ungodly views about marriage and celibacy in chapter 7. They were self-indulgent and unconcerned with the welfare of others in chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11. They were unfocused! They weren’t watching.

Covenant Life, when you are enamored by yourself, careless about others, and prone to confusion about simple things, you cannot be watchful. You cannot be alert to what happens around you. Of what use is a sentry who stares at the clouds while on the watch? But a sentry who loves his battalion, who loves his king, who loves his country will stand watch and remain undistracted. And so remain focused. Stay alert! Be on the watch against what may come against you.

The NT teaches of at least four enemies we are to be on the lookout for, and one thing to watch for with hope.

Satan. 1 Peter 5:8–9 “8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” Learn how Satan tempts you. 1 John 2:16 “…the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life…” Those things are not from God, but from the world. Satan is opposed to love, so watch out for him.

Temptation. Jesus said in Mark 14:38 “38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” If you are not watchful and prayerful, temptation may come and you not know it. The only way to avoid entering temptation is to first know that you are being tempted. Watch and pray so that you do not fall into it.

Apathy and indifference. One pastor commented that the nature of apathy and indifference makes it hard to notice. The church at Sardis in Revelation 3 was told, “You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.” Apathy and indifference make us not care about God’s word. We are not to walk through life with a vague recollection of who God is and what he demands. We ought to be of sound mind, strengthened for faithfulness. So watch out for apathy and indifference.

False teachers. The church must vigilantly watch out for false teachers. 2 Peter 2:1 “1…there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” We must watch carefully for these people, who will often look like or say things that closely resemble truth, but distort the truth in key ways. Counterfeiters will say that the easiest way to discern if a $20 bill is counterfeit is to study the real thing. If you know the truth, you’ll be able to spot the lie, the falsehood. And nowhere on earth is it more important to spot falsehood than in the church, because defending the gospel depends upon it. We don’t need to defend the gospel as though it is in need of protection. Rather, we are. Precious souls get swept away into the torrent of false teacher that tickles their ears. Let it not be among our people.

The return of Jesus. 2 Peter 3:10–12 “10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief…what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God(?)” We ought to live with an anticipation of the return of Christ, looking for him to come, being ready as good stewards of our master’s household.

We are to be watchful. We are also to stand firm in the faith. Why was Corinth instructed to stand firm? Well, according to 1 Cor. 1:18-21, some in the church had likely given themselves to unbelieving friends, or folks with cunning human philosophy and wisdom. The Corinthians seem to have been willing to allow their thoughts to be held captive by Roman and Corinthian values instead of the law of Christ. Beliefs from outsiders had damaged or destroyed their view of God and the gospel. But the cross is the wisdom of God, and so we are to stand firm in it, instead of being “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” as Paul says in Ephesians 4. The faith in which we stand is the gospel, and the church is nothing without the proclamation of the cross of Jesus. To stand firm in it means to proclaim it and trust in it without reservation.

I think it would be appropriate for each of us to ask ourselves if we have any reservations about the gospel. Think about the gospel with me. Jesus Christ is the son of God. His mission was to redeem a people from the curse of sin. He did this by living perfectly righteous before the face of his heavenly father so that he could offer us a righteousness that we need but cannot provide. He redeemed us by making a sacrifice to atone for our sins. He did this by sacrificing his own life on a Roman cross in place of deserving sinners. By dying the death of sinners, he is able to offer forgiveness to them. Why? Because the wages of their sin have been paid. Nothing left is owed. After his death, he was buried in a tomb. In the tomb, he remained for three days. Cold. Dark. Dead. On the third day, he rose from the dead bodily and appeared to many. Forty days later, he ascended into heaven and has promised he will return to the earth.

