Most of us have a bank account, at least I hope most of us do. But have you ever watched the bank teller to see what they do? Bank tellers have a rather thankless job. All of that monotonous counting, handling those germy dollar bills, and dealing all day with people who are more than likely in a hurry. But of all the skills they need to have, one of them is probably the most important: the ability to identify a counterfeit dollar bill. Bank tellers have to look at a bill and, in a matter of seconds, observe minute details that tell them whether it's real or a forgery.
But did you know that to gain that skill, bank tellers don't go to school to study forgeries. They study the real thing. By thoroughly knowing the details of the original, they can readily pick up on anything that doesn't match it.
Now with that picture in mind let's talk about the love of God. If we are supposed to be people who live in the love of God, we have to know what His love truly is. And since God Himself is love, we have to know His character. But we know counterfeits are out there. Those are the people who may look and sound genuine, but they neither come from nor represent our God who is love. A genuine believer is someone who has been transformed by the love of God and loves as God loves. God takes the real thing seriously - and so should we.
PRAYER
So if we're going to talk about what love looks like, then we need to go to the love chapter of the Bible which is found in 1 Corinthians 13. I have used this passage in probably 90% of the weddings that I have performed.
The apostle Paul wrote this chapter as part of a letter to the Corinthian church. To fully grasp his teaching we have to look at the verse right before chapter 13 begins. Keep in mind, Paul was riding a letter that originally contained no chapters or verses. Inspired by God's Spirit, he was connecting one point to the next in 1 Corinthians 12. Paul wrote about the spiritual gifts and ministries God gives us for the sake of building up the church. He explained how the Holy Spirit gives us diverse gifts and that we need each other just like a body needs all its limbs and organs. We talked about that in detail 2 weeks ago. Then, Paul directed The Corinthian Christians toward what he called “an even better way.”
It might seem like Paul was changing the subject but instead, Paul was connecting his teaching on spiritual gifts with the need for love in all that we do. Love is essential to every aspect of the Christian life. Without love, everything else is empty. If you want to have a significant life, you're not going to find it in your skills, your power, your intellect, or any of the gifts God has given you. In last Sunday’s message I said, “Love is the fulfillment of all of God's laws. It's greater than any spiritual gift you could have.” The only way your life and mine will truly matter is choosing the more excellent way, the way of God's love.
We often hear 1 Corinthians 13 quoted, especially versus 4-7. But in verses 1-3, Paul said it is possible to be theologically right, spiritually gifted, morally immovable, and impressively sacrificial, yet completely miss the point. Look at the actions and spiritual gifts he described in those verses.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 – “If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
He mentions speaking in tongues. This was a supernatural spiritual gift God gave only to some. Still, talking in an unknown language is only empty noise without a spirit of love.
Then he mentions prophecy. The Christian with the gift of prophecy received a message from the Holy Spirit specifically for a church, often confronting them with sin and the urgency of repentance. Yet even this meant nothing if the one speaking lacked love.
Paul then mentions knowledge and understanding the deep things of god. Christians with this gift have deep understanding of God's word, continually digging in depth in study and drawing out how to use it in our lives. Yet, apart from love, their intellect is irrelevant.
He also mentions faith. The one who has faith is certain of God's promises and believes God for the impossible. But they too are nothing without love.
Lastly, he mentions sacrifice. This is the person who gives away everything he owns, even giving up his life for the sake of Christ. Without love, he might as well have kept everything he owned and his life along with it.
I find that I need to be reminded from time to time that my words and my actions should be fueled by love. So, I share that with all of you today. Are your words and actions fueled by love? If not, ask God for help in that area. It will make a difference in how you speak and act toward one another toward your neighbor.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 – “Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, 5 is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. 6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
How can you and I live in love? We need to first recognize and receive God's love for us. You see, God is love. And because Jesus is the image of the invisible God, when we see Jesus, we see God. So, when we see Jesus, we see love. Makes sense, doesn't it?
Have you ever thought about the fact that the Lord is not irritated by you? Do you believe that God will be rude or brash, or that He will be patient and kind when you come to Him repeatedly with the same request? When you stumble again in that familiar sin, do you anticipate that God will be forgiving and gracious, or condemning and distanced? Despite knowing the worst in you, and Jesus does know, Jesus seeks the best for you. He is totally committed to your good and He will be faithful to you no matter what the conflict is, what the challenge is, or what the struggle is. We need, you and I need, to let the love of God sink into our soul.
