INTRODUCTION
SLIDE 1 TITLE SLIDE
- Back in the day Tina Turner put out a song entitled, What’s Love Got to Do with it.
- Love has everything to do with everything.
- Today, we will begin a new series entitled Love Better.
- The thought for this series came from a book by the same title that a friend, Arron Chambers, wrote.
- Our series will center on 1 Corinthians 13, which has come to be known as the love chapter.
- We use the first part of the chapter during wedding ceremonies as we talk about what love is supposed to be like.
- I see way too many marriage relationships, sometimes in my life, along with too many Christians, in which the love chapter has been simply forgotten words on a page.
- In our series, I pray we will tune in and see what God’s Word tells us about how to love better.
- The focus in our journey to better understand love and, in turn, love better begins with the concept of patience.
- Patience is an essential attribute of love, as we explore the practical application through Jesus' interaction with the woman at the well in John 4.
- Application: By understanding how patience plays a critical role in relationships, especially during challenging times, we can learn to exercise love more effectively in our interactions with others.
Big Idea: The big idea communicated is that true love, as defined in Scripture, is patient and transformative, enabling us to connect deeply with others and model Christ's companionship and understanding.
- Let’s turn to our core passage for today.
1 Corinthians 13:1–4 NET 2nd ed.
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit.
4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up.
SERMON
SLIDE #2 MAIN POINT #1
I. Patience: The anchor of love.
- Patience is essential for developing stronger relationships with others.
- The first thing Paul mentions to the church at Corinth about love is that “love is patient.”
- When you think of the concept of love, patience is the anchor of love.
- The Greek word we translate patience translates to “long passion.”
- It means doing everything possible to avoid an outburst of passionate anger.
- It also conveys refusing to retaliate with anger, even when suffering.
- To put it more concisely, patience means that love has a long fuse.
- If we want to love better, we must learn the art of patience.
- In the first three verses of the chapter, Paul talks about possessing great gifts and making tremendous sacrifices, but if we do not have love, neither of those things mean much of anything.
- Patience is part of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.
- God is patient with us.
- Several verses highlight God’s patience, even in the face of wrongdoing.
- This divine patience is meant to lead people to repentance and salvation.
- When you dig into the other things that love is in 1 Corinthians 13, when you think about it, without patience, being kind, not taking into account a wrong suffered, just to name a few, is all but impossible without patience.
- In our society, and the church seems at times to be no different, we are so easily angered and offended.
- We tend to lack the patience to consider what may be happening in the lives of others that may have led to their poor behavior.
- Folks, CHRISTIAN love has a long fuse.
- The fact is that people around us will hurt us, sometimes on purpose, but most of the time without malice.
- Being patient, especially when suffering for doing good, is pleasing to God.
- Additionally, God’s patience provides people with the time to be saved.
- Satan uses the art of hurry to help trap us into not being patient with others.
- My friend Shan Wood stated this thought concerning busyness.
- “Satan doesn’t show up as a demon with a pitchfork...Today, you’re far more likely to run into the enemy in the form of an alert on your phone while you’re reading your Bible...Both sin and busyness have the exact same effect—they cut off your connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul.”
- Love necessitates time, which means having patience.
- When in a hurry, impatience can lead to saying and doing things that are regretted, which can harm relationships.
- Being constantly hurried and impatient is not suitable for one’s spiritual health.
- Busyness can lead to a lack of self-control, which can lead to toxic anger and destroy attempts to love better.
- Seeing people and their challenges can lead to increased patience.
- One of the ways we can love better is to listen better.
- Listening with tolerance and compassion enables people to love better.
- Let’s move to John 4 and see how Jesus demonstrates loving better through patience.
John 4:7–9 NET 2nd ed.
7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.”
8 (For his disciples had gone off into the town to buy supplies.)
9 So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you—a Jew—ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water to drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.)
SLIDE #3 MAIN POINT 2
II. Jesus: Modeling love through patience.
- Jesus is tired, and the group is low on food, so Jesus sends the disciples to town to get some much-needed food.
- When you are tired and hungry, being patient and engaging with someone you do not know can be challenging.
- When this Samaritan woman comes to the well where Jesus rests, Jesus strikes up a conversation.
- Jesus could be reacted to her in many ways, He could have ignored her looked down on her because she as a woman and to make it worse, a Samaritan at that.
- Jesus caught the woman by surprise.
- Jesus modeled love through patience first by listening with tolerance.
SLIDE #4 Tolerance.
1. Jesus listened with tolerance.
- Tolerance is defined as allowing someone to exist in one’s presence.
- Jesus acknowledged that this person, who was not equal to His status, was before Him.
a. Overcoming differences.
- Jesus did not allow their differences to turn Him off to her.
- Jesus was willing to break social norms.
- Men did not talk to women like this.
- Jews hated Samaritans!
- Jesus, being a Jew, engaged in conversation with a Samaritan woman, which was unconventional since “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”
- Jesus didn’t ignore this woman! He listened to her.
- We will love better if we listen with tolerance.
b. Initiating Conversation.
- Jesus started the conversation.
- Think about someone who loves everything you hate.
- Would you be able even to tolerate them in your presence?
- When was the last time you had a real conversation with someone from a totally different background than you?
- We will love better if we listen with tolerance.
- Look at verses 10-15 with me.
John 4:10–15 NET 2nd ed.
10 Jesus answered her, “If you had known the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said to him, “you have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do you get this living water?
12 Surely you’re not greater than our ancestor Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock.”
13 Jesus replied, “Everyone who drinks some of this water will be thirsty again.
14 But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
SLIDE #5 Compassion
2. Jesus listened with compassion.
- Jesus cared about her thirst.
- More importantly, He compassionately prepared her for a refreshing gulp of living water.
- Jesus engaged her to learn about her and for her to learn about herself and Jesus eventually!
a. Jesus met where she was.
- Jesus knew who she was and what she had done in her life, yet He was willing to meet her where she was.
- Jesus did not try to change her on the spot; He did not ridicule her for who she was.
b. Jesus was patient with her ignorance.
- Jesus was also patient with her initial lack of understanding.
- He was not speaking of the physical water but rather something more profound.
- I love my friends Andrew and Mike.
- I love how when I ask questions, they do not show that they think I am dumb, they explain to me so I can understand.
c. Jesus used a metaphor she could connect with.
- Jesus wanted to teach this woman about Himself and what He could offer her, so He used the metaphor of the living water to pique her interest.
- The woman came to the well to draw water to quench her physical thirst.
- Jesus offered her “living water”. He cared more for her spiritual thirst and compassionately prepared her for a refreshing gulp of living water.
d. Jesus allowed her to process what He shared with her.
- Jesus had the patience to give her the time to process what He offered her.
- Look at verses 16-18 with me.
John 4:16–18 NET 2nd ed.
16 He said to her, “Go call your husband and come back here.”
17 The woman replied, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “Right you are when you said, ‘I have no husband,’
18 for you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband. This you said truthfully!”
SLIDE #6 LISTENED WITH GRACE.
3. Jesus listened with grace.
- Jesus showed grace by not condemning her for her past.
- Even though she admitted to having multiple husbands and currently living with a man she was not married to, Jesus did not become angry.
- Listening with grace is essential.
a. Knowing her past and present
- Jesus knew her past and present and did not write her off because of it.
- Instead, he loved her, which led many Samaritans to believe in him because of her testimony.
- Jesus offered her forgiveness.
SLIDE #7 MAIN POINT 3
III. The payoff for patience.
- In this story, we see a payoff for being patient.
- If you give patience a shot, you will see a payoff also.
- Here are a few payoffs.
1. The woman’s view of Jesus changed.
John 4:19 NET 2nd ed.
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet.
- We detect a shift in Tone.
- Initially, the Samaritan woman’s tone towards Jesus was casual, as if He was “Just a Jew.”
- However, upon realizing Jesus’s insight into her life, she began to show Him respect.
2. Self-Revelation
- Jesus was able to reveal Himself to her.
John 4:26 NET 2nd ed.
26 Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”
- Jesus revealed Himself to her!
3. Motivation
- The woman was motivated by Jesus.
John 4:28 NET 2nd ed.
28 Then the woman left her water jar, went off into the town and said to the people,
- Once she realized and believed who Jesus was, she forgot all about the water because she wanted the living water Jesus offered her.
4. Acceptance by others.
- Others accepted and came to Jesus because of her.
John 4:39 NET 2nd ed.
39 Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the report of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I ever did.”
John 4:42 NET 2nd ed.
42 They said to the woman, “No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this one really is the Savior of the world.”
- That is what it is all about!
- Without patience, we cannot express love.
CONCLUSION
- Patience is the anchor of love.
- Patience is not just about waiting but is an active expression of love that builds relationships and reflects Christ’s character in our lives.
- Patience is a reflection of Christ’s love and grace toward us.
- In His dealings with humanity, Jesus exemplifies perfect patience, as seen in His conversation with the Samaritan woman, inviting all to experience His love regardless of their past.
Big Idea: The big idea communicated is that true love, as defined in Scripture, is patient and transformative, enabling us to connect deeply with others and model Christ’s companionship and understanding.
