1 Corinthians 12:31 –13:13 Text
Introduction
First of all I want to start out with a bit of a clarification. Last week I said that a human body that is not fully functioning loses some of its effectiveness. I did not mean to imply that disabled people are less effective. Delphine asked me about this when we got home (notice she followed the proper biblical method of asking her husband at home). She correctly pointed out that God used some people because of their disability – in other words the disability made them more effective (example Fannie Crosby, hymnist who is blind). I totally agree – a disability can be a gift from God. I have a friend who is physically disabled and must use a wheelchair. He believes his disability is a gift because it allows to better show how Christian joy is not related to our circumstances. Last week I only mentioned disabled people as an analogy for a church that was missing gifts because people didn't use them. If God gives someone eyes, but they can't see because they never open them they lose some of their effectiveness. A church is less effective when some of its members do not use the gifts/talents/abilities that God has given them to minister. I just wanted to clear that up.
Last week we talked about gifts from God. Gifts are talents, attributes, or abilities that God gives you. They can be physical or spiritual. Paul's main point was that every gift is from God and to be used for His glory. God gives different gifts to different people but they are all part of God's plan for advancing His kingdom. We do not get to choose what gifts we are given but we are responsible to develop and use the gifts once we have them.
Today we will learn about the three greatest gifts. These are the gold standard of gifts from God. Best of all, I believe we can all have them because Paul instructs us to desire them (12:31). I don't think God would urge us to desire something that He isn't going to make available to us. The three greatest gifts are faith, hope, and love with love being the greatest (13:13).
Love is the greatest gifts and it is the main topic of today's passage so it will be the main topic of today's sermon. Paul calls love the most excellent way (12:31) because love is what makes the church stand apart from the world. Love is what brings us closer to holiness (Romans 8:29).
Love
We'll start off by asking a few questions: who, why, how, and what. Who should you love? The Bible tells us we should love our friends, our family, other Christians, and even our enemies. That pretty much covers everyone. So therefore, we should love everyone.
Why should you love everyone? Simple, God commands it (Lev. 19:18, Mt 19:19). Love is an act of obedience which in turn brings God glory and then earns us rewards in heaven. Not loving is therefore a sin which separates us from God and brings discipline. On the other hand, practicing love brings us closer to the goal of being like Christ (Romans 8:29).
How should you love? Love must be done holistically – with all your being. First of all, physically, and I'm not referring to sexually though that is a part of a loving marriage relationship. We can show love by physical acts such as helping, cooking, or other forms of service. Since the church is the body of Christ, this is the place where Christ reaches out and touches someone. We must love materially, where we give of our resources to help others.
1 John 3:17 “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?”
We must love spiritually, by using the spiritual gifts God has given us to help others grow. Finally, we must love sacrificially. If love is painless, if it never costs us anything, it really isn't love. We love as God loves us. His love had a cost and so will ours.
1 John 3:16 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”
So what is love? Obviously love is not some warm fuzzy feeling. That is romance, or a crush. True love is a decision. It is a commitment you make by choice! You decide to love someone, not because of who they are or what they do but because of who God is and what He had done. Loving someone they way Christians are called to do it is more of a commitment to God than to the recipient of your love. Loving others is an act of worship to God.
Love cannot be described easily. It has many faces or aspects. It is made up of many parts. Paul gives a list of some of the aspects, patience, kindness, etc. ..., though I don't think his list is exhaustive. None of these is love by themselves but together they make up love. This is how God loves us and we should follow the example He gives us. There is a lot of overlap in the list. Not everything mentioned is completely distinct from everything else. Time will not allow us to discuss everything listed today. Nor we will be able to get into much depth or detail. Perhaps sometime we can do a series of Bible studies on Wednesday nights on this topic and cover it more fully. However, we will look at some of the items and see what they might look like if we put them into practice in our daily lives. With each aspect I will start off with a kind of promise that I will make to you and you should make to others. Then I will briefly discuss what living out that promise will entail.