When you think about the gospel of Christ, what makes you stumble? That he was perfect? That he truly died? That his death paid the penalty for your sins? That he rose from the dead? If any of this seems foolish to you, ask yourself this: how would you redeem a sinful world? And would you be able to offer the kind of love that Christ showed in his gospel? I promise you, none of us can do anything to redeem humanity, but God can, and God has, and God will. What wonder of wonders, what love is this, that Christ would die for me? That is the firm ground of your faith: Christ has died for you. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves the lowly…God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in.” Christ marched to the cross to save you, to redeem you, Christian. God is not ashamed of you if you belong to him. So, be not weak about the cross of Christ. Stand firm in it, for it is how God has rescued you.

You who do not believe, what would you do to save yourselves? What is your plan to overcome the power of death and the banishment from heaven that God says you deserve? On what do you stand firm about this question of life and death, eternity, heaven and hell? Believe upon Jesus. It is the only way. Do not be wrong about this, either! Where man can find no answer, he will find fear. (Norman Cousins) But Christ provides the answer. You cannot afford to be misguided. So, be guided to the light of Christ by the gospel. Repent and believe for your salvation today.

So stand firm, and next he says, “Act like men.” Be mature, as a man is compared to a child. That is his meaning. Maturity is a mark of love. 1 Corinthians 13:11 “11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” And so Paul uses a phrase that means, “act like men, not like boys.” The imperatives in verse 13 all have a militaristic feel…be watchful, like a sentry. Stand firm against the attack. Be strong. No military finds success if their men behave like children. And so the church loses its power in ministry and effectiveness if it is immature in the faith. Love is not immature. Childish ways must be forgotten in the ministry of the saints. You cannot have unity or love without maturity. Love and unity are marks of our sanctification in Christ. Ephesians 4:13 says that we are growing in God’s grace “13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Lastly in verse 13, he says, be strong. Be strong, and seek to strengthened in the Lord. The Corinthians were morally weak, as they counting on their strength coming from the weakness of their flesh. They behaved as worldly, not spiritually mature people. Paul’s indictment of them about their weakness came earlier in 1 Corinthians 3:3 “3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” We cannot be spiritually strong if we are counting upon fleshly things. Using worldly means to be spiritually strong is like trying to hit a baseball with a bat made out of styrofoam. You will find that you have no strength for it, no maturity to keep you upright against the onslaught of sin and temptation.

We are told elsewhere to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might,” and Timothy was told to “be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” The Corinthians needed spiritual strengthening. Charles Spurgeon has said, “The best way to get your faith strengthened is to have communion with Christ.” Communion with Christ is the way of strength. Where you do you run to strengthen your body? You run to the weight room, to physical therapy, to exercise. Where do you run to be strengthened in Christ? You run to his word, you turn to him in prayer, you fellowship with his people. Sing to him for strength! Seek out where Christ is, and that is where you will find his strength. Be not tempted to strength by a world that shows its weakness in each passing moment.

Church, in all of these things, love. When a Christian is vigilant, courageous, acts in love, and worships God according to who he is, there is no limit to how God will be glorified through them. And it is through the work of those kinds of Christians that much good work is done, much good fruit is harvested, and many souls come to faith in Christ. Imagine a church filled with loving and courageous Christians. Covenant Life, let us go and be likewise!

A love demonstrated in Christ-treasuring unity (vv. 15-24)

The rest of the letter moves from general imperatives — here is how you ought to live — to Paul’s hope for love and unity in the church. In so many ways, Paul began his letter to them with love, grace, and peace in Jesus Christ. Now he will end it in the same way, but with a personal touch that emphasizes the love he and fellow brothers and sisters have for the Corinthians. His love, and the love of others, will pour over these words. And this love will be shown in several ways: hope in evangelism, self-sacrificing service, submission to authority, companionship, recognizing faithfulness, warm affection, hospitality, receiving one another in unity, and an affection for Christ. Paul is not trying to sweep up the floor of any loose dirt about which things must be written. There is a thread binding everything together, and that thread is a love demonstrated in Christ-treasuring unity.

