Love is ¡KPart 2
Thesis: Love needs to be defined in light of what the Bible says love is. Love really is only defined in light of the statement ¡§God is Love!¡¨ If you do not start with God then you cannot know or experience love in your life.
Opening Illustration from Step Mom:
Scene were the dad explains to the children what happened to his and their mothers love for one another. He misrepresents what Love really is. But this scene shows that the world does not know what true love is.
Belknap notes: Luke explains to his children why he and their mom got a divorce. He sugarcoats the issue by saying that they still love each other, but it¡¦s a different king of love. Naturally, the children don¡¦t understand and want him to get back together with their mom. He adds Children often hear the lamest excuses and get a warped sense of what love should be. God¡¦s love, however, never wavers and never leaves.¡¨
God¡¦s love for us always remains the same and never changes. We find that the world especially Hollywood desires to re-write the definition of love. Why? Because then they will not feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit for their role-modeling of deceptive meanings of love to the society we live in. Truth is if we define love God¡¦s way and Biblically then we discover that you can not fall out of love. Love is clearly defined in 1 Corinthians as patient, persevering, not self seeking and so on.
Let us re-look at what true Biblical love as defined in our Scripture text.
Scripture Text:
I Cor. 13:1-13 (NIV)
1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If 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. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love 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. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When 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. 12Now 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.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
I Cor. 13 - The Message:
THE WAY OF LOVE
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don¡¦t love, I¡¦m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God¡¦s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, ¡§Jump,¡¨ and it jumps, but I don¡¦t love, I¡¦m nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don¡¦t love, I¡¦ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I¡¦m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn¡¦t want what it doesn¡¦t have.
Love doesn¡¦t strut,
Doesn¡¦t have a swelled head,
Doesn¡¦t force itself on others,
Isn¡¦t always ¡§me first,¡¨
Doesn¡¦t fly off the handle,
Doesn¡¦t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn¡¦t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
When I was an infant at my mother¡¦s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
We don¡¦t yet see things clearly. We¡¦re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won¡¦t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We¡¦ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
Secondary texts on Love:
1 John 4:7-11:
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice forƒnour sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Proverbs 21:2:
All a man¡¦s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.
Introduction:
Love, oh that magic word full of promise and bliss. Love the goal of every person in the world. We all want to experience and be recipients of love. We find talk shows dedicated to love. We find books written in honor of love. We find TV shows dealing with the search for love. We find movies written for the purpose of the discovery of love. Love has been called the many splendid thing. Love has been deemed the greatest thing in the world.
But love has also been miss-defined, misdiagnosed, misrepresented, misunderstood, and totally missed by many in America and the world today. They have what they call is ¡§love¡¨ but their love does not align with what the Bible calls love. They have tried to re-write the meaning of love in our society. They have tried to redefine its importance and its intention. Why? They want to ease their consciences and justify their sins.
I wish we had several definitions for love like the Greeks did. They defined love three different ways.
1, Agape ¡V God¡¦s perfect love demonstrated by John 3:16
2. Phileo ¡V natural love- Based on the thought if you love me I will love you.
3. Eros ¡V Sexual love
All three describe a different dimension of love. But the truth is you can never attain true love without starting with the right base. The right base to begin the definition of love and the integration of love in your life starts with God. The Bible makes it crystal clear that ¡§God is love¡¨ 1 John 4:16. Therefore if God is not at the root of your life you will never be able to achieve love¡¦s supremacy in your life. Because 1 John 4: 7 says ¡§Love comes from God!¡¨ So before I say anything else remember this ¡§Love is GOD- because God is love!¡¨ So with that truth in mind let us start defining love in light of this revelatory truth today. So for true love to appear and be in your life you must understand it all goes back to a personal relationship with the Lord God almighty.
