1 Corinthians 13 – 1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. 11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 13 Three things will last forever – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love. (New Living Translation)

Without Love . . .

✾ Without love we’re ______________________________

✾ Without love we’re good for ___________________________

✾ Without love we’re of no ________________________

Love Is an Action Word . . .

❄ With love we can demonstrate _________ ________________ by not giving up on people

Ephesians 4:32 – Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. (New Living Translation)

❄ With love we demonstrate ___________________________ by caring more for others than myself

1 John 3:18 – Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. (New Living Translation)

❄ With love we demonstrate ____________________________ as people are made right with God

Luke 15:10 – [Jesus said,] “In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” (New Living Translation)

What Keeps Us from Loving Each Other?

✴ ____________________________ and _________________ can keep us from a loving spirit

✴ ____________________________ and _________________ can keep us from a loving spirit

✴ _________________________ and ____________________ can keep us from a loving spirit

Applying the Principles of Love

❅ Don’t focus on the ___________________________ of others

❅ Regard the ____________ in people

❅ Regard no one as ______________________________

❅ Never _______________ - ________ on anyone

❅ Draw __________________________ upon the power of love

Romans 5:8 – But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (New King James Version)