1 Corinthians 13:1-9 (The Message)
The Way of Love
1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
2 If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.
3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
1st Corinthians 13 is considered by Christians to be The Love Chapter. This is where God speaks to us about His Love. Not love as man knows it, not love as when we fall ‘in love’, but the Love of God and what it takes for us to have it for others.
The Word tells us if we speak with eloquence but have no love, we are like a rusty gate. All rusty gates I have seen, squeak.
It states that if we have faith to move mountains, yet do not have love that we are nothing. It takes a lot of faith to literally move mountains, yet again this says we are nothing without love.
No matter what I say, believe or do, without the Love of God I am nothing.
So what is the Love of God?
1) Love never gives up. What does that mean? You do not lose patience with your other half. So what if last night you fell in the toilet because he left the toilet seat up and you were trying to be nice and not wake him and did not turn on the light so you did not realize it was up and you fell right in…and you have told him 1000 times to put that seat down! Have a good laugh over this with him… He will feel so bad that this happened to the woman he loves and you are being such a good sport about it that he will really try to remember next time. As long as you don’t nag him about falling in…Being patient.
2) Love cares more for others than for yourself. That is an easy one for most women. Just put him first because you love him. Serve him dinner first, let him decide what to watch on TV even though your favorite show is on, let him decide what movie to go see or to rent… etc. Show him how important he is to you by putting him first.
3) Envy, not wanting what you do not have… This can go a couple of different ways. A) Not wanting another man than the one you have; b) not wanting what the neighbors have – ie: keeping up with the Joneses, keeping your family in debt and your husband feeling inadequate. If you are envious of your friends or neighbors, and let your husband know that with your complaints, then he will feel inadequate, like he is not providing well for you. That is his place in the family and by saying you want more, you are telling him that he is not doing enough. That is a real kick in the teeth for a man, so do not be envious of others.
4) Love does not boast. You do not want to brag about what you have and make your neighbors envious of you. Whether it be stuff he bought you or the great husband with the great job, or maybe you have the great job and your husband is feeling inferior… there are many ways this could be looked at… If you have something to brag about is it a way to show LOVE? If not maybe you should not brag… See what in your life fits here.
5) Do not be filled with pride. Pride can be a dangerous thing. It makes you think you are better than others. Love does not do that. You are not better than your other half. You are a team that God put together for a reason. Because your strengths lift up his weak spots and his strengths lift up yours. You are two halves to a whole.
6) Do not be rude… Gee this one is a no brainer. Want a better relationship with your other half? Do not be rude to him/her
7) Love is not self seeking, thinking ‘me – first, like number two above, you think of the other person first.
8) Not easily angered. Your other half knows your buttons, usually without even realizing it. You have a disagreement and they start pushing your buttons and you start pushing theirs and you are OFF! Racing away with anger. It is better to respond than to react. Love will respond, anger reacts.
9) Love keeps NO RECORD OF WRONGS. This one is so critical, that if every couple just did this one thing there would be a lot fewer divorces. It does not matter what happened yesterday, last week or last year. Do not keep records of wrongs. Let them go in forgiveness because you love this person. This is my favorite part of the scripture on love, because if you keep no record of wrongs, you have own half the battle. Nothing old to dredge up… only the current minor infraction that if you are following these others items may no longer be an issue…
10) Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Stay honest with one another in all things
11) Love always protects the one they love from outside harm and from harm within.
12) Love always trusts the one they love – that is what love is all about
13) Love always looks for the best in the one they love
14) Love never looks back, but keeps going forward. Love never dies.
When everything else passes on, love will still be there. Love is the only thing that can last forever, but it must be God’s love, as shown in these scriptures.
Want a better marriage? Start adding these concepts to your day to day with your other half. You will see it change for the better.
God Bless
Pastor Deb
