Love

Introduction

So before the holidays, we were going through the book of Galatians, and one of the last things we looked at was the gifts of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

So we are now doing a sermon series on each of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and today’s topic is love.

I think we often misunderstand what love is. It’s easy to think of love as only being romantic love. That emotional feeling and excitement that you get when you meet that very special person. It’s the love you see on TV shows, movies, ads.

There’s this show these days on Netflix and it’s driving me insane because my family watches it every night on the television and I hate it so much. It’s called ‘Better Late Than Single’ (‘모태솔로지만 연애는 하고 싶어’) and it’s a dating show for 모태솔로s, which means people who have never dated in their life. So the idea of the show is that they gather all these people who are super awkward, who have never dated before, and they put them together and record them 24/7, and try to create these romantic relationships. And this show really annoys me for so many reasons:

Even though it’s so cheesy, it’s so addictive. You hate the show, but you still love it for some reason.

Most of these people aren’t even on the show to actually find someone, but to get famous

And this idea of gathering all these awkward people, as if they are an abnormal group of people in society, I think is pretty mean. Because to be honest, aren’t we all a bit awkward? Life is awkward, and that’s ok, we have to embrace it.

And lastly, this show projects this idea of love purely being this romantic love. That spark you get when you meet someone you like.

But love is so much more than that. Love is one of the great truths of the Christian faith.

And to get a better understanding of how the Bible describes love to us, a really helpful passage is 1 Corinthians 13:1-7. Let’s read through it together.

1. The importance of love

Now this passage first talks about the importance of love - and it tells us that love should be at the centre of everything that we do as Christians. And if love is not at the centre of all that we do, then it tells us how pointless it is.

Read 1 Corinthians 13:1 “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.”

It talks about how even if we were the best speakers, even if we delivered a great speech like Martin Luther King, and even if we spoke in the language of angels, if we do not have love it is just meaningless noise like an annoying gong or cymbal.

Read 1 Corinthians 13:2 “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.”

This verse talks about how even if we had the gift of prophecy, which is the gift of actually receiving God’s word to deliver to others, if we do not have love, we are nothing.

Even if we have all the knowledge in the world, if we do not have love, we are nothing.

And even if we have faith that can move mountains - faith being something really important we talk about all the time - if we do not have love, even that faith is meaningless.

The important thing for us as Christians, is not how gifted, or talented, or how accomplished we are, but how loving we are. It’s easy to judge and value a person based on the things we can see or measure, like their talents or achievements. How well they do ministry, how well they sing, how many people they bring to church - but the Bible says none of that matters if there is no love.

Read 1 Corinthians 13:3 “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.”

In this verse, there is a bit of a surprise, because it talks about how even if we make the greatest sacrifice of giving away all that we have, even our own lives, even that can be meaningless if it is not done in love.

This shows us that even acts of great sacrifice can be done with motivations other than love.

So love is clearly important. Love is meant to underpin everything we do. Love is meant to be a guide everything we do. Even if you are the smartest person, the wisest person, the strongest person, if you do not have love, then it is all for nothing. Our abilities and our actions are important, but what’s even more important is the underlying motivation, which should be love.

2. The action of love

But love is not just a motivation. And love is not just an emotion - it is not just that warm feeling or care you feel towards someone.

Love is action - love is energetic, love is active. And these next few verses show us this.

Read 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 “4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

It doesn’t come out well in the English, but if you read the original Greek, all these descriptions of love in these verses are actually verbs, not adjectives. When it says ‘love is patient’, the word ‘patient’ is not a describing word, but it is a ‘doing’ word. Maybe it is better translated as something like ‘love exercises patience’.

So let’s go through the lits:

-So love is patient - it doesn’t put itself first, but is willing to wait for others and put the needs of others first.

-Love is kind - the way love treats others is with kindness, not with harshness or meanness.

-Love does not envy - it is not self-centred and jealous. It is willing to rejoice and celebrate the success of others.

-Love does not boast and love is not arrogant - again love is not self-centred as it is not seeking to glorify the self.

-Love does not insist on its own way.

-Love is not irritable or resentful - it is not easily provoked to anger, it does not harbour grudges or vendettas against others.

-Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth - love seeks the truth, and it wants to do the right things before God.

-And finally, love bears all things, believes all things, hopes in all things, endures all things. This is saying those who love with the love of God, can put up and endure through all the difficulties in our relationships; and despite all the difficulties, love never loses hope because it believes in a God who is love in himself.

So overall:

-Love is not just a feeling, but it is action.

-And it is action that is never self-centred, but prioritises others before itself.

-And it is action that loves the truth, and loves doing the right thing before God.

-And it is enduring and resilient.

Conclusion

So if you take away one thing today, remember that Christian love is not a feeling, but it expresses itself through loving action. And that loving action is one that is ultimately considers others more important than yourself. And it is love that endures through the most difficult relationships and circumstances where it is especially difficult to love. The love of Christ that believers express is different to the love of this world. So let us all love one another with the same love that Christ showed us on the cross.

Study questions:

What is a quality or talent that I really wished I had? Why do I want it? Is it motivated by love?

Read verses 4-7. Pick two aspects about love, and tell the group what you think it means. What are some ways you can be loving in this way to your friends and family?