Love is only defined and experienced in light of the truth that ¡§God is Love!¡¨ Without this as our base we cannot love. So we must start with a love relationship with the Lord. This relationship is formed and put into action when we openly confess with our heart and mouth that we love the Lord and want to live and serve Him with our lives. 1 John 4:7, 8: Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Illustration: A certain farmer had an unusual weathervane on his barn. Inscribed on the arrow were these words: "God is love." A passerby turned in at the gate and asked the farmer, "What do you mean by that? Do you think God’s love is changeable; that it veers about as that arrow turns in the winds?" "Oh, no," replied the farmer, "I mean that whichever way the wind blows, God is still love." (Preachers Illustrations)
Some have wondered if it is really possible to be in love with God.
Is it really possible to be in love with God? Gloria gather answers this question for us by noting:
His Love ... Reaching
Right from the beginning God¡¦s love has reached, and from the beginning man has refused to understand. But love went on reaching, offering itself.
Love offered the eternal ... we wanted the immediate.
Love offered deep joy ... we wanted the thrills.
Love offered freedom ...we wanted license.
Love offered communion with God Himself ... we wanted to worship at the shrine of our own minds.
Love offered peace ... we wanted approval for our wars
Even yet, love went on reaching. And still today, after two thousand years, patiently, lovingly, Christ is reaching out to us today. Right through the chaos of our world, through the confusion of our minds. He is reaching ... longing to share with us ... the very being of God.
His love still is longing, His love still is reaching, right past the shackles of my mind.
And the Word of the Father became Mary¡¦s little Son. And His love reached all the way to where I was! --Gloria Gaither
T.S. - Love is rooted and grounded in God and Love is defined 1 Corinthians as the most supreme way to live our lives.
I. Love is defined by 1 Corinthians 13 as the supreme most excellent way and out text clearly defines what it looks like and acts like. (Lets pick up were I left off last week in 1 Cor. 13:4.
1. Love is? ¡V ¡§Love is not puffed up!¡¨
a. Love does not have an over swelled head full of itself. I preached a sermon a while back called ¡§Puffy Heads go Poof!¡¨
i. If you recall I blew up a balloon until it exploded.
b. When pride takes over in a person¡¦s head their head puffs up and eventually their head goes poof!
i. Proverbs 16:18 tells us, "Pride goes before destruction a haughty spirit before a fall."
ii. Isaiah 2:11,12 tells us, "The eyes of the arrogant man will be brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. The Lord almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled).
c. Pride is what hurts us in our relationships - in church, in families, (at work, at school), with friends.
d. Pride makes us stubborn - I’m right, she’s wrong - (I know all more about this than they do-they need to listen to me!).
e. Pride stops us from forgiving "I was right she needs to apologize to me not visa versa!
f. Pride makes us put up false fronts "I’m not letting anyone else know my sins and weaknesses" ("I don’t have any problems only those kind of people do! My life is perfect! I don’t make mistakes! )
g. Pride creates walls of pretension. Pride makes us think we are better or know more than the other. We become proud of what we do, read (or achieve)- (Thoughts from Kapetyn).
h. Pride has nothing to do with love and as a matter fact it is an enemy of love.
i. Remember Satan¡¦s whole demise came from a prideful heart.
1. He was blameless until wickedness set in which was this thing called pride.
ii. Isaiah describes his wickedness.
1. * Isaiah 14:12-15: How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.
2. Bottom line PRIDE was what caused Satan to lose love in his life.
a. ¡§A proud man has no God!¡¨ ¡Vaccording to Benjamin Whichcote.
b. The result of Satan’s pride led him to be driven from heaven and to lose love in his life
c. The same truth will happen to those who allow pride to ruin their relationships with others.
T.S. ¡V Pride is an enemy of love and it is never a part of love and rudeness is also never a part of love.
