1 Corinthians 13
True Love
1 John 4:16
“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
John 15:13
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Galatians 5:24 “And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”
WHAT IS LOVE?
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.”
*Notice the comma between “charity suffereth long, and is kind”
LOVE COMES WITH PAIN
The Story of Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjSio8jur2Y
In order to love, you must be well acquainted with suffering; however, that’s not all. You must also be able to love through your suffering.
John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Jesus set the ultimate example...
Luke 23:24 “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.”
1 John 4:16 “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
Life without love is empty because it is the absence of God.
From the beginning, God fashioned us after his image and gave us his breath.
Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
Genesis 2:7 “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
We were made in love, without love we are without the very thing that gave us life.
HOW DO WE LOVE?
Go back to:
John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Love is not only defined by a physical sacrifice...
Read John 15:12-17 in context...
“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another.”
Love is a complete sacrifice of self
Galatians 5:24 “And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”
If WHO YOU ARE is rooted and grounded in Christ, it is ultimately rooted and grounded in love. If WHO YOU ARE is grounded in love, then WHY YOU ARE is because of love and to love.
Living in the image of God is not following a set of rules, we look at the rich young ruler and we know that following a set of rules doesn’t cut it. Where your treasure is, that’s where your heart will be...and God looks at the heart.
When he looks at your heart will it reflect him? Will he see love?
James 1:27 “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”
Love came before life itself and yet we get so caught up in our routines and the day to day that we forget what IS most important, whether you admit it or not and that is LOVE. We get so caught up in everything that we forget GOD.
We forget how to live. We forget the breath in our lungs insists that we walk in the footsteps of our creator. We forget that it insists we love.
FUN FACT:
The heart doesn’t just pump blood, the heart pumps oxygen throughout the body. So when the Bible says where your treasure is, that’s where your heart will be...it means that the breath God has given us through love is the fuel for our heart.
The Love of God is literally what keeps us alive.
Love is the beginning and the end. When asked WHY? Let your reason be LOVE.
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