Living in Chapter 13 and Loving It (Part 3 of 4)
Rebuilding a Bad Love Report Part 2
1 Cor. 13:4-8a
Feb. 18, 2007 FBC, Chester Mike Fogerson, Pastor
Introduction:
A Consider the following love letter:
Dearest Jimmy,
No words could ever express the great unhappiness I’ve felt since breaking off our engagement. Please say you’ll take me back. No one could ever take your place in my heart, so please forgive me. I love you, I love you, I love you!
Yours Forever, Marie
P.S. And congratulations on winning the state lottery!!!
1 Love is a very popular word in our society.
Amazon.com lists…
· 2,652 book titles regarding "Heaven,"
· 10,304 for "Money,"
· 16,765 for "Sex,"
· 18,818 for "God,"
· and 30,066 for "Love."
a Love is one of the deepest human needs of all, yet it is also a
very misunderstood and misused concept.
b The Bible has a lot to say about love, the word occurs at least
650 times.
2 Scripture tells of the power of love. It tells of what it can do
for broken marriage or a severed relationship or a struggling
family.
B Cor 13:4-8 (NASB)
1 Paul gave his readers a tutorial on how to have a love that was worth something (essence of the text in a sentence).
a Believers are to deliberately interact with each other with the loving qualities described in 1 Cor. 13 (essence of the sermon in a sentence).
b I pray you will learn & live what it means to have a good love report with your fellow brothers & sisters in Christ (objective).
2 What quality do you need to work on most this week to help with rebuilding your bad love report? (Probing question).
a Last week we looked at the first 3 qualities we can use to rebuild a bad love report:
aa Patience (take your time and wait)
bb Kindness (play nice)
cc Humble ("get over yourself")
b Let’s look at the last three qualities we can use to rebuild a bad love report (transitional sentence).
IV The 4th quality we can identify to help us rebuild a bad love report is courteousness (gives up its seat for another). does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth
A Paul’s not telling his readers to abandon their rights.
1 He goes deeper than that.
a More than just "women and children first", "I’ll go next, you go first."
b He had the Christian not seek his or her rights at all.
c "Does not seek its own": doesn’t seek even that which is hers!
2 The courteous quality Paul describes seeks only the good of others, it’s unselfish.
a He doesn’t mean you destroy all regard to self or family.
b Love never tries to get ahead by hurting or neglecting somebody else.
B "Does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth."
1 Do not rejoice even when your least favorite person (enemy) has been bruised, hurt, fired, divorced, summoned to jury duty, or given a subpoena to appear in court...you don’t laugh about it.
a If you laugh at their pain, that’s unrighteous.
b Love does not revel when others grovel (that’s not very polite, courteous).
2 It’s easy to love "our own", it’s difficult to love the "unrighteous".
a That’s exactly what we’re called on to do!
b Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Romans 12:14
C Loving others involves kindness and sacrifice.
a In the days when an ice cream cone cost much less, a 10 year old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked. "Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. "Well how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he asked. By now the waitress was growing impatient. "35 cents," she quickly said. The little boy again counted his coins. "I’ll have the plain ice cream," he said.
b The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left.
c When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies.
d You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.
V The 5th quality we can identify to help us rebuild a bad love report is forgiving (long fuse & short memory). is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered
A "Is not provoked..."
1 Does not fly off the handle.
a The idea ties into patience (takes its time, no hurry).
b Some folks will get bent out of shape at the drop of a hat.
aa Love doesn’t get mad without cause.
bb Love doesn’t go "postal"
2 (IL) Wet match, dry match, & match book
a Wet match won’t light, dry match lights easily
b If our hearts are drenched with the love of God in Christ, then it’s not good kindling for anger (if it does, it won’t burn long).
B "Does not take into account a wrong suffered."
1 Love that keeps records of wrongs is not love at all.
a Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins 1 Peter 4:8 (NASB)
b Love covers the faults of others rather than delighting in them.
aa (IL) Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. Gen 9:20-23 (NASB) Could have shouted about the sin, handled it privately.
bb (IL) If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. Matt 18:15 (NASB) go to your brother in private.
cc (IL) Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; 26 and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Acts 18:24-26 (NASB) Priscilla & Aquila talked to him privately.
2 We show them mercy & grace because we’ve been shown mercy & grace.
VI The 6th quality we can identify to help us rebuild a bad love report is perseverance (it’s not going anywhere). bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things
A "Bears all things" means it puts up with annoyances.
1 "I can’t bear it any longer!"
a Love DOES bear it longer.
b Puts up with bad housekeeping, snoring, not putting the cap on the toothpaste, rolling eyes, disappointments.
c Love bears all things...it’s not going anywhere.
2 "Believes, hopes all things"
a Love wants to find the very best in others.
aa Gullibility is not the intent. The naive believes everything, but the sensible man considers his steps. Prov 14:15 (NASB)
bb Give the benefit of the doubt to folks
b Love is never hopeless! (Keeps trusting that God can change someone)
3 "Endures all things"
a The thought is to endure persecution. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope... Romans 5:3-4 (NASB)
b Not always easy to endure or hang in there.
c (IL) Julie Andrews said, "Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding on the 20th." Newt Gingrich said, "Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did."
aa For some, perseverance/endurance means you just show up everyday (give another bath, wipe another nose, remain silent when you want to scream, remain faithful in the face of trepidation, take shots/pills & keep going, saddle up the walker, stay with spouse that is less than Prince Charming or Fair Princess.
bb Endure, endure, endure
Conclusion
A Paul gave his readers a tutorial on how to have a love that was worth something (essence of the text in a sentence).
1 Believers are to deliberately interact with each other with the loving qualities described in 1 Cor. 13 (essence of the sermon in a sentence).
2 We’ve looked at 6 qualities...
a Patience (takes its time & waits)
b Kindness (plays nice)
c Humble (get over yourself)
d Courteous (give up seat)
e Forgiving (short memory)
f Perseverance (it’s not going anywhere)
B I pray you will learn & live what it means to have a good love report with your fellow brothers & sisters in Christ (objective).
C What quality do you need to work on most this week to help with rebuilding your bad love report? (Probing question).
1 (IL)"The Hallmark"
Many of us can t tell fourteen caret gold from eighteen carat. Sone of us can t even tell gold plate from solid gold. In old London town the jewelers of Goldsmith’s Hall took pride in doing good work, and they wanted each customer to know what he was buying.
a So they devised a mark of quality, and its use became established by law. When a piece of gold was stamped with a little crown and the figure 18, everyone knew it was eighteen carat. "The mark of the hall" guaranteed it.
b If we are true disciples of Jesus, He stamps upon us a mark
of quality, a hallmark, a guarantee that we are genuine. "By
this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have
love one to another
2 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Gal 5:22-23 (NASB)
a You’ll see that all of the qualities we’ve talked about show up in these fruits.
b This is why love edifies, it releases the power of the Spirit in our lives & churches.
3 What quality do you need to work on most this week to help with rebuilding your bad love report? (Probing question).
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