2. Love is? ¡V ¡§Love does not behave rudely.¡¨
a. In other words love does not force its way on to others.
i. Rape is not love!
b. Love is not crude or rough.
c. Love does not act barbarous or ignorant toward others.
d. Love does not act in rough, harsh, violent ways.
e. Love does not tear others down.
f. Love does not call others vile names.
i. The wicked practice of swearing, which is so common as to offend the ear in every restaurant and hotel, and which can be heard in almost every motion picture and television show is often mere bravado. Many men in Hollywood today think it sounds manly to be profane, and men think it gives force and character to their sayings. Unlike most other vices, it is done openly, and is intended by the one swearing for other people’s ears. It is really a public sin against God, and a public insult to all goodness in purity in our society.
1. Story: The boldest blasphemers are often the greatest cowards. A tale is told of a preacher, who told a man with a profane mouth, that he would give him fifty dollars, if he would go into the village cemetery at midnight, and alone with God, repeat the same profanities that he used earlier in the day in public. "Agreed," said the swearer, "an easy way to make fifty bucks." "Well," said the preacher, "come tomorrow, and say you have done it, and you shall have the money." Midnight came. It was a night of great darkness. As he entered the cemetery, not a sound was heard; all was still as death. The gentleman’s words came to his mind. "Alone with God!" rang in his ears. He did not dare to utter an oath, but fled from the place, crying, "God be merciful to me a sinner!"
2. Today we are bombarded with profanity over the air waves. The FCC has recently been revisiting this issue because of the out right profanity occurring on the air.
a. We see in shows like Howard Stearn.
b. We see it in most movies and some TV shows today.
c. We here it in secular rap songs of today.
d. The sad thing many references to swearing are associated with relationships with others.
3. But the Bible makes it clear Love is not rude!
T.S. ¡V We discover once again that the world does not know what love is because of their rudeness in reference to it, but we also learn from out text that love is never self-centered.
3. Love is? ¡V ¡§It is not self-seeking¡¨
a. Love does not focus on itself.
i. It knows that it¡¦s not all about me but it¡¦s about Him.
ii. Once again our society as a whole really thinks love is all about them being happy and getting what they want out of a relationship.
iii. So it for some time they don¡¦t get what they want out of a relationship then they break it off and find another. This is not love it is selfishness.
b. We also see selfishness in relationships today when one or the other always thinks they are right.
i. One marriage quote by some men is ¡§I married Miss Right. I just didn¡¦t know her first name was Always.¡¨
ii. Most of us have a fleshly urge to be right.
1. This is illustrated by a story I heard of a minister who left his pulpit to go to medical school and become a doctor. An old friend saw him several year¡¦s later and expressed surprise at his career change, but remarked that he assumed it had been for compassionate reasons. "Not at all," the doctor responded, "The reasons were purely economic. I discovered that people will pay more money to care for their bodies than for their souls." Several years lapsed before the friend saw him again and discovered that he had left medicine for law. "What was your reason this time?" the friend asked. "Simple economics again," replied the ex-minister, ex-doctor attorney. "I discovered that people will pay more to prove they are right than to care for either body or soul."--Stan Mooneyhan, Dancing on the Straight and Narrow Harper and Row, 1991
c. Love is never self-centered. It always looks out for others and seeks ways to serve them.
i. I see many defining love today in the context of self-centeredness. They say things like this ¡§As long as you do what I want then I will continue loving you, but if you don¡¦t then you are out of here.¡¨
ii. Truth is this is not true Biblical love. This is self-centeredness!
d. Story to illustrate this point: One night two friends were camping out in the deep woods on a warm summer’s night. Suddenly, their sleep was abruptly interrupted by a large furry visitor. A huge black bear began to tear through their camp, crushing supplies, throwing backpacks, and scaring the two men half to death. Thinking quickly, one of the men began to lace up his sneakers for a quick getaway. "You will never outrun that bear!" his friend yelled. To this he replied, "I don’t have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you!"
i. Jesus taught us to put others first. His very actions and dealings with the beggars, the lepers, and thieves showed that He had compassionate love for the down and out. So the next time you have trouble with your brother remember the following, "The world measures a man’s greatness by the number who serve him. Heaven’s yardstick measures a man by the number who are served by him."
