Today is February 14, 2016, this is also called Valentine's day or the day of the hearts.
According to Wikipedia, here in the United States, about 190 million Valentine's Day cards are sent each year, not including the hundreds of millions of cards school children exchange.
Additionally, in recent decades Valentine's Day has become increasingly commercialized and a popular gift-giving event.
It is said that many themes on romance, love and relationships are advertised during these days encouraging consumer spending on loved ones.
It is also estimated that here in the United States alone, the average valentine's spending has increased every year, from $108 a person in 2010 to $131 in 2013.
This includes the cards, the flowers, the chocolates and the dinner.
It can go higher than that actually.
For our kababayan in the Philippines, Valentine's Day is also called "Araw ng mga Puso" ("Day of Hearts"), and is celebrated in much the same way as in the west.
It is usually marked by a steep increase in the price of flowers, particularly red roses.
Look at this picture of a woman selling flowers on Valentine"s day.
But do you know that in the Muslim country like Saudi Arabia, during the years 2002 and 2008, religious police banned the sale of all Valentine's Day items?
They tell shop workers to remove any red items because the day is considered a Christian holiday and they have nothing to do with this "deviation from religious law and custom."
This ban has created a black market for roses and wrapping paper.
In 2012, the religious police arrested more than 140 Muslims for celebrating the holiday and confiscated all red roses from flower shops.
Muslims are not allowed to celebrate the holiday, and non-Muslims can celebrate only behind closed doors.
But for us Christians who have received the love of God, every day should be a Valentine's Day and not just on February 14.
Everyday should be a day of the hearts.
Because the heart talks about love and real love is more than red roses.
And real love comes from God alone.
Love therefore should be the expression of our Christian character.
In fact, love in the Bible is not described with adjectives.
Love is something you describe with verbs.
Love is an action verb, not just an emotional attachment or a feeling.
It is a deed, an activity, something that we need to do.
When we are expressing our love to others, we are expressing the character of God in action.
That is why today, we will talk about love from 1 Corinthians 13, a very familiar and famous chapter in the Bible.
We have no time to cover the entire chapter at this time.
Because every verse has a lot of spiritual insights for us all.
But let me just give you an overview of the entire 1 Cor. 13.
Here are the main points to consider about love:
The PROMINENCE OF LOVE - vs. 1-3 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
The PROPERTIES OF LOVE - vs. 4-7 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
The PERMANENCE OF LOVE - vs. 8-12 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror;then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
The PRE-EMINENCE OF LOVE - vs. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
You see, love is the high point of everything good in this world.
Love is the main ingredient for every relationship to succeed between the husband and wife.
Love is needed between a father and his children so that the family will be strong and prosper.
Love is the focal point on why a boy courts and marry that girl.
Love is the basis for every Christian to love God and to follow His commands.
Love builds relationships and strengthens friendships.
Indeed, of these three, faith, hope and love, the greatest of these is love.
Several years ago, I preached on the different Greek words for LOVE.
Let me refresh you on these.
1. STORGE, which means natural affection;
2. EROS, which means sexual attractions;
3. PHILIA, which means emotional affection of friendship; and
4. AGAPE, which means unconditional, giving, sacrificial love.
When the Bible speaks of God’s love, for us and the kind of love we are to have for him and for other people, the world is always agape, signifying a commitment to act.
The word used here in I Cor. 13 for love is agape.
It is the strongest and most powerful word ever to describe the love that comes from God.
But sad to say, love is frequently missing from the fellowship of God's people, the church.
It is tragically absent from the community of believers.
We have seen many people who are hurting and after going to church, they got hurt all the more and never come back.
If we only learn how to apply the truths of 1 Corinthians in our lives, it would have been very different.
During the time of the writing of the apostle Paul to the church at Corinth, a lot of things were going on within the church.
There was a strong division emerging among the Christian saints.
There was gross immorality in which the church had not dealt with.
Instead of feeling shame and sorrow over sin, some were proud of their tolerance.