Patient: I will wait until God is finished with you. I will stand by you during the process. I will not be apathetic or passive but will actively help (including rebuking) with the process as God leads me. I will not reject you as a person but I may reject some of your actions or attitudes.
People are messy. They are usually complex with various moods and attitudes. Being patient means holding on to the relationship no matter what happens. It might be necessary to put some distance between you and that person for a while. At extreme times one might even need to sever a relationship – God promises to do that at times as well (hell is the ultimate severing of a relationship between God and man). However, the vast majority of the time God is calling us to stick by people as He (God) sticks by us despite our failings and even willful disobedience at times.
Patience does not mean tolerance, at least not the way people use the word today. God sets a standard of behavior and that is the same standard we should hold ourselves and others accountable to. At the same time, we must realize that we, and everyone else, will fall short of that standard most of the time. We love them despite their failings while still striving to encourage them to never give up reaching for God.
Not easily angered: (This aspect is similar to “patient”). Since you are a work in progress I will resist the devil's temptation to become angry with you. I might be angry at sin, including a poor attitude on your part, but I will not let your sin cause me to sin.
Anger is a tool of the devil. There is such a thing as holy anger, but this anger is always directed at sin. We must be careful to not be angry at people because anger causes us to do and say things that are mean, hurtful, and cause division.
Matthew 5:22 “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment...”
To overcome the temptation to be angry at a person, turn your attention to God. Get you focus off the person and onto that person's Creator. Pray for them and ask God to guide you in how to love them during this painful time (if your angry it probably means you've been hurt).
Does not envy: I will be content with what God gives me. I will resist the temptation to want what you have. I will resist the temptation to believe I deserve anything other than what God gives me.
Envy is one of the devil's schemes to get your heart centered on yourself. It is easy to look at others who have things and believe they are not worthy of them You might think that you deserve them more than they do. Remember that God has promised to provide everything you need. In addition, He will bless you with more than you deserve. If God has chosen not to give you something then trust Him that this thing is not good for you, at least not at this time.
Rejoice with the person that you love when they receive a blessing from God. If the thing they have is not a blessing from God, then why would you want it anyway? Thank God for what He has provided each of you.
Humble (not proud or boasting): I will realize my true status, that I am a sinner saved by grace and that anything good in me or anything good that I do comes directly from God.
Pride comes from believing that you are better than someone else. Boasting is the method we use to tell people how much better we are. Pride and boasting almost always cause division in a relationship. Love and humility cause cohesion. If you find yourself thinking that you are better than someone because you are more talented or more successful, just remember, your talent and success came from God. God has given you everything that you have that is good. Therefore, boast about God but never about yourself. Your patience and encouragement may be God's plan to help this person grow into their full potential in Christ.
Not self-seeking: I will seek your good, not my own. I will be willing to sacrifice myself for your benefit.
Love is never about using people and always about serving. Anytime you desire to benefit yourself at the expense of someone else you can be certain that it is a demonic temptation. Love can often be mutually beneficial and I don't think it is wrong to acknowledge the benefit you might get from serving someone but the motivation should be their good, not your own.
Sometimes you will have to sacrifice yourself for the other person's benefit. Be prepared to do so without keep an account of it. Others have sacrificed themselves for you – pass it on. Don't expect to get anything back from the person you sacrificed for. Just encourage them to pass it on.
Keeps no record of wrong: I will choose not to dwell on or expect restitution for any sins you have committed against me. I am ready to forgive when you repent.
You have heard the saying, 'forgive and forget.” This is not that saying. This is forgiving which is the cancelling of any debt the person might owe you. We are called to do so.
Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Actually forgiveness requires repentance. You can't actually forgive someone until they repent. You must be ready to forgive them when they do repent and you may never hold them accountable for some sort of payment for the sin.
Forgetting is a whole other matter. It takes either a mental illness or divine intervention to be able to forget a sin committed against you. Don't bother trying. Just give the matter to God and let Him deal with it. However, do not actively try to keep a record of sins committed against you. You should not be able to rattle off a list of sins that a person has done at the drop of a hat. If you can do so then you are keeping a record of wrong and it will almost certainly destroy any hope your relationship has.