T.S. ¡V We have learned that love is not self-centered according to our text and then it tells us that love is not easily angered.
4. Love is? ¡V ¡§It is not easily angered.¡¨
a. The truth is being a lover reduces anger in a person¡¦s life.
i. People who are in love fight less because love is in control.
ii. Love does not get angry day after day after day it forgives and loves.
iii. It does not fly off the handle over meaningless issues.
1. Quote: "I am determined to permit no man to narrow or degrade my soul by making me hate him." --Booker T. Washington
b. "We must not forget," says Hickman, "to make our prayers to God, that He who gives wisdom liberally ¡Kwould teach us the wisdom of governing our passions, and by the aid of His Holy Spirit give us the victory over them; that he would create in us a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within us, and sanctify us throughout. When an unruly passion is subdued and a bad temper corrected, we have as it were obtained a new nature; and this is to be born anew, or of God. For these depend upon God by daily prayer. And all our vigilance and pains with ourselves, and our earnest entreaties at the throne of grace, we must particularly apply against ’the sin which doth so easily beset us " (Heb. 12:1).
c. "I have heard of a married couple," says Matthew Henry, "who were both passionate naturally, but who lived very happily together, by simply observing this rule: never to be both angry at the same time."
d. It is said of Julius Caesar, that, when provoked, he used to repeat the whole Roman alphabet before he suffered himself to speak.
e. Dr. Les Carter states this about anger:
i. When people describe their struggle with anger, they often assume that they have no choice in the way it is expressed. They insinuate that anger is a mysterious, uncontrollable reaction. Some suggest that they have a chemical imbalance and as a result are unable to contain their impulses¡Kbut this is stretching the truth¡KWhen people refuse to take full responsibility for how they direct anger, they negate a most essential ingredient involved in emotional management. They overlook internal focus¡¨ (43, 44).
ii. He also states, ¡§Aggressively angry people are so consumed with their self-preservation needs that they cannot or will not factor in the needs of the others involved. An old Jewish proverb states that ¡¥An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in aggression¡¨ (23).
iii. Dr. Carter who wrote The Anger Workbook and The Anger Trap tells us that anger is one of the primary forces destroying marriages and relationships today. It sabotages a person¡¦s life and happiness.
1. He noted that many people have fallen into the anger trap because they have learned faulty coping mechanisms in life usually from not being taught proper anger management techniques.
2. He states this, ¡§When I talk with individuals who routinely struggle with anger, I predictably discover a historical pattern that I call trained incompetence. These people were not given the tools to handle emotional ups and downs; patterns were put into place that virtually ensured that the wrong reaction becomes entrenched ¡§(45).
3. He talks about hearing the following excuses for peoples outbursts of anger:
a. ¡§That¡¦s just the way I am!¡¨
b. ¡§Look, this is the way I¡¦ve been all my life, so you¡¦re just going to have to get used to it.¡¨
4. He notes, ¡§Yet the implied logic leads to the conclusion that some people, by virtue of inborn temperament, can be excused from handling anger appropriately because anger is simply going to happen. This is surely represents poor reasoning¡¨ (43).
5. He tells us that anger can be managed but we must first must accept the fact that anger is our choice and we can choose another path if we want to work on it and correct it.
a. He gives three hints to starting to manage your anger:
i. Focus on the meaning of your anger at the moment you experience it.
ii. Determine how the feelings of anger fit within your overall life goals.
iii. Put your competent choices into play, even if it does not feel natural.
iv. I add, pray and ask the Lord to help you to manage your anger ¡V the Love way.
v. Remember the Bible says, ¡§Be angry and sin not!¡¨ Anger can be managed Biblically.
iv. I have had to endure and fight this struggle with anger and the Lord is helping me to totally over come it by the renewing of my mind. For me he has done this in the following way over the last 26 years.
1. He first had me research everything I could find on Love in the Bible to understand that love is the key to managing my anger.
a. I started this soon after becoming a Christian.
