Let's Talk About Love, # 6

LET’S TALK ABOUT LOVE, PART 6

Warsaw Christian Church (2/15/09)

Richard M. Bowman, Pastor

Text: I Corinthians 13:4-13

This will end this series on love. As Paul elaborates on the nature of agape/love in our text, he shows how love acts in our relationships with other humans. He does not discuss how love manifests itself toward God. He understands that we must practice love toward one another. If we fail here, it is foolish to speak of our love for God. As John expressed it, “For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).

To speak of our love for God when there are contentions, strife, jealousies, unkind judging, imputing wrong motives to others and just plain selfishness among us is to speak nonsense. In one sense, the best way to show our love for God is to express love toward others.

He begins with the word “patience.” Love is patient. The Holy Spirit begins here because this is one of our biggest problems. The Greek word Paul uses means to suffer long - - - to put up with the foibles, mistakes, and downright meanness of others with a patient spirit. It is a state of mind that can bear long when provoked by others, even when their words are intended to harm us.

Love is also kind. The word used here means to be good-natured, gentle, tender, and affectionate. Love wishes well. It is not harsh, sour, morose, ill-natured. Love is courteous. The idea here is that under all provocations and abuse coming from others, love is gentle and mild. Hatred prompts harshness, severity, an unkindness of expression, anger, and a desire for revenge. Love is the opposite of these things. A man who truly loves another will be kind to him, desirous of doing him good; will be gentle, not severe and harsh; will be courteous because he desires his happiness.

1 Peter 3:8,9 express this truth very well. “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”

Next, Paul defines Christian love as being void of envy. The Greek word (Zäloi) means to be zealous for or against any person or thing; to be eager for or against anyone. It is to have strong feelings toward another, either positively or negatively. Paul uses it here in a negative sense. He means that Christian love is not grieved because another possesses more blessings. Love looks at the greater wealth, the greater wisdom, the greater talent possessed by others without any feelings of envy. Christian love simply does not react to others with jealousy.

As I look at the world, I can find many people who have so much more than I do, and many who have less. I know this is hard to believe, but there are people in the world who are superior to me! There are people wealthier, smarter, and better looking than me. To envy is to feel uneasiness, shame, or discontent at the sight of such people; to feel sorry for myself at another’s prosperity. It is to fret over the real or imagined superiority of others. Envy also contains the wish that bad things would happen to these superior folks. (The Germans call it “Schadenfreude,” feeling happy over anothers pain”),

Envy usually expresses itself against those in the same line of business, occupation, or social rank. The physician envies another physician more learned or more successful; the lawyer envies another lawyer; the minister envies another minister who seems to be so much more successful than he is. When envy rears its ugly head we usually try to reduce the status of others with our criticisms. “Rev. So-and-So has a much larger church than I do, but have you noticed how arrogant he is?” Or, “His predecessor really built that church. He can’t preach himself out of a wet paper bag!”

The antidote for envy is agape/love. If we loved others—if we rejoiced in their happiness, we would not envy them. People who are superior to us in some way are not to blame for these superior endowments. They are gifts from God, and God has gifted all of us in different ways. Love rejoices in the gifts that others possess even though we lack those gifts. Any time you feel envy creeping into your thoughts you need to get down on your knees, repent, and ask God to fill you with His love.

Paul next approaches the question of how we look upon those to whom we feel superior. Love is not boastful, proud, or arrogant. In a way, pride is a close cousin to envy. In our fallen human nature, we like to find persons who are inferior to us. We envy those who have more than we do, and we feel superior to those we regard as beneath us. Racial prejudice is a prime example of this. Gossip of all kinds fits in here. Why do we gossip about others? As we cut down others with our words, we hope others will see how superior we are.