Always protects: I will do everything in my power to make sure nothing hurts you.
We should protect the ones we love from physical harm, material need, and spiritual attack. Once again, let God guide you. We can't always protect people from danger. Sometimes God wants to teach them through hardship or even through spiritual warfare. We must always be there for them though. Never abandon them because the situation is dangerous or uncomfortable.
Protection may include physical intervention. I am not a pacifist (a wimp, yes, pacifist, no) so I do acknowledge that physical protection may include actual fighting in rare circumstances. Protection may include the transfer of resources, financial or otherwise. In the church protection often means getting prayerfully involved which may very well open you up to spiritual attack yourself. In any case. Protection means one or more members of the body standing with another member who is in danger of some sort. Pray that God will give you the courage to do so when the need arises.
Always trusts: I will trust God.
Trusting the person may not be such a wise idea but always trust God. As in everything, let God guide you in the relationship. There may be times when it is wiser to be wary. That is not a lack of faith. Christians are called to put themselves at risk when God tells them to, not in every situation. Sometimes risk is just plain foolishness. Trust that when God calls you to take risk that He has a plan to work it for good.
Always hopes: I will believe that all of God's promises will come true.
Real hope is the certainty that God will keep His promises. To have real hope you need to know what God's promises are (shameless plug: read the Bible regularly!). Once you know what God has promised, believe that these promises will come true. No one is without hope. No matter how discouraging, or discouraged, a person may be God has a promise for them. Find the promise and pray for it to be realized in their life.
Without God, people truly are hopeless. With God, all things are possible. Don't let the present circumstances steal your hope for the relationship or the person. Believe in God and His power to change lives.
Always perseveres: I will not give up just because the going is not easy or convenient
Love is almost always painful. It is usually time consuming and inefficient. Love is a huge investment in the most unpredictable of commodities –people. Yet true love never gives up. Ok, at some point God does give up.
Romans 1:28 “... since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind...”
I suppose when that happens we can go ahead and give up to. Until you are sure that has happened though, keep on persevering in love. Be patient and hopeful. Love takes a lifetime.
Childish versus Mature thinking
To love in the way that God has called us to love requires a new mindset. We must renew our minds in Christ.
Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is –His good, pleasing, and perfect will.”
Paul compares our old way of thinking to that of a child (verse 11). Children are by nature selfish. They think about what is good for themselves and are rarely willing to sacrifice for others. Considering others feelings, sharing, and sacrificing are things that must be taught. We too must be taught by the Holy Spirit how to see things from God's perspective which Paul likens to mature thinking.
As Christians we must be growing in our spiritual lives. We must be becoming conformed to Christ's image. Lack of change means lack of growth which is stagnation which leads to death. That is why it is important for us to regularly examine ourselves to see where our lives are going. The closer we grow toward God the more He will reveal to us and the more we can see from His perspective (verse 12).
As we mature spiritually, we will view things from a Godly point of view, and act accordingly. True love requires a mature person. It is something we grow into. As we are growing, keep loving and you will see your love grow before your eyes.
Greater Gifts
Paul commanded us to eagerly desire the greater gifts (12:31). The three greatest gifts from God are ...
Faith: ability to trust God when there is no obvious reason to trust
Hope: the certainty that God's promises will come true
Love: commitment to others so that you can be a faithful ambassador of Christ
Verse eight tells us that love never fails. This is absolutely true. The purpose of any gift from God is to strengthen, equip, edify, and unify the church. Love will always do this! Love is literally heaven on earth. It is God's kingdom manifested in our lives. That is why it is the one gift that will last forever. Other gifts will eventually not be needed when Jesus returns (10) but love still will be because it is the essence of life in God's kingdom.
Conclusion
Always seek God first
God is love and if we are seeking Him then we will become like Him (conform to the image of Christ)
Love is hard work
Love will always succeed in advancing God's kingdom
True love requires spiritual maturity so we must grow into it.DDE_LINK