One Thing (Part 2)
Notes
Transcript
“If I traded it all, if I gave it all away for one thing, just for one thing.
If sorted it out, if I knew all about this one thing wouldn’t that be something.”
One Thing, Finger Eleven
“Love is primary … because it has already been given concrete expression in the coming of the Lord Jesus to die for the sins of the world. Love is not an idea for Paul, not even a ‘motivating factor’ for behavior. It is behavior. To love is to act; anything short of action is not love at all.”
Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, p. 696. Author’s emphasis.
I. One Thing (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
I. One Thing (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
Love is Impossible
Love is Impossible
Love is:
Patient (Long-Suffering)
To persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles
If you cannot behave this way, it is only because you have failed to see how God has suffered long with you.
12 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all transgressions.
9 He who conceals a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.
Kind
General benevolence
Love is not:
Is Not Jealous
Displeased or envious of another’s good fortune
Does Not Brag
Brag — Literally means “to behave as a braggart,” or “be a windbag.”
Actions when there is a desire to draw attention to oneself.
“It is simply not possible to “boast” and love at the same time. The one action wants others to think highly of oneself, whether deserving or not; the other cares for none of that, but only for the good of the community as a whole.”
Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, p. 707
Is Not Arrogant
Arrogant — Literally means “puffed up”
Does Not Act Unbecomingly
Does not behave in shameful or disgraceful ways.
Does Not Seek Its Own
Christian love is not enamored with self —self-gain, self-preservation, self-satisfaction, self-justification, self-worth.
Is Not Provoked
Is not easily angered
Does not take long to forgive
Does Not Take into Account a Wrong Suffered
Keeps no record of wrongs
Does not dwell on the wrong done.
30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
Forgives
Bank account/Debt illustration
8 Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.
Does Not Rejoice in Unrighteousness
Does not rejoice in iniquity, wrongdoing, or evil, even if it is “deserved”
Love:
Rejoices with the Truth
Bears All Things
Has the ability to face anything
Believes All Things
Desiring to recognize the best in other people
Hopes All Things
Has the eager expectation that something will get better
Endures All Things
Carries on, pushes through, undergoes, suffers
Love continues bearing, believing, and hoping.
Never Fails
Never Fails — to fall powerless, to be without effect
Love is Permanent
Love is Permanent
Love is Perfect
Love is Perfect
