Love is (1 Cor. 13)
Illustration: (Dressing with old clothes on the inside, but nice clothes on the outside.) There was once a church that was having a guest speaker. This speaker was well known throughout the Christian community, yet was virtually unknown to this particular congregation, except by reputation. The town was a buzz with anticipation of this great speaker coming to the area. On the day of his appearance, the town was out in droves to that church to hear him. On the way to church that morning, right near the entrance to the church parking lot was a man in shabby clothes, reeking a foul smell, looking very unkempt, very disheveled, smelling of alcohol, and passed out. A fall down drunken bum lying down at the gates to the church on this day of all days, what will that guest speaker think of us? Well you could image the conversation of these people especially when they passed this drunk on their way in. Matter of fact some of them actually stepped over this man on their way into the church parking lot. Well the church pews were packed, the congregation eagerly awaited the arrival of this important guest speaker. While they were waiting for him, they decided to start the worship service with singing. Oh the beautiful songs that came from that building that morning. When it came time for the guest speaker to come forward a loud gasp came from the throng gathered there that morning. For as it came time for the guest speaker to come forward, in walked that fall down drunken bum they passed at the gate. For that drunken bum was the guest speaker that morning. He spoke on this topic. Love is.
Paul tells us about love in 1 Cor. 13:1ff
1CO 13:1 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. 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 have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, 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. 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 perfection comes, the imperfect 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 childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor 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. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Love is The Greatest of all the gifts. Whether they are tongues, prophecy, healing, interpretation, it is the greatest of Faith and Hope. Why? Because all of these will end! 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 perfection comes, the imperfect 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 childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor 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. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
The Apostolic gifts have come to an end, faith and hope still remain, but they too will end. Faith is believing in things unseen, there is coming a day when we will see him face to face. Hope is longing for things to come, it is the expectation of a favorable outcome/future under God’s direction. There is coming a time when we will no longer have to hope, for the end will do away with hope. But LOVE remains, because for those who are in Christ, we will be before the throne of God, praising him, basking in His love, and responding in love to Him and for Him. It is the greatest of all the gifts because it will have no end. However, we can choose not to love.
Truth minus Love= Legalism. The Pharisees had a version of the truth. They had the Law. Yes the Law was incomplete, but the Pharisees used the law without love. Paul tells us if we have the truth and not have love, we have nothing. 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. 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 have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess
to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Truth minus Love= Judgment. When we stand on the Truth without love we will find ourselves judging everything. Matthew 7:1-2 says; "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Would we want God to judge us they way we judge others? Would we want God to judge us by that same standard we use in judging others? When we have Truth minus Love we are judging on a standard without mercy. If God judged us without Mercy we are DEAD. When we have legalism, we have judgment without mercy. We are then what Jesus describes in Matthew 7:3 and following
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, `Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Where there is Truth but not love, there is not God. 1 John 4:8 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. We say we love God, yet judge our brother, we are in error and the Love of God is not in us. And in the words of Paul; we have nothing!
However Love minus Truth is Liberalism.
We can have love, acceptance, and tolerance, but without truth we have liberalism. This is love without any rules. It is to say “that’s ok, God Loves anyway.” But that is not the truth. Yes God loves us the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way. Love without Truth is a distortion of Love and Truth. We read in Acts 20:30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
Love without Truth is godlessness. Look at Romans 1:18-27
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Just as God will judge Truth minus Love, so will He judge Love minus Truth. And in that Judgment it will be found guilty.
But Love plus Truth= Christianity.
Love is
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, 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. 8 Love never fails.
Yet where there is Truth and Love, there is God. 1 John 4:16-21
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Although Truth and Love are great aspects singularly, they are the greatest when they are coupled together.
PROOF POSITIVE
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." – John 13:34-35 (NLT)
If we had to guess what the last instructions Jesus would give to His disciples might be, we would probably imagine Him saying something like, “Keep your doctrine pure” or “Your faith must be unmovable” or something along those lines. Not that these things would not be important, but they are not what was on Jesus’ mind.
Instead Jesus calls His disciples to be examples of love. Right doctrine and strong faith are meaningless if they are not accompanied by an unshakable love for our brothers and sisters. You can know all the right theology and speak as smoothly as an experienced orator, yet if you are lacking in love, your words and actions will have no impact on the world around you.
“Love for one another,” Jesus said, “will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” According to our Lord, love is the key to Christian living and evangelism. Who is it that you need to love today? What can you do to overcome those times when you do not feel like loving? Do you have the right doctrine? Do you have strong faith? How about love?
PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord, teach me to love others with the same love that You have shown to me.
