The Greatest of These is Love
(1 Cor 13:13 NIV) And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
The Greatest of These is Love from Rick Pina on Vimeo.
We have covered the 20 characteristics of God’s love found in 1 Corinthians 13.
- Paul closed out the 12th chapter with a statement that set the stage for the supremacy of God’s love.
- Paul, after going into such detail about spiritual gifts and the composition of the Body of Christ in chapter 12, closed out the chapter by saying, “But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.”
I felt led to point out this morning that Paul not only led us into this chapter by exalting love, but he closed the chapter the same way.
- Paul concluded that the major facets of Christianity can be summed up into faith, hope, and love.
- Furthermore, Paul made it clear that the greatest of the three is love.
The word greatest in the text means exactly what you think it means.
- Love is superior to any other quality of Christianity.
- Being an usher, singing in the choir, or wearing a clergy collar; means nothing to God if you do not operate in love.
- Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and having pity on the poor; means nothing to God if you are not doing it because of love.
- Preaching on Sunday morning, teaching on Wednesday night, and even knocking on doors on Saturday afternoons; means nothing to God if you are not compelled with love towards those that you are seeking to minister to.
God is love (1 John 4:8) and operating in His love is:
1. The greatest requirement
2. The highest goal
3. The ultimate achievement
1. Check your heart to ensure you are growing in God’s Love.
a. Who are you (really)?
b. Is who you really are close to who God is?
2. Check your motives to ensure that you are doing what you do out of Love.
a. Why do you do what you do?
b. Do you do it because you love God, or because you want to impress people?
What God’s love is #15: Love rejoices when right and truth prevail
(1 Cor 13:6 AMP) It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.
What God’s love is #15: Love rejoices when right and truth prevail from Rick Pina on Vimeo.
Webