July 28, 2024

REPEATING HISTORY: THE IMPORTANCE OF LOVE

July 28, 2024

Pastor Jonathan Falwell

 

Paul, the greatest apostle who ever lived, wrote the pain of the persecution and perils he endured were little compared to “the daily, deep concern for all the churches” (2 Cor. 11:28b). Corinth, located in an exceedingly immoral city, was a church Paul began but was always under attack by Satan, grieving Paul’s heart. Chastising the believers for the sin of immorality permeating the church in Chaps. 1-11, in chaps. 11 and 12 he shifts to telling them how to learn to live for Christ alone. In chap. 13, he asks them to realize that it is the love they show for God and others that will change their world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Focal Passages: 1 Corinthians 13.

Every believer must start and end at love:

  • Read 1 Cor. 13:1-3. What are some of the gifts listed in these verses (a continuation of the gifts listed in chap. 12) that Christians might wish to have? What would cause a person to give everything they have to the poor, or their body to be burned, but not have love? Can you think of someone like that? What would drive that person?
  • Read Matt. 22:37-40. What is the most important of the commandments of God? What is the second? Both are founded on what principle? Can you love someone you don’t believe exists? How can we learn to truly love other people—especially those who wreak havoc on our society or on our children?
  • Read Luke 6:32, 35. Can anyone share an example of this kind of love in action, and tell what happened? What does spiritual love look like?

God defines love differently than the world:

  • Read 1 Cor. 13:4-8a. If you conducted a poll asking for the definition of love, what answers would you get? Is love how you feel or how you act?
  • What kind of person is arrogant, rude, jealous, boastful and one who seeks their own way? What kind of person is patient, kind, not resentful, content with what they have and thinks no evil? Do you know anyone like this?
  • What type of person never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance (NIV)?
  • Do you know anyone whose love never seems to end?

God’s love endures:

  • Read vv. 8b-13. In verses 8-9, why will some of the gifts cease? In verse 10, what is “that which is perfect” that Paul is speaking of? Do we have it?
  • In verse 12, why do we know “in part” now? When will we know “face tace?”
  • In verse 13, why is love greater than either faith or hope? In the beginning, what did verse 2b tell us? Can we fulfill our true calling as a Christian if our lives do not show the kind of love Paul lays out in verses 4-8a?

ACTION POINTS:

  • Evaluate your actions toward others based on love. When you serve, are you serving for yourself, are you serving out of guilt, or are you serving out of love?
  • Measure your relationships based on verses 4-8. Are your relationships self-serving or serving for the benefit of others? In other words, is it always “all about you” in every relationship?
  • See others as Christ sees them. When you see others as Christ sees them, you can’t help but love others.

Close:

Paul was driving home a huge point here—one that we all need to take to heart. He wants us, in all things, to move away from sin and move toward righteousness. It had to have broken his heart as he saw the world making its way into the church that he cared about so deeply. Sexual immorality was rampant in the city of Corinth, so obviously Satan would take advantage of the new believers and try to get them to yield to lifetimes of having seen their ancestors or families take part in the promiscuity and sins that prevailed.

Paul’s main theme in chapter thirteen was for the Christians in the church to put away the sin from among them and live as Jesus had instructed while He was on the earth: love God with everything that is within you and love other people more than you love yourself. But in order to do this, these believers had to get a true grasp of what Godly love is—which is verses 4-8. In your innermost heart, which of these do you find when you search yourself? Better yet, which ones do you find lacking? For instance, how are you in traffic? Do you constantly yell at other drivers (behind rolled up windows)? Do you wish you lived in a different house, had a nicer car, clothes, figure—or are you content with yourself? Can you honestly look in a mirror and be happy with how God made you? Are you irritable when a family member interrupts your schedule?

Maybe you’re like many others: you are great with friends or at church, but behind closed doors, with your family, you become a different person and make life intolerable for your spouse or kids. It’s not easy being 100% perfect 100% of the time—if you are, show the rest of us how. But in the meantime, begin now, in the middle of this year, striving to work on the weakest of the “Love is…” points, and see how far you’ve come at the end of the year. It may be hard, but life is also hard if you’re a jerk. Choose your hard, as they say.

By Sandy Day

July 28, 2024

 

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