1. INTRO: Doesn’t everybody want to be loved?

Ø Married or have special someone? Think of when your love was strongest. If you don’t have above, then think of love for a family member. Do you stack up to this?

A. Scripture

Ø We can’t make others love us, but in the body we can make it easier.

2. Love is essential

A. Context

Ø Wedding vows reflect commitment & permanence, but who is loving whom in this passage? Man and wife? Family? Friends? All those could apply, but none are the main focus, which is those of the church to one another.

Ø Love set in gift context

Ø Edifying body-life requires one to be other-centered, loving.

B. Serving without Love

Ø In first 3 vs. Paul uses 5 representative gifts and explains that gifts are worthless w/o love.

Ø Love you for my benefits

Ø I can do all kinds of deeds within the body that seem spiritual and great, but if they are not done out of love, but out of something selfish, I am nothing.

3. What exactly is love?

A. General

Ø God is love, but what is love?

Ø Is it an emotion, a feeling? Is it the actions and attitudes of vs.4-7? Or is it a commitment to hold certain attitudes and act in certain ways?

Ø Love is action, but action w/o love is nothing

Ø Eros speaks of desire to have or possess in physical love, and philadelphia a natural affection for friends and relations.

Ø Agape has an old root meaning of welcome or honor. Agape in the NT comes to be redefined as love springing from an election to honor someone in action and attitude for their benefit, not our own, though it may in turn benefit us greatly or not.

Ø Can you fall out of love? Can you fall out of commitment? Though the latter is possible, it is less unavoidable, and more out of weakness, isn’t it? Yet love is really a commitment to devotion, not emotion. While we can’t just gin up our emotions on command, we can decide to recommit! Love!!

Ø Wife diagnosed with sever ARTHRITIS, DIVORCE, JUST SMILE, NO YOU.

Ø Real love is a commitment to devotion expressed with the characteristics of this middle paragraph.

B. Specific

Ø Many people fail to see that Paul was still dealing with the Corinthians’ problems when he wrote these words: the abuse of the gift of tongues, division in the church, envy of others’ gifts, selfishness (remember the lawsuits?), impatience with one another in the public meetings, and behavior that was disgracing the Lord. Wiersbe, W. W

Ø We have already seen in 1 Cor that they were selfish (lawsuits, freedom over service), impatient (Lord’s Supper w/o waiting), envying and prideful in gift use, and divided over leadership.

Ø Logizetai: doesn’t keep records of wrongs, does not reckon wrongs as in putting on someone’s account, MY UNDERSTANDING: never overdrawn on love account due to past withdrawals.

Ø Children live for the temporary; adults live for the permanent.

Ø Mission Board, takes more than desire, examine a candidate. house at 6am until ten. “Can you spell? Can you spell God? Insulted and abused he exhibited love, He’ll do!

4. Love is eternal (unlike gift ministry)

Ø Jack Benny Saw lady Shy Bought rose no card 4 days Date, but more Engaged, but more Married, but more Post-honeymoon, but more Died, but more

Ø This passage speaks of now versus eternity.

Ø Perfection comes in heaven and makes gift ministry moot.

Ø All these gifts are temporary anyway, as they will be replaced when this life is over and this world ends and we see Jesus face to face. Then their will be no need for the partial, the incomplete and the immature as the work of Christ will be brought to completion in each of us.

Ø Je 31:33-34 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel: after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.

Ø Prophecies, tongues and knowledge are the talking, thinking and reasoning of a child, compared to our final glorified maturity in Christ.

Ø Our seeing and knowing (prophecy and knowledge) are blurry and partial now, but then they will be clear and complete.

Ø Faith: trust and confidence in Jesus/God, hope: expectation of good, love: commitment to devotion.

5. Invite:

Ø What if everybody loved this way for others first with little or no thought for themselves? What if some group of God’s followers did? Just committed themselves to making the lives of all the others healthier and safer and more productive and more joyful? A person in that group would have all the others, every single one, in their corner committed to their well-being, and of course that person would do the same for them. What if that were us?

Ø God loves us this way. We can love Him back. We can love our loved ones this way. We can love each other this way and let it pour out to the world! Would you?

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