Paul even heard of Christians taking their fellow believers to court, seeking to pass judgment on spiritual matters.
Then, there was this unbecoming conduct at the Lord's Supper and doctrinal error concerning the resurrection.
In all these things, the Apostle Paul declared that the main ingredient missing is love.
They have the spiritual gifts, they have the wealth of human teachers, the finest of teaching, a great facility for reaching the lost in a strategic city.
They have all the material resources possible in their hands.
Yet, something very important was missing.
They were lacking in love.
Even if they move mountains, without love, they are nothing.
Even if they give all to the poor, without love, they are nothing.
That is why there is an urgency and necessity for us to learn about love.
In our message for today, we will only discuss one specific verse of 1 Cor. 13.
Verse 5 "It does not dishonor others. it is not self-seeking, it is no easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."
This verse tells us three important ingredients that will strengthen every relationships, whether a husband or wife, whether a body of believers, or whether you are in the workplace.
1. Love should be NOT self-seeking.
2. Love should NOT be easily angered.
3. Love should keep NO record of wrongs.
THREE THINGS THAT WILL STRENGTHEN RELATIONSHIPS
1. LOVE SHOULD NOT BE SELF-SEEKING.
That word self-seeking means being egotistic or egocentric.
It means bragging or boasting about one-self.
It has the idea of putting oneself as more superior than others.
Hence, being self-focus is an antithesis of love.
The Greek phrase literally means love "does not seek the things of self."
And that was the problem going on in the church of Corinth that is why there was division and there was immorality present.
The Apostle Paul wanted these believers to stop focusing on their own needs and preferences.
He wants them to discover the true character of love by learning how to serve God and one another not just oneself.
Love should not be self-seeking.
Therefore, a person who demands his own way, who tramples on others' rights for the sake of upholding his own is not showing true love from God.
A person who seeks his own happiness exclusively to the detriment of others is not showing God's love.
A person who seeks his own advantage, his own comfort, his own honor, his own pleasure or profit to the disadvantage of others is not showing the agape kind of love.
A person who insists on having his due met is not showing love.
These are hard words, my brothers and sisters.
Love is a difficult thing to apply.
If we have to improve in our fellowship with one another, we had to learn not to be self-seeking.
Because true love that comes from God is considerate of others.
When you love others, you are willing to forego recognition and lay down your rights for the sake of the person you love.
Christian love is not about us but about others.
Jesus showed us what true love is all about in this way.
He "did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45.
Putting love into practice involves following the example of Jesus, considering the needs and the interest of others, and denying our personal desires in order to serve those in need.
Therefore, we need to overcome our self-seeking.
How? Here are some important Scriptures to think about:
a. BY LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. - Matthew 22:39 (NIV) " 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
b. BY AVOIDING BAD COMPANY - 1 Cor. 15:33 (NIV) " 33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
c. BY LOOKING AT THE INTEREST OF OTHERS - Phil. 2:3-4 (NIV) " 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
d. BY DOING ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD - 1 Cor. 10:31 (NIV) " 31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Let me tell you a story.
Convicted for possession of drugs, lead singer of the rock band Stone Temple
Pilots, Scott Weiland, talked to Rolling Stone about how being in jail impacted his life:
"A lot of my ways of thinking have backfired on me.
My stubbornness.
My pride.
My arrogance...
The difficult thing is that those defects of character become assets in my business, the rock and roll world. But I’ve changed. NOW, It’s not me thinking less of myself, it’s just me thinking of myself less.”
But it was too late, he died of accidental overdose of cocaine, ethanol and MDA last December of 2015.
2. LOVE SHOULD NOT BE EASILY ANGERED.
The second thing that we need to understand is that love should not be easily angered.
We all get angry.
That is normal for every human beings on earth.
Sometimes, we fly off the handle at others in the midst of our anger.
But do you know that there is such a thing as a sinful anger and a righteous anger?
Sinful anger will always hurt and destroy others.
Righteous anger will always manifest the passion for holiness.
We had to learn to avoid anger that leads to sin while controlling our anger that leads to holiness.
I took this from middletonwbiblechurch.org.
There are two ways that people usually solve their problems of anger.
One is to redirect anger towards others (blowing up) while the other is to redirect it towards self (Boiling up).
To BLOW UP when angry is like being an active volcano - they tend to erupt and explode like Mount Vesuvius or Mt. Saint Helen style.
When they are angry, they let it all out without considering the consequences.
All smoke and lava pours forth regardless of the people who get hurt.
Those who live near the eruption must suffer the damaging effect of man's sinful anger and temper.
This is the sinful anger which always have a damaging effect on others.
The other way is to redirect anger is to BOIL UP.
It means to keep the anger within.
To allow this powerful emotion to slowly burn and boil.
As the anger is hold in within self, the bitterness and resentment slowly begin to build up.
Boiling anger is just as sinful as exploding anger.
The difference is that anger which is allowed to boil up will ultimately hurt and destroy not others but self.
Some of you might say, "I just can't control my temper! What will I do?"
Well, I think we can learn to control our temper. It is possible to do that.
Listen to this story: Mary loses her patience and begins yelling at her children.
Her husband David, who is trying to read the paper, finally can't take it no longer!
He violently explodes at both his wife and her children!
He throws the paper and releases harmful words to his family.
Suddenly, in the middle of this temper eruption, the doorbell rings and it's their pastor who has stopped by for a visit.
Both husband and wife go to the door and with a warm smile saying, "Hello Pastor, it's so good to see you!"
What did they do?
They have just controlled their anger and replaced it with a welcoming spirit.
Therefore, anger can be contained or restrained especially through the power of the Holy Spirit.
What if we can control this powerful emotion so that we could use this to give glory to God?
This is when it becomes righteous anger.
When you change this anger from being helpful rather than harmful.
When you make your anger timely and useful as a way of communicating the righteousness of God.
For instance, do you know that God is angry with the wicked because of their sin? (Psalms 7:11)
That is His godly character. He cannot tolerate sin because He is a holy God.
Jesus Himself was angry with those who turned his temple from a house of prayer into a marketplace for thieves.
He had such passion and devotion for the things of God.
When do you need to get angry?
Whenever God's Word and God's causes are being compromised, we had to get angry.
We had to get angry with wrongs to get things right.
We had to get angry when sin dominates our lives.
We had to be angry when complacency and apathy creeps in.
We had to get angry when our society is being overruled with wickedness.
We had to get angry when there is such spiritual coldness and indifference that overwhelms the church.
There is much to get angry about if we just look closely to what is going on around us.
But we are commanded to get angry but do not sin.
That is when the power of love comes into action.
It says if you have the love of God within you, you will not easily get angry.
You will be able to assess the situation more closely and respond accordingly to the circumstances at hand.
If the situation warrants it that you should get angry, you have to but anger must be controlled so that your Christian testimony will not be compromised.
That is why you must avoid blowing up your top without any reason at all.
The text says that love should not be easily angered because God will give you wisdom and patience at the moment.
Here are the scriptures to think about.
How do you overcome anger?
a. BY NOT ALLOWING ANGER TO DEVELOP INTO SIN. - Eph. 4:26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
b. BY LEARNING THE VALUE OF LISTENING MORE THAN TALKING. - James 1:19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
c. BY GAINING GODLY WISDOM THAT CAN PRODUCE PATIENCE - Proverbs 19:11 A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.
d. BY DEVELOPING THE ATTITUDE OF GENTLENESS AT ALL TIMES. - Prov. 15:1 "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."
Let me tell you a story.
I took this from inspiring true stories,com.
Last March of 2006, another school tragedy almost occurred in Nevada when a 14 year old student walked into the Pine Middle school and pulled out his parents' .38 pistol and opened fire.
But this tragedy was miraculously avoided and no one was seriously harmed thanks to the power of love in action.
This is how it happened. Next slide.
The young man filled with anger squeezed off three shots, hitting one boy in the arm and striking a young girl with a bullet that bounced back.
Both victims later recovered.
But before he pulled another shot, the teacher, Jencie Fagan walked right up to him, put her arms around him in a hug and told him she wouldn't leave him. Next slide.
He dropped the gun, and Fagan held him firmly against her until other teachers arrived to help.
Fagan later said that she believed anyone else would have done the same thing, saying, "I look at the students as if they are my own."
Of course, we do not recommend that you do this if confronted by a mass shooter, unless you have a bullet proof body armor but the truth is that boy had a gun in the midst of his anger.
But because of the power of love in the form of a hug, his emotion was kept under control and the tragedy averted.
3. LOVE SHOULD KEEP NO RECORD OF WRONGS.
Lastly, love keeps no account of the evil done to us.
That means love is forgetful.
Did you hear about the married couple in their 80’s who were having problems remembering things, so they decided to the go the doctor for a checkup.
The doctor tells them that they are physically okay, but they might want to start writing things down to help them remember.
Later that night, while watching TV, the old man gets up from his chair.
His wife asks, “Where are you going?”
“To the kitchen for a drink,” he replies.
She asks, ” Will you get me piece of cake?”
The husband says, “Sure.”
She gently reminds him, “Don’t you think you should write it down so you don’t forget it?”
He says, “No, I can remember that!”
Then the woman says, “Well, I’d like some strawberries on top. You’d better write it down because I know you’ll forget it.”
The man replies, “I can remember that! You want some cake with strawberries.”
She adds, “I’d also like whipped cream on top. Now I’m certain you’re gonna forget that, so you’d better write it down, ok.”
Irritated, he says, “I don’t need to write it down woman! I can remember that! Cake with strawberries! And whipped cream!”
He then grumbles into the kitchen.
After about 30 minutes the old man returns from the kitchen and hands his wife a plate of bacon and eggs.
She stares at the plate for a moment and says, “Where’s my toast?”
They have both forgotten.
In a way, that is good for every couple.
We must forgive and forget the mistakes and failures of each other.
Somebody said that a happy marriage is a union of two good forgivers.
That means don't rehearse and recite the failures and mistakes of each other.
Don't retold those stories of bitterness and unforgiveness.
Don't go over those litany of faults your spouse made in the past.
Don't nurse an old wound.
Don't seek revenge.
Don't keep that grudge alive.
Destroy it by the power of God's love.
Because any relationship can never thrive and flourish if you face a scoreboard of failures.
You see, we are human beings and we make a lot of mistakes.
Sometimes, we only realize these faults after knowing that the consequences had been fatal.
And so, we sincerely repent and humbly ask God to forgive us from all our faults and failures.
After we have asked for forgiveness to God and to your spouse, it is time to move on and learn from our past mistakes.
And so, because of the love of God that has been manifested in our lives, we keep no record of wrongs.
That means we wipe the slate clean and make a fresh start.
Only the future matters.
Why should we keep no record of wrongs?
a. BECAUSE CHRIST HAS ALREADY FORGIVEN US - Eph. 4:32 (NIV) " Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
b. BECAUSE THE POWER OF LOVE UNITES US - Col. 3:13-14 (NIV) " 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
c. BECAUSE THIS IS THE KEY TO BEING FORGIVEN - Matthew 6:15 (NIV) " But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
d. BECAUSE THIS IS THE KEY TO ANSWERED PRAYERS - Mark 11:25 (NIV) " And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
THE SHOE BOX
A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years.
They had shared everything. They had talked about everything.
They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little
Old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had
Cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.
For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but
One day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said
She would not recover.
In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took
Down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside.
She agreed that it was time that he should know what was
In the box. When he opened it, he found two knitted dolls
And a stack of money totaling $95,000.
He asked her about the contents.
'When we were to be married,' she said, ' my grandmother told me
The secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that
If I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and knit a doll.'
The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two
Precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two
Times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with
Happiness.
'Honey,' he said, 'that explains the dolls, but what about all of this money?
Where did it come from?'
'Oh,' she said, 'that's the money I made from selling the dolls.'
END...