Hope in evangelism

First, he speaks of hope in evangelism. He says, 1 Corinthians 16:15 “15 Now I urge you, brothers—you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints—” You’ve heard Stephanas’ name mentioned before, and his household. These were the converts Paul baptized referenced in 1 Corinthians 1:16 “16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)” But how does evangelism play in? Why is there a specific hope related to Stephanas? It is because Stephanas’ household were the firstfruits converts in Achaia. Justin elaborated on the firstfruits principle earlier in the sermon series when talking about how Christ’s resurrection from the dead was the firstfruits of what is to come. The principle is simple: in farming, the firstfruits of the crop will preview the quality of the rest of the crop. Christ’s resurrection previews the resurrection from the dead all true believers will experience in him. The conversion of Stephanas’ household is the preview of what will happen in Corinth among a number of people. A love for Christ is displayed in working evangelistically, knowing that more like the household of Stephanas will come. We also ought to be reinvigorated when the Lord saves. It ought to refresh our enthusiasm for evangelism when the baptistery waters are stirred. Praise God we’ve experienced that recently through our brothers Zach and Cristian. I pray their testimonies encourage you that God is at work in saving souls, and he has allowed us to play a part in that. So, go evangelize with the hope that God will save some to treasure Christ.

Self-sacrificing service

Stephanas’ household has also devoted themselves to the service of the saints. In many towns and regions, elders and deacons were devoted or appointed by the early church to see to the needs of preaching, praying, and serving. The word for devoted is used elsewhere in NT to describe such appointments by the church or the apostles. But the household of Stephanas did not wait to be appointed before the devoted themselves to serve. They eagerly jumped in and demonstrated Christ’s love to the church with their own self-sacrificing love. It should be a joy to work alongside men such as Stephanas and the members of his household, who would have been eager to work for that which they experienced themselves. And they were mature enough in Christ to lead the church. These men had both the aspiration for ministry and the maturity in the Lord to carry it out faithfully and properly. The household of Stephanas would have included wonderful brothers to follow. And that is where we see the love that can be enjoyed in submission to authority. Paul urges Corinth to “be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer.” He is saying, "Stephanas’ household, and those such them, are mature in Christ and living proof of what God will bring about in your city. So, subject yourselves to them in their faithful ministry, for they are workers deemed worthy by God, and through their ministry will come much fruit because they treasure Christ above themselves“ In other words, Paul wants the Corinthians to make these men, and men like them, to be their elders and deacons. He wants them to subject themselves to their leadership and service, for they are working for what is good and right, and they are working for the Corinthian’s joy in Christ.

Church, I would encourage you to not hesitate in nominating men such as these — mature men of sound doctrine who are servant-hearted and mature in Christ — to be your next elders. We have made that nominating these men easy for you to do by making it accessible through our app, and I would encourage you to look around. Who has devoted themselves to the service of the saints? Who is mature and of sound doctrine? Who is teaching God’s word with clarity and ability? Perhaps there are men ready to serve as elders in a short amount of time. Perhaps there are those needing a little course correction but are bearing fruit in their ministry. Pray carefully about alerting the elders to the ministry of these men. Here’s a little secret that isn’t really a secret: our elders are not the only ones responsible for identifying potential elders. The task is given to the church to recognize these men, so let’s do that! It is one way we help protect this church: helping to identify godly leaders for the coming years.

Companionship

Paul also celebrates the companionship that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have brought him. They are likely the deliverers of the letter from the Corinthians to Paul, and they have probably returned to Corinth with this letter from Paul. Their presence has filled him up emotionally. We might say that Paul’s spirit has been lifted. He’s been greatly encouraged by these Christ-treasuring men. Their presence with him has made up for the absence of the Corinthian church. The meaning of the phrase, “they have made up for your absence,” simply means that Paul misses the church in Corinth, but the visit of some of their members, namely these men, has been a great blessing to him, causing him to rejoice. Whatever hole was in Paul’s heart in his fondness over the Corinthians has been filled by them.