2. He has helped me to accept the fact that I choose to be angry!
a. Others do not make me angry I allow them to make me angry.
i. Truth is it¡¦s my choice!
b. He has driven into my heart that with His help I can choose to not be angry.
3. That the best way to defeat anger is to recognize it will never solve the problem.
a. It will only make things worse.
b. It only compounds the problems.
i. Reference times when my anger has caused more problems for my life.
4. The Lord has also taught me that I must see that my heart and relationship with love is the key to breaking this generational cycle in my family and in my life.
a. Love is the greatest force in the universe and it has the power to defeat anger.
5. The Lord has insisted that I must learn to choose forgiveness rather than anger as a response to a situation.
a. Carter notes that forgiveness is:
i. Dropping the demand for repayment, particularly when efforts have been made to seek restitution and conciliatory response
ii. Refraining from insulting the wrongdoer, even if the negative sentiment feels justified.
iii. Letting go of the illusion that you can control the wrongdoer¡¦s choices.
iv. Choosing to give higher priority to traits like kindness and calmness.
v. Ceasing obsession about why the wrongdoer acts as he or she does.
vi. Letting God be the final judge regarding another person¡¦s misdeeds. (Anger Trap, page 148).
6. The Lord has also shown me that I must determine in my heart to let love be supreme. It must be the dominating force in my life.
a. Dr. Carter taught me that Love is more desirable than anger and I must believe this and live by this truth.
i. He states: You must determine if love can become more prominent than anger. Most people recognize that it is easy to love when all the right ingredients are in place, but the true test of love comes when the conditions do not meet the ideal standards. Many angry people balk at the idea of trading in their angry responses for more loving alternatives, as if they are being required to act like a Milquetoast weakling. Such a response indicates a grand misunderstanding of the nature of love. Primary among the qualities of love are such traits as patience, kindness, and lack of arrogance. To love means that goodness is prioritized, as is self-restraint. None of these traits is indicative of weakness. They all show inner resolve.
b. I add they show strength! They show the strongest force in the world is Love.
i. Love decides to be stronger than criticism and rebuke and to bring healing to a relationship rather than destruction to it.
ii. Love seeks to battle against what is natural and so the super natural force of Love will drive back anger.
T.S. ¡V Love controls the rage of anger and teaches us that the supreme way to deal with the injustices of the world and from other is to keep no record of wrongs.
5. Loves is? ¡V ¡§It keeps no record of wrongs.¡¨
a. Matthew 6: 14,15 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
b. One of President Abraham Lincoln’s associates scolded him rather severely for being soft on his enemies. "Why do you insist on trying to make friends of them?" he chided. "You should be trying to destroy them." To which Lincoln replied gently, "Am I not destroying my enemies when I make them my friends?" In speaking of those who were his enemies during the Civil War, Lincoln is reported to have said, "Insane as it may seem, I hold malice toward none of them. I have neither the time nor the energy in this life to hold that kind of resentment."
c. It does not keep a list of the personal mistakes of others and then continually reads them off to the un-forgiven.
d. Quotes on forgiveness (Following quotes from Heaven Word, Illustrations for Preachers):
i. Following the Civil War, Robert E. Lee was visiting in Kentucky where one lady showed him the remains of what had been an enormous, old tree. This tree stood directly in front of her house. She bitterly cried to General Lee of how its limbs and trunk had been shattered by Federal artillery fire. Having poured out her anguish she looked to the old soldier for a condemnation of the North. Following a brief silence, Lee responded, "Cut it down, my dear madam, and forget it."
1. It is better to forgive the injustices of the past than to allow them to take root and add bitterness to your future. Memory is a marvelous thing, particularly when it brings us wisdom or joy; however, forgetfulness is equally marvelous for it allows others to succeed where once failure reigned.
