Love

 A man wrote: Dear Abby, I'm in love. I'm having affairs with 2 women other than my wife. I love my wife, but I love these other women too. Please tell me what to do. But don't give me any of that 'morality' stuff. Sincerely, Too much love for only one. Abby's response? "Dear 'Too much love for only one.' The difference between humans & animals is morality. You need to write a veterinarian."1 Whatever he had for those 3 women-it wasn't love. Today's verses will tell us what love really is. Last week (1 Co 12:12-31a), Paul taught us about Christ's body, the church. Its members are distinct & have different spiritual gifts. In 1 Co 12:27-28, He ranked the gifts & in 1 Co 12:31 says the most excellent way isn't exercising even the greater spiritual gifts. What is? Look at 1 Cor 13:1-13. It's love. To start, what if love is absent? 1aWhat if I speak in the tongues of men & angels? (Least, in 1 Co 12:27-28.) What if I speak every human language, eloquently? Even angelic prayer language? (Corinthians sure thought they did!) 1bWithout love, I'm only a resounding gong or clanging cymbal. Unless I speak lovingly, it's just loud noise. What about the greatest spiritual gift in 1 Co 12:27-28? 2aWhat if I have the gift of prophecy? Greater than Isaiah. 2bWhat if I can prophetically fathom all mysteries & knowledge? 2cWithout love, I'm nothing. In the Corinthian church, at Communion haves didn't share food with have-nots. Those speaking in tongues looked down at everyone else. Worship was chaos. Everyone speaking in tongues & prophesying on top of each other. They thought they were spiritually gifted. Really something. But there was no love. And without love? They're nothing. Whether my spiritual gifts are big or little, I'm nothing if I use them unlovingly. Every minute. Every day. What about miracles? 2bWhat if I have a faith that can move mountains? Impossible miracles. Raise the dead. Heal every disease. Even if I do impossible miracles, 2cWithout love, I'm nothing. No matter how great, miracles are worthless without love. Then 3aWhat if I give all I possess to the poor? Rich or poor, what if I give up all I have? 3cIf I don't have love, I gain nothing. My giving may benefit others. It may make me look & feel good. But if my gifts aren't given in love, they're worthless. I lay up no treasure in heaven. Then what if I give up even my life? What 3bif I surrender my body to the flames? Even if I'm martyred, 3cIf I don't have love, I gain nothing. The point? Look at Jesus on the cross [slide]. His every thought was for others. His mother (Jn 19:26). The thief beside Him (Lk 23:43). Those who crucified Him (Lk 23:34). Self-denial of what I have or of even my life is worthless if not motivated by love. No matter what I do. No matter how small. No matter how big or spectacular. No matter what it costs me-time, wealth, or health. No matter how much others benefit from what I do. If I don't act in love for others, God says what I do is worthless in His eyes. I may feel good. Others may see me more positively But if I didn't act in love, my only reward is here & now. I'll gain nothing in God's eyes. If I don't act, speak, & think lovingly every minute of every day, I may as well do nothing. Why? God is love. Agape love. All He does is loving. If His Spirit is in me, I will produce love's fruit. Love is the 1st & most important part of the Spirit's fruit. Our lesson? Spiritual gifts are not the sign God's Spirit is in us. Love is. If love is absent, so is God's Spirit. And if God's Spirit is absent, I may as well do nothing. If that's what love is not, what is it? Love always acts in two ways. 4aLove is patient. This is love's passive response. When provoked, love won't react. When slapped on one cheek, love won't slap back-figuratively or literally. But love's passive response is never alone. 4bLove is kind. When love does respond, it's kind. Love turns the other cheek. Goes the 2nd mile. Loves enemies & prays for them. God, Christ, & everyone with His Spirit show patience & kindness when they act. If we act in any way that isn't patient & kind, we act without love. Love never acts in the following ways. 4cLove doesn't envy but rejoices when others succeed, accomplish, or gain something. 4dLove doesn't boast. Why? 4eLove isn't proud. Rather, love is humble. Love thinks of others, more. Of self, less. 5aLove isn't rude. Love isn't irritable or touchy. For others' sake, love takes the hurt of their offenses, insults, & irritations. Love won't offer them a hurt. 5bLove isn't self-seeking. Love seeks instead the greatest good for others. 5cLove isn't easily angered. Love 5dkeeps no record of wrongs. For other's sake, love learns what to forget, then does so. 6aLove doesn't delight in evil. Love can't share the glee of others who sin without getting caught. Love won't gossip about others' failings. Love finds no satisfaction in others' woes. From envy to delight in evil, love never acts that way. Instead, love acts in the following ways. Always. 6bLove rejoices with the truth. Look at Php 4:8. What brings love joy? 8Whatever is true. Noble. Right. Pure. Lovely. Admirable. Excellent or praiseworthy. Whenever & wherever these are found, love rejoices. 7aLove bears all things. Love puts up with minor irritants. Love won't bring them up or spotlight them. Love 7balways trusts. Love won't cover up sin. But love will eagerly believe the best it can about others. If their intent is in doubt, love chooses to see them in the most favorable light. Love won't suspect them unjustly. Love 7calways hopes the best about others. As does the gospel, love looks for mercy & justice for all. Even those with we disagree with. Love doesn't hide the truth. Love is brave enough to face the truth. Love has nothing to conceal & rejoices when truth wins out. Love 7dalways perseveres. Love never gives up. 8aLove never fails. Love never fails its beloved because it never stops trying. But Paul means something more here. Love that starts in this life won't fail even at death. Love is eternal. We can't take any other possession with us at death. At death, our bodies fail. So does all earthly treasure. Other treasure is already in heaven. When we die, only love won't fail. Only love goes with us. 8bWhere there are prophecies, they'll cease. We won't need it. In the eternal now, what's future? And if we can hear Jesus proclaim God's word, who needs preachers? 8cWhere there are tongues, they'll be stilled. We'll all understand one another. They won't be needed. 8dWhere there's knowledge, it'll pass away. All we "know" will be replaced by eternal reality. 9aNow, we know in part. All we know is imperfect. Science? Religion? Philosophy? Pick a subject. All incomplete. Likewise, 9bwe prophesy in part. Why? Who hears God perfectly? Here's the principle. 10When the perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. Whatever is incomplete will be completed. 11aWhen I was a child, I talked like a child, thought like a child, & reasoned like a child. In this life, we're God's children. Learning. Still growing into Christ's likeness. Incomplete. 11bWhen I became an adult, I put childish ways behind me. In eternity, we'll be perfected. Completed. 12aNow we see but a poor reflection as in a foggy, warped mirror. (1st C. mirrors were bronze, foggy straightened as best they could.) 12bIn eternity we'll see face to face. 12cNow I know in part. 12dThen I'll know fully, even as I'm fully known. 13aNow these 3 remain: faith, hope, & love. Now, they're with us. Through faith, hope, & love, God carries His children through this life. In eternity, faith will become certainty when the unseen becomes seen. In eternity, hope will be completely & perfectly realized. Both now & in eternity, 13bThe greatest of these is love. Every instance of love is agape love. The highest form of love. In his book "Mortal Lessons," surgeon Richard Selzer writes about a young woman in post-op. To remove a tumor, he'd had to cut the nerve to muscles in her mouth. Her husband is in the recovery room. She asks, "Will my mouth always be like this?" Selzer answers, "Yes. I had to cut the nerve." She nods & is silent. Her husband smiles. "I like it. It's kind of cute." He bends to kiss her crooked mouth, twisting his lips to match hers. He's showing her their kiss still works. Selzer concludes, "That's how God loves us. He sees our disfigured lives & loves us anyway."2 1 Jason Cole on SermonCentral.com 2 Adapted from an illustration in sermon "What Love Is," by Jeff Strite on SermonCentral.com. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ Love - 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Page 1 of 1