It's as simple as this, you can't give away what you haven't received. So, we have to receive God's love in order to give it away. and it would be a good idea to spend time meditating on these verses 4-7, focusing on the love that God has given you in Jesus Christ.
The description of love in these verses has nothing to do with emotions or feelings. In fact, these characteristics describe choices we often make despite how we feel. Paul's definition of love is about what we give to others as we see and interact with them, not what we expect to receive. It shifts the center of focus from ourselves to others.
Paul defined love as a commitment to what is good and in the best interest of the other person. This definition of love is a choice, a choice that is all about our character. So, how can you and I live in love? The truth is we can't—at least not on our own. For us to have the love of God, we must first be possessed by the love of God. So, the next time someone looks at you strangely and asks, “ Are you possessed?”, tell them, “Yes, I am possessed by the love of God.” And since we are on the topic of God's love, let's go just one step deeper.
We have talked about loving others several times. Loving others begins with walking in God's love. The love of God is genuine, not like the counterfeits of this world. God chose you and He chooses to love you. If we are going to be people who walk in God's love, we must make a choice, too. At this point, you might expect that choice to be to love others as God has loved you. But we're not there yet.
We have a choice to make even before that one. We have to choose to believe that God loves us. We have to first believe the love that God has for us.
1 John 4:16 – “And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.”
Knowing that God loves us with the love that is described in 1 Corinthians 13 will change everything. Many of us know God loves us, but we don't believe it. Not really. If we did, we wouldn't doubt His goodness when things don't go like we planned. We wouldn't fear that we're being punished through disappointment or suffering. We wouldn't chase after the approval and acceptance of other people to feel worthy or significant. Many don’t believe that God loves us.
On the other hand, when we believe and know by experience that God loves us, then we will love others with the love we have received. To love as God loves begins with walking in the love of God. When we walk in the love of God, it comes from the inside out.
1 Corinthians 13:8-10 – “Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.”
Let's remember the setting of these verses. Paul was writing on spiritual gifts, and here he specifically mentioned again the gifts of prophecies, tongues, and knowledge. These were the highly desired gifts among the Corinthian believers. Yet Paul knew that each of them was only temporary.
One day Jesus will return, calling on believers to come home. When this happens, we will no longer need the spiritual gifts the Lord gave to the church for our current age. Paul stressed the need and the importance of love in practicing them. He was not downplaying the importance of the spiritual gifts, but he was calling us to focus on what matters, and what matters is love. Instead of emphasizing what gift we have, or moaning about the gifts that we don't have, we are to let love infuse whatever we do. Sure, spiritual gifts are important now, but it is love that carries the day - both now and for eternity.
Whatever spiritual gift that you hold in high esteem will go away, but love never ends—it never fails. Right now, we are living in the age between Christ's resurrection and His return. But when Jesus comes back, we will be with Him and be like Him. So, Paul says in verse 10, when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.
1 Corinthians 13:11 – 13 – “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known. 13 Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love.”
Let me see if I can explain what Paul is saying. When Jesus Christ, Who is the perfect One returns, He will restore all of God's perfect creation. That word “perfect” not only carries the idea of flawless quality, but it also carries the idea of completion. Right now, we don't fully see God, but we will then. Right now, we don't know and experience Him fully, but we will then.
When everything else in this world fades away, love will remain. Love is the character of Christ, the Holy and perfect One, and love will be a part of His perfect kingdom. That means that whatever we do in a spirit of Christ-like love—that which has the character of His love - it will endure. It will last forever.
So to reword it, when Jesus returns, God's perfect creation will be fully restored. Paul says that we may be like children now, but one day we will be fully complete and perfect in Christ, and in that day, we will put aside childish things. Since that is where we are headed as followers of Christ, why not embrace the mature mindset now? Why not live with the end result in mind? If we live with the end in mind, and it gives us the wisdom to focus on what truly matters, then quite simply, we start to grow up.
You see, we don't measure our Christian maturity by the breadth of our knowledge, it's the depth of our love. The one who lives in God's love exhibits the character of love and shows himself to be spiritually mature.
The truth is, none of us will be complete until we see the Lord face-to-face. Until that day, we need to grow in God's love. And to do that, we need to know - and be known by - the genuine love of God. It is then that we will be able to truly love our neighbor as Christ commanded us to do. And who is our neighbor, it is everyone.
If you need Jesus Christ in your heart and in your life, please come during our response time and let me pray with you.
