The Value Of Love

Building Lasting Values

“The Value of Love”

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a

Audio File: https://mega.nz/#!jJV1WC5J!pIpqOFPke7Kd3v3OJ7HE7QLC0WMWmAmxSTXn_XNK25U

In our series on building our lives on values that will last, the value of love might be the most valuable of them all.

Turn to 1 Corinthians 13

How valuable is love. Consider the following verse from 1 Corinthians 13:13

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV)

Consider the value of faith. The Bible says that without faith we’ll never be able to please God (Hebrews 11:6). And as far as hope goes, it is said that a person can live about forty days without food, three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only a single second without hope.

And yet, as valuable as faith and hope are, love trumps them both in God’s eyes.

Here is a rhetorical question. If you had just been shipwrecked and were floating on the ocean with your friend in a rubber raft and all you had were a set of flares, enough food for a week, 5 gallons of water, and you can’t make it to land without throwing one thing overboard. What do you throw overboard? If your first thought was your friend, then I’m really glad you’re here this morning, because this a message for you.

A lawyer, an expert in the Law of Moses, asked Jesus, “which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Basically he was asking Jesus what is the singular most important thing in life in the eyes of God.

Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 23:37-39 NKJV)

I think it is safe to say that love is the most important value we could be looking at.

Once again, the Apostle Paul makes this same conclusion.

“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14 NKJV)

Love is then the number one value that we need to build our lives upon. Paul was quoting Jesus’s answer that loving one’s neighbor as ourselves is the summation of the whole law of God, and that loving one’s neighbor is just like the first of loving God with the whole of our being, that is, loving one’s neighbor is the physical representation of showing our love for God.

Love then is the value God values most. Yet love is the one value that we struggle with the most. In a lot of marriages often times love goes from exciting to exhausting to expiring if we’re not careful.

So, HOW to we build this value of loving God and others that will last? Well, the first thing we have to do is to look at what love is.

Love is one of the most misunderstood words there is. We can say we love our spouse, and then say the same thing about pepperoni pizza. Now, I hope that we know there’s a difference between the two, and while both might give us heartburn, they’re not the same.

Our problem is that in the English language there is no way to tell the difference. We use love for a lot of different things. Betty wrote the following love letter to Ben

“Dearest Ben, No words could ever express the great unhappiness I felt since breaking our engagement. Please say that you’ll take me back. No one could ever take your place in my heart, so please forgive me. I love you, Betty - P.S. Congratulations on winning the state lottery”

Something seems to be missing in the translation, not to mention the meaning.

There are many popular misconceptions about love. Many of them come through Hollywood. There are a lot of stories about love, but fail miserably at describing real love. Take for instance, “Love Story.” Ali Mcgraw’s character said, “Love never has to say it’s sorry.” Oh, Please, love is all about seeking and giving forgiveness.

Hollywood has romanticized, plasticized, and sanitized what love really is. As children we grow up thinking that we’re either Snow White or Prince Charming. Many girls grow up thinking that they’re going to marry Prince Charming, only to end up with Grumpy.

So, I think it’s safe to say that people suffer from some Misconceptions about love.

One misconception is that Love is a Feeling. We see love as an emotional and sentimental feeling, but it is actually much more than that. It goes much deeper.

Another misconception is that Love is Uncontrollable. We say that when somebody’s in love their head is spinning, they’re giddy, or weak in the knees. Sounds more like they’re seasick than in love! We say people in love do the craziest things, like this is a good thing. We also say people fall in love, where love is kind of like walking down the street and falling into a ditch. The problem with falling in love is that you can fall right back out of it.