Love Does Not But Does, All Things, Never, Is Not..
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
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 have not love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things
Love never fails. – 1 Corinthians 13:1-8
Prayer…
OKAY MGCC – so this is it, our final conversation in our series, Love Is…
BUT UNDERSTAND – though this message series which began on October 13th is coming to an end…
OUR PURSUIT – of living out God’s kind of love must continue… and continue wholeheartedly.
BECAUSE – according to God’s Word…
• The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love
• Without love – what we say, what we do, what we give, what we accomplish and even our faith does not matter
• Love is the greatest commandment… in fact all the law and all the prophets are summed up in these 2 commands… Love the lord with ALL your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.
• Love is the only debt that must remain outstanding among us
• Love covers a multitude of sins
• Love is the only way that world will ever know that the people who gather in the building every Sunday really are His disciples…
AND LISTEN – love is not a noun it is a verb… which means that what ultimately matters is not simply KNOWING what love is, but actually DOING what Love DOES…
AND THAT IS WHY – this series has intentionally been very practical. UNDERSTAND MGCC - each week we have been given specific action steps designed to both help and ensure that we are living out God’s kind of love.
QUESTION – have you made ‘any’ effort to actually DO what loves DOES? LIKE – what grade would you give yourself for your actions and efforts this past 9 weeks?
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. – James 1:22
(merely listen… carries the idea of ‘auditing’ a class. And listen, in case your are wondering, being a Jesus-follower is not about auditing His Word, amen?!)
LISTEN – this is, nothing… nothing… nothing… nothing more important in your life as a believer then to live out God’s kind of love….
AND SO – you may want to go back and listen to some of these messages to remind yourself what those action steps are – and commit to actually ding them.
NOW – this morning as we wrap up this series, we are going to be looking at several facets of God’s kind of love, in a conversation I am calling…
Love – Does Not But Does, All Things,
Never, Is Not..
SO – R U ready to do this? AWESOME
THEN - lean in, open up your heart and your mind and buckle up because we have a lot of ground to cover.
AND JUST – one more question before we dive in and begin unpacking God’s truth….
DO YOU BELIEVE - that God just might have a Word for you this morning December 15, 2019?
OKAY – the first point in your notes…
I. Love Does Not, But Does
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
- 1 Corinthians 13:7
NOW – I am sure that you have heard these words before.
I MEAN – they have been part of this portrait of love in 1 Corinthians for 2000 years.
HOWEVER – what do they really mean… how do we actually live out this facet of God’s kind of love in our everyday lives and relationships?
To be honest I have really never thought hard or deep about…
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth
Until this week…
OKAY – let’s start by defining a few words.
NOW – the words delight (love does not delight in evil) and rejoices (but rejoices in the truth) both come from the same root word in Greek… Chairo (to rejoice, to be glad, to be joyful)
AND LISTEN - the kind of “delight” or “rejoicing” this word is referring to, is not a calm, polite— almost passive—type of rejoicing. You know, a slight smile, a little nodding of the head and raising of the pulse.
INSTEAD - it is a full-throttle, heart-racing, not-holding-anything-back kind of rejoicing!
SO – when you think of the kind of “delight” or “rejoicing” that this verse speaks of...
• Think of - your favorite soccer, hockey, baseball, softball, football, or basketball team scoring the winning goal, run, touchdown, or basket as time expires!
• Think of - the joy and excitement that’s shared by a guy and a gal when he proposes and she says “Yes!”
• Think of – the great feelings expressed by graduates when they finally have graduated and toss their caps in the air!
• Think of - the joy, excitement, and thankfulness parents have at the moment of their baby girl or baby boy’s birth!
• Think of - the excitement that’s present when one receives that letter saying you’ve been accepted into the college you were hoping to get accepted into, you received the scholarship you were hoping to receive, or you finally got that job offer or promotion you having been waiting for and looking forward to.
• Think of - the joy that takes place when someone finds their lost sheep or their lost coin… (Luke 15)
• Think of – the Ethiopian Eunuch (in Acts 8) who after coming up out of the waters of baptisms (having his sins washed away) rejoicies on his way back home.
UNDERSTAND - this...this is the kind of rejoicing that’s talked about here in 1 Corinthians 13:6!
It’s rejoicing that is filled with excitement, joy, and thankfulness!
It’s rejoicing that’s a cause for celebration!
It’s rejoicing that is often accompanied by— over the top enthusiasm, applause and cheering!
YEAH – ky ro is a serious, I am not playing kind of rejoicing.
BUT NOTICE - what the “love” of 1 Corinthians 13 (which, again, is “God’s kind of love”) does NOT rejoice in— It does NOT (delight or rejoice in) – (applaud or cheer on) evil.
Evil (adikia) – injustice or unrighteousness of heart and mind, evil, wickedness, wrongdoing
MGCC
Love does not delight (applaud and cheer on) injustice or unrighteousness of heart and mind, evil, wickedness, wrongdoing… but rejoices with truth…
AND LISTEN – to rejoice in evil, is not only to justify it, but to make wrong appear to be right…
WHICH - is exactly what Isaiah was calling God’s people out for when he wrote these words…
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. – Isaiah 5:20
Wow, those words seem to be a pretty accurate description of our modern culture…
QUESTION – can you think of any examples where our society has called something evil… good?
NOW – this week I spent a lot of time studying and reflecting and praying about what does it actually look like to live out this truth that love does not delight (applaud, cheer and celebrate) evil and wrongdoing.
AND AGAIN – the point of 1 Corinthians 13 is about living out God’s kind of love in our relationships.
SO – what I want to do is to talk about 3 ways that you and I can live out… love does not delight in (cheer and applaud evil)…
#1
Love does not delight in doing and participating in evil
Love does not delight (applaud, cheer and celebrate) doing and participating in evil.
A few Scriptures…
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither whatever they do prospers. – Psalm 1:1,2
You who love the Lord, hate evil! – Psalm 97:10
To fear the Lord is to hate evil. – Proverbs 8:13
Love does not delight in doing and participating in evil
QUESTION – who were the first people to read this powerful description of love that Paul painted on to the canvas of 1 Corinthians 13? The Jesus followers who made up the church in Corinth.
UNDERSTAND – Corinth was a very evil city, it was filled with pervasive idol worship and out on control sexual immorality.
IN FACT - Corinth had a reputation of being like the Las Vegas of the Roman Empire.
AND LISTEN – when you read through this letter it was obvious that some these recently converted Christians in Corinth were having a hard time shaking off their old sinful habits, habits that Paul addressed throughout his 16 chapter letter, sins such as
• Sexual immorality, Drunkenness
• Gluttony, Greed
• Pride, injustice
• Jealousy, strife, gossip and division
• Prostitution and prejudice
To name a few…
AND THEN – chapter 6…
Paul speaks truth powerfully to those in the church who were thinking it was okay for a Jesus follower to still delight in – evil and wrongdoing.
Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality,
no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.
And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
MGCC
Love does not delight in doing and participating in evil
AND…
#2 Love does not delight when others do evil
UNDERSTAND – God’s kind of love does not applaud, cheer, celebrate, approve, accept and tolerate when other believers do evil and commit sin…
QUESTION
LIKE – would someone ever really do something like that?
Delight when others do evil.
WELL – the Jesus followers at Corinth did.
YOU SEE – there was a guy in Corinth who Paul calls out for his sin… Now he did not use the guys name, but there is no doubt that everyone knew exactly who Paul was referring to…
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are proud! – 1 Cor 5:1,2
You are pride… you think this makes you enlightened.
Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?...
MGCC – when a fellow Jesus follower is not living right, is doing wrong, is sinning and disobeying God’s truth we should mourn.We should cry out like the Psalmist…
Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed. – Psalm 119:136
LISTEN – we should mourn because their behavior is separating them from God who loves them.
Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? - 1 Corinthians 5:1,2,
LIKE – if you let it go on… then before you know these type of wrong behaviors will be accepted and common place.
Love does not delight when others do evil
AND…
Love does not delight when evil or injustice happens to other people
QUESTION – have you ever felt when something bad happen to someone (someone who may have done you or someone else wrong)… “Well, they got what they deserve.”
UNDERSTAND – rejoicing in anyone’s hardship and difficulty is contrary to the love of God.
OKAY - let me try to wrap this point up…
MGCC - when Paul says that love does not delight in evil, he means that love takes no pleasure in unrighteousness, in injustice, in any wickedness at all.
Love never rejoices when people are mistreated, when evil wins out, when God is dishonored, or when God’s law is disobeyed.
AND - Love does not delight when evil, hardships or injustice falls on another person.
Love is never glad at another person’s misfortune, never gossips about another’s problems.
Love does not delight in evil,
but rejoices with the truth.
UNDERSTAND - love rejoices in what is right and good.
THEREFORE - anything that covers up sin or seeks to justify wrongdoing is the polar opposite of godly love.
Love does not sweep sin under the rug.
Love does not try to find ways to get away with bad behavior, and it does not put up with injustice.
Instead, it treasures truth, celebrates good behavior, and promotes right living.
BOTTOM LINE…
Love loves truth, love loves truth
Love affirms, cheers, applauds, and celebrates truth
BECAUSE…
Truth is good, truth is freeing and truth pleases God.
WHICH IS WHY – love, loves… when truth wins out in someone’s life…
There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. – Luke 15:10
AND LOVE – (and this may be uncomfortable for some people in tis room) LOVE - when necessary will confront someone with the truth…
YOU SEE - as Christians we are to love and rejoice in (applaud, promote and cheer on) the truth… at all costs.
AND THEREFORE – when called upon we will speak the truth (even tough truth) in love. (Love is kind, not nice)
Kindness is certainly not meanness, but it’s also not niceness. Niceness is cosmetic. It’s bland. Niceness is keeping an employee in the job, knowing he’s no longer the right fit but failing him and the company because you don’t have the courage to do the kind thing. Kindness calls you to tell him he’s not the person for the position and then dignify him in the transition.
We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. – Ephesians 4:15
UNDERSTAND - Scripture leaves no room for a watered-down Christian love that accepts, believes and affirms anything without regard for Biblical truth.
NO – God’s kind of love does not divorce itself from tough moral choices or tough moral conversations.
AND – let’s be honest we do not always to do so good with speaking the truth in love.
NOW – there are only 3 options when we are called by God and prompted by His Spirit to have a tough truth conversation.
• We can avoid them
• We can have them and handle them poorly
• We can have them and handle them well
I recently (like this week) started a book called crucial conversations…
It’s about having tough ‘crucial’ conversations in the right way.
The root cause of many - if not most human problems lie in how people behave when others disagree with them about high stakes, emotional issues. – Crucial Conversations
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with truth
NEXT…
II. Love… All Things
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things… - 1 Corinthians 13:7
One commentator I read this week said, that Paul was never more a wordsmith than when he crafted this sentence…
I mean in the original language all four words end with the same sound creating a poetic rhythm.
panta stegei, panta pisteuei, panta elpigei, panta upomenei
HEY – did you notice the 4 fold appearance of the word panta (translated as ‘all things’)?
NOW – many forms of panta are in our English dictionary.
• Pantheism is the belief that God is in ‘all things’
• A pantry is a place where one can hopefully store ‘all things’
• A panacea is a cure for ‘all things’
• A panoply is a collection of ‘all things’
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things… - 1 Corinthians 13:7
A) Love bears all things…
Now the word Paul uses here is related to the Greek word for ‘roof.’ It means to ‘protect by covering over,’ just as a roof provides a protective covering from the elements.
QUESTION – does anybody here appreciate that their home has a roof? UNDERSTAND – we are to be that same kind of protective covering for those we love.
BECAUSE – God’s kind of love protects.
That is, it watches out for others. It withstands difficulty.
And, if there is a shortcoming or fault in the loved one, love has the ability to cover it…
Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.
– Proverbs 10:12
YOU SEE - one of the marks of love is that it always seeks to protect those it loves.
NOW - this doesn’t mean that we excuse wrongdoing or seek to evade the natural consequences of sin;
BUT – it does mean that we strengthen what is weak, shield what is vulnerable, and forgive what is confessed.
NEXT – Paul says…
B) Love believes all things…
IN OTHER WORDS – love will not be suspicious of the one he loves. Love is slow to believe any damaging news concerning their loved one and will always be ready to give the benefit of the doubt.
Augustine said it well that this quality of love is “believing the best” about all people.
BUT LISTEN – we need to understand that Paul in saying this… IS NOT SAYING - that love is gullible, naïve and believes everything and does not exercise qualities such as wisdom and discernment.
INSTEAD - what he is saying is that love chooses to believe the best about and in other, unless convinced otherwise.
Love believes the other person is innocent until proven guilty, not guilty until proven innocent.
AND WHEN - there is a problem, love doesn’t jump immediately to blame, condemn and discount the other person.
Love believes all things…
AND LISTEN - there is great power in believing in a person.
Robert Schuller said, “I am not who I think I am. I am not who you think I am. I am who I think you think I am.”
LISTEN – here’s the deal…
Right or wrong often times we define ourselves through the eyes of other people.
• Tell me enough times that I’m stupid, and I will believe you.
• Tell me enough times that I’m smart and I might agree.
• Or as the German writer and statesman Goethe (go tah) said…
NOW - Robert Rosenthal (a professor of psychology at the University of California) demonstrated this in a famous classroom study.
• He and an elementary school principal tested a group of students.
• And he told their teachers that some of the students had done extremely well on the test.
• So the teachers were led to believe that five or six of their students had exceptional learning ability.
• NOW WHAT - the teachers did not know was that the names of the “exceptional” students had been chosen entirely at random… they were no different than the other students.
• However - since the teachers thought they were ‘exceptional’, they treated him differently.
AND – by the end of the year the students the teaches thought were smarter actually were! They scored ahead of their peers and gaining as much is 15 to 27 IQ points.
AND - the teachers describe these students as…
happier, more curious, more affectionate than the average, and having a better chance at success later in life.
AND UNDRSTAND - this was all die to the attitude these teachers had towards these students. The teachers treated these students as exceptional and they lived up to that treatment.
Treat a man as he appears to be, and make him worse. But treat a man as if he were, what he could potentially be, and you make him what you should be.
MGCC… IMAGINE – what would happen, if we as a church family and if we in our individual families would choose to believe all things in regards to each other…
C) Love hopes all things
NOW – the word used here means to look forward with confidence to that which is good and beneficial.
AND IN - the present context of interpersonal relationships, it means that the one who loves, looks at the bright side of things and does not despair (and certainly does not convey a sense of despair to the other person).
To “hope all things” means that we never consider another person to be a lost cause. It means that we never give up on each other, even when we see someone fall and fall hard.
UNDERSTAND - hoping all things, is this passion and willingness
• To encourage one another as runners in the same race.
• To determine that nobody is ever going to be left behind
• To understand and have a growing confidence that we are all works in progress and that we really are becoming more like Christ, even if some days it’s pretty hard to see.
To “hope all things” is to have this godly supernatural optimism ONE - that is always positive and hopeful, believing in what is good for the future of others, even when they have ceased to have hope. YOU SEE - love delights to entertain the best expectations. If there is absence of anything to prompt them, the hope is there; if conditions are adverse, love still hopes for the best. Even if the hope meets with repeated disappointment, love waits on expectantly…
D) Love endures all things…
The Greek word used here is a compound word…
hupo = under + meno = remain
This word describes continuing in an activity despite resistance and opposition.
In secular Greek hupomeno was a military term used of an army’s holding a vital position at all costs. Every hardship and every suffering was to be endured in order to hold fast.
AND WHEN - applied to God’s kind of love, Paul is saying that this supernatural love is able to sustain the assaults of an enemy.
It’s a love doesn’t quit or give up. A love lasts. A love that remains up under…
UNDERSTAND - the love spoken of in 1 Corinthians 13 is not a fleeting romance or a fading feeling. Instead, godly love always perseveres. YES - during good times and bad, the love of God’s people endures the challenges of life and remains steadfast.
In the wedding vows, a husband and wife take each other “for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.” AND LISTEN - the basis of this pledge is the fact that love endures all things. It’s not an on-again, off-again proposition, but a commitment to always seek the highest good, no matter what adversity comes their way.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things… - 1 Corinthians 13:7
AND BTW – that is how God’s love is for you…
God’s love for you…
‘bears all things’
‘believes all things’
‘hopes all things’
‘endures all things’
YOU KNOW – I kind of picture Paul at this point (the master artist) standing in his studio, (paint and brush) in hand…
THE PORTRAIT – is nearly complete. A perfect blending of color, contrast and detail…
THAT - literally leap off the canvas.
Love is patient, love is kind, love does not envy, love is not proud – but humble, love is not rude – but respectful (because God made everyone and Christ died for everyone), love is not love is not easily angered, love keeps no record of wrongs, love does not delight in evil – but rejoices in the truth…
LOVE – bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things…
THEN I PICTURE PAUL – taking a step back… looking at this incredible masterpiece radiating off the canvas. Smiling. Pleased. BUT THEN – the artist realizes that there is still one final brush stroke left – something is missing…
IT – seems so obvious to him now…
I MEAN – as he looks at all that covers the canvas of 1 Corinthians 13…
AS HE SEES – those brilliant facets of love dance and come to life. HE – walks back over to the canvas for the final stroke of his brush…
III. Love never fails…
Yeah, that’s it. Perfect. Now it is done.
THEN PAUL – puts his paint brush down, picks up the canvas and puts it on display for all to see.
AND – for 2000 years (millions upon millions of people) have not only gazed upon it’s beauty – but countless lives have been changed by this incredible portrait of love – love never fails.
NOW – the word that Paul uses for the word ‘never’ is a compound word in Greek… that literally means
not even, at any time.
Love (not even at any time) Fails…
AND THE - verb that Paul uses for the word fail is the Greek word ‘pipto.’ AND – it means to…
• fall or collapse as in nations, walls and houses (built on sand)
• whither and decay as in a flower falling to the ground (disconnected & dying)
• pass away when suddenly stricken by death
MGCC - God’s kind of love says Paul, will never (not even at any time) fall to the ground, collapse, whither and decay, or pass away – stricken by death.
INSTEAD - God’s love is eternal, permanent and forever. Love never (not even at any time) fails!
Governments will fail – but God’s kind of love will last.
Crowns are temporary – but God’s kind of love is eternal.
Your money will run out – but His kind of love never does.
Love never fails…
BUT - I don’t know Paul – my love seems to fail and fall short… a lot...
AND – even on those rare occasions when I do get it right and I am patient, kind, forgiving…etc – it doesn’t always get the results or the response I was looking for…
SO – Paul, when that happens, it at least on the surface, looks to me like – love has failed…
GUYS – believe or not I choose to really wrestle with those last 3 words – with that final brush stroke that Paul threw onto the canvas of 1 Cor 13 2000 year ago. Love never fails…
Love (not even at any time) Fails…
AND – here is some of what I concluded after the wrestling match…
JUST – 2 quick points and then we will wrap this series up and with God’s help continue to work it into ou lives until He comes back to take us home.
God’s Love Never Fails
AGAIN - no one has unfailing love. No person can love with perfection. BUT – God is not a person.
UNLIKE – our love His love never (not even at any time) fails.
YOU SEE – His love is radically different than ours.
OUR LOVE – often depends on the receiver of our love…
I MEAN – think about it, if a hundred people were to pass before us, we would not feel the same way about each one.
INSTEAD OUR LOVE – will vary depending on their appearance, their personalities, our relationship with them…etc
AND EVEN WHEN – we find a few people out there that we like our love for them still varies – it is not always constant.
HOW - they treat us often determines how we love them…
YES – with us, love depends on the receiver… ON – the person at the other end of our attempts to love.
NOT SO – with God.
UNDERSTAND – you and I have no thermostatic impact on His love. THE FATHER’S LOVE – does not shift like the changing seasons… IT – is the same today, yesterday and forever. WHY? Because the source of God’s love is from within Himself… NOT – in what he finds in us.
HIS LOVE is – unconditional, uncaused and spontaneous.
QUESTION…
DOES HE – love us because of our goodness? Because of our kindness? Because of our great faith. NO – He loves us because of His goodness, kindness and his great faithfulness.
JOHN – says it like this, This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us. (1 John 4:10)
QUESTION…
DOES – this thought comfort you?
• That the abundance of your love does not increase his.
• That the lack of your love doesn’t diminish His?
• That your goodness does not make his love deeper and your sin and failure does not make it weaker.
UNDERSTAND – what Moses said to Israel – God says to us:
The LORD did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations (because you were ‘all that’), for you were the smallest of all nations! 8 Rather, it was simply that the LORD loves you, - Dt 7:7,8
MGCC – God loves you simply because he has chosen to…
HE – loves you when you don’t feel lovely.
HE – loves you when no one else loves you.
OTHERS – may abandon you, ignore you, but God will love you always. No matter what.
I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. – Jeremiah 31:3
SOME - of you are so thirsty for this type of love. Those who should have loved you didn’t. Those who could have loved you didn’t.
AND - you were left with this question; “Does anybody love me?”
PLEASE – hear heaven’s answer…
God loves you. Personally. Powerfully. Passionately.
Others have promised and failed. But God has promised and succeeded.
He loves you with a love that is unfailing, everlasting, unquenchable, unstoppable and unconditional.
Believe it - Accept it - Embrace it - Celebrate it
AND LET IT – both define and motivate your life.
God’s love for you never fails…
AND LISTEN – if we immerse/soak ourselves in it, His love will never fail to change us…
YOU SEE - we cannot live in the Father’s without being changed. LISTEN – the more deeply we experience His love, the more fully we will live that love out… it will just flow out of us
(Sponge in water illustration)
May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love… And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. - Eph 3:17-19
God’s love never fails…
NEXT…
Our Love Never Fails
NOW – I know what some of you are thinking…
“Steve, God’s love never fails… yeah, I have no problem buying that one… BUT – my love never failing, no way – I am not seeing it? BUT – please stick with me … because the concept of ‘our love’ never failing may have more truth to it, then we realize…
OKAY – here is the process that I went through as I wrestled with ‘HOW’ those 3 words could possibly apply to me.
• First – they have to be true because God said them
• Second – Paul simply says, ‘love never fails…’ Note – that he doesn’t say, God’s love never fails… again he just says love never fails…
• Third – I looked at the word love in verse 8 within the context of the incredible portrait Paul paints of love in 1 Corinthians 13.
A love that is… patient, kind, humble, respectful, not easily angered…etc.
AND – when I did this, I began to see how the statement our love never fails actually could be true…
YOU SEE – when I love the 1 Cor 13 way, those 3 words ‘love never fails’ start to make sense…
SURE – I may fail to love like that, but love never fails!
AND PEOPLE – may not always respond the right way, even when I do love like this but listen love still has not failed.
WHY?
BECAUSE – whenever I strive to live out God’s kind of love…
#1 - love never fails to change me (regardless of the response I get from other people)
#2 – love never fails to accomplish it’s primary purpose, showing the world that I really am His disciple.
A new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
– John 13:35
MGCC…
Love – Does Not But Does, All Things, Never,
IV. Love Is Not… Self Seeking
UNDERSTAND – I saved this for very last because unless…
• You get over yourself
• I get over myself
• We get over ourselves
Our living out God’s kind of love will never really get off the ground.
Jesus concluded the sermon on the mount with a parable about how the wiseman builds his house on a rock, on a firm foundation.
There is no firmer foundation to build your live on then living out God’s kind of love.