2. Forgiveness does not always mean that we trust the individual. In his weakness this does neither him nor you any favors. Forgiveness is the measure of putting yourself on his side, not seeking revenge but success. It is the opening of opportunity’s doors, to say "try again, I will not shut you out." This requires setting aside or forgetting the emotions which might halt forgiveness.
ii. Clara Barton, Red Cross founder, was asked if she remembered an especially cruel thing done to her years before. When she seemed not to recall it, a friend asked, "Don’t you remember?" "No," said Miss Barton, "I distinctly remember forgetting it." God has forgiven us, is it now time that we forgive others so that we can get on to a bright future. Is some cruelty holding you back? Forgive and Live.
e. Love knows how to forgive and forget!
i. Never does the human soul appear so strong and noble as when it forgoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury.--E.H. Chapin
f. Forgiveness is the toughest work love has to do but it is the most rewarding work there is in the society and we must do it because God says it is the most excellent way to live our lives.
T.S. ¡V Love does not keep a lists of one another¡¦s wrongs but forgives and love also does not delight in evil.
6. Love is? ¡V ¡§Love does not delight in evil!¡¨
a. Let me ask you a question today, ¡§What do you laugh at?¡¨ Is it evil things? Do the things contrary to God¡¦s Word it make you happy?
b. Do you enjoy watching Horror movies?
i. If you do then you need to ask yourself the question do I delight in watching evil?
ii. Truth is if you delight in evil ways then you are eroding in your relationship to the God of love.
iii. The word says abstain from even the appearance of evil.
1. Get away from it don¡¦t play with it, it will burn you and destroy you.
2. Note most people start to play with evil in times of blessing not in tough times.
a. Evil will always destroy the root of love in our lives and we must make sure that we guard our heart from anything that would kill the love in it.
b. Horror movies have nothing to do with God or His love!
c. Do you make evil a part of your week by the type of entertainment you watch?
i. This is not love! Love hates evil! Because love is off God and God will have no part of evil.
1. Reference: The Gays who were out protesting at the Purity day promoted by one organization. They say the purity movement is a bigotry event were people who preach purity are self-righteous bigots. Chuck Knapp referenced this on Friday 2/13/04 KTIS.
a. These individuals rejoice in evil! This is not Love.
b. Gay marriages are not based on the Love according to the Bible it is based and rooted in evil-sin.
c. Romans 1: 18-32: 18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God¡¦s invisible qualities¡Xhis eternal power and divine nature¡Xhave been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21For 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. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator¡Xwho is forever praised. Amen. 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In 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. 28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God¡¦s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
T.S. ¡V Love never has any delight in the ways of evil because evil has to do with destruction instead love delights and rejoices in the truth because this has to do with building others up and setting them free. We will explore next week how love rejoices in the truth of God.
Conclusion:
Sad quote on love by Anais Nin:
¡§Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don¡¦t know how to replenish it¡¦s source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of withering, or tarnishing.¡¨
Love dies in a person¡¦s heart when they allow it to die! When we choose to walk away from Love it starts to wither and dry up. Why? Because it is rooted and nourished when it¡¦s connected to the source of its life. That source is God and God alone!
The truth about love is it is always building others up and not tearing them down. It gives hope to the discouraged ones and strengthens the ones who are weak. It helps the discouraged to rise again to encouragement. It makes life worthwhile and worth living. So therefore we must choose the path of love and be determined to stay on its course for the rest of our lives.
Leo Buscaglia stated, ¡§Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life.¡¨
If we are brave enough to love, strong enough to forgive, generous enough to rejoice in anothers happiness, and wise enough to know there is enough love to go around for us all, then we can achieve a fulfillment that no other living creature will ever know.
--Harold S. Kushner
C. S. Holland writes: "Everything becomes possible to those who love. We shall be enabled to do so much if only we love. We live by loving, and the more we love the more we live; and therefore, when life feels dull and the spirits are low, turn and love God, love your neighbor, and you will be healed of your wound. Love Christ, the dear Master; look at his face, listen to His words, and love will waken and you will do all things through Christ who strengthens you."