The same can be said for homebound Christians who are not able to gather with the church. There is a sweet and crucial ministry of love that the church shows to its members who are ill and injured. Visitations are not a thing of the past! And so I thank God for Jaid, Jon, Heidi, Kevin, Bob, and the many others who have gone and paid regular visits to our members suffering from great health issues. Your presence to them has been a joy to their hearts, and I would encourage us all to consider how we can give our time to go and sing, pray, share a devotional, or provide a meal to those who are homebound. I will admit that this is not something I’ve done, but in reflecting on this passage and Paul’s joy in seeing these brothers, I believe its an opportunity for joy and love in Christ to abound, and so I am committing myself to it. Let’s rally around those members of ours who cannot be with us. If not us, then who?

Recognizing faithfulness

Those who excel in service and love toward Christian brothers and sisters ought to be recognized by the church. This is why Paul said to “give recognition to such people.” Members of the church who practice self-sacrificing love and service are worthy of our appreciation, not because they need it, but because we ought to promote and uphold what is good, and strengthen the zeal of our members to act in love and service. We need examples of faithful Christians who work for gospel-renewal, encouragement, and the comfort of others. This is why I am thankful for our Members’ Meetings and times of corporate prayer. It is in those settings where we hear of much of the labor being done by our members in evangelism, care for one another, and hospitality. I would encourage all our members to make it a priority to attend each Members’ Meeting for the sake of your encouragement in the Lord over these stories of Christ-treasuring grace. Those Meetings are an appropriate time to recognize the good work each other is doing.

Warm affection

Another trait of love in Christ-treasuring unity is the warm affection that other believers had for the Corinthians. Look at 1 Corinthians 16:19–20 “19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. 20 All the brothers send you greetings.” There were so many Christians wanting to send their love to Corinth in Paul’s letter. The churches of Asia all had Corinth on their heart. These people would have been strangers to them, but their love for Corinth would have been great, because like them, they exist to treasure Christ. We can liken it to the churches of our missionary partners. Them we send our greetings in the Lord in Wales, the Dominican Republic, and Southeast Asia. We desire them to know our love for the members of those churches, and though we do not know them, we regularly pray for them. We want them to bear fruit, to stand firm in the faith, to be strong and of good courage.

Aquila and Prisca are names you’re probably familiar with. These were Paul’s companions in ministry, and fellow laborers in trade as well. Aquila and Prisca, or Priscilla, were a husband and wife team who had been in Corinth and were known by the congregation, and were some of the most well-known Christians at the time. Aquila and Priscilla had gone ahead of Paul to Ephesus in Acts 18:24-28 in the summer of AD 52 to prepare things for him. Together, with Paul, they look back on Corinth with warm affection, hearty greetings, along with the church that meets in their house.

Hospitality

Aquila and Priscilla show their love not only for the Corinthians in their hearty greeting, but also to their own church in their hospitality. Look at verse 19. The church meets in their own house, showing the eagerness of the two to bring brothers and sisters in for fellowship and treasuring Christ together. Hospitality is a true mark of Christian love, and it displays the unity of our faith when we sacrifice our time, energy, and resources to open our homes to others. But this is not the only way to show hospitality. Taking someone out to lunch, picking up a friend and praying with them as you walk through the park, calling someone and asking about their life. There are ways to be hospitable that don’t require a nice house, a big table with lots of food…in fact, it hardly ever does. Sometimes, it’s inviting yourself over to mow someone’s yard or help fold their laundry. We have the freedom in Christ to be creative with our hospitality to one another, and in this way, we should a love that treasures Christ by loving his people.

Receiving one another in unity

Paul ends verse 20 by saying, “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” Now is the part of the sermon i know you’ve all been looking forward to. Turn to your neighbor and…shake their hand. Give them a hug. Pat them on the back. A kiss was a culturally relevant and appropriate thing to do in 1st century Greco-Roman culture in Achaia, which is southern Greece. The point wasn’t the kiss, but the unity. Paul has just shared wonderful greetings in the Lord from so many other Christians who love the Corinthians. Now, in the same way that the Corinthians have been greeted in the Lord, they should greet one another. The Corinthians lacked Christ-treasuring unity. There was arrogance, factions, and even action that led to fellow believers sinning against the Lord. They lacked unity, but Paul has just showed them that they have unity with believers in the gospel. So, greet one another with this unity! This is not a “fake it til you make it” strategy, but rather a visible demonstration of what they already possessed spiritually.

Church, smile when you see each other. Say hello, shake a hand, hug a shoulder, give a high-five in Christ because we share in the gospel of grace. We have so much in common in the gospel! Let’s remind each other of that with a loving greeting. So much that could tear us apart never even makes it to the starting line if we show our love for one another visibly. Let’s display that unity together, even in the small things. I coach football throughout the week to 3-6th graders. The things we teach more than anything is that small things become big things. You’d be shocked at what regular, loving greetings do for the body of Christ over time. It’s another reason why it’s important for you to be here as often as you can. The more distant we are, the more we forget what we share in common, and the less unified we are.

An affection for Christ

The last way Paul demonstrates love in Christ-treasuring unity is by longing for the return of Christ. Look at 1 Corinthians 16:22 “22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!” There is a part of our love for God that shows affection to him, and that is what Paul means here. Phileo, in the Greek, is not the supreme love of agape, but it is an aspect of our supreme love that, if lacking, shows we do not have a minimal affection for God that is acceptable to him. And so if you have no affection for the Lord, then he is to be cursed. Anathema. Compare this with the next phrase, “Our Lord, come!” That is something that no one who lacks affection for the Lord can say. Friend, you must love who God is! Saint Augustine said “He loves thee too little, who loves anything together with thee, which he loves not for thy sake.” Do you love something more than God? Do you treasure something more than Christ? Then God is just the dispenser of good gifts to you and not the great gift himself. You must treasure him, you must love him, and that only comes through knowing Christ in his death and resurrection for your salvation. You must believe upon him to be saved, and it is promised to you that throwing your life on Christ’s merit will never be in vain. The threat of being cursed of God is too great and too near for you who are not in Christ. Do not hesitate! Come to Christ today in faith. Forsake your sins or your sins will forsake you unto everlasting torment.

Christ Jesus will return. And yet, in a very real sense, he is already here with us as we gather. He will not hesitate to protect his church from those who have no affection for him or his people. But the time is still right today for you if you repent from your sins and believe upon Christ.

I want to conclude today by reminding you of what Paul reminded the Corinthians. Look at verse 21. 1 Corinthians 16:21 “21 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand.” How do you visibly show your love for people in the 1st century from hundreds of miles away. You sign your own letter. Paul’s letters were written by secretaries as he dictated the content to them, as was often the case back then. In this instance, he took the pen, as it were, out of the secretary’s hand, as if to say, “No, let them read this in my own hand writing, for I love them.” The Corinthians were precious to Paul – so precious that his customary greeting to conclude his letter was insufficient to convey his affection toward them. 1 Cor. 16:23-24

1 Corinthians 16:23–24 ESV

23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Paul desires that the grace of Christ be with them all. Grace to strengthen, empower, and hold them fast to the gospel passed down to them. But also, he wants them to know, as a faithful father does with a child whom he must discipline, that his affection for them remains unabated. He raises his affection for them to the highest degree possible in saying, “My agape be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.”

Do you see Paul’s love for Corinth? Despite all the trouble? Despite their crooked ways? Despite their repugnant arrogance, fractured disunity, and bickering? How does Paul treat them? As Christ has treated him. His love for them is in Christ Jesus, who never changes, who is perfect in strength and love.

I want you to know, church, that I love you. Your pastors love you. Your staff loves you. And there is not a thing you can do about it. You are a gift to me and to one another. So, let’s display our love to one another in Christ-treasuring unity. So let us pursue love, holiness, and a Christ-treasuring unity for as long as we have one another.

Let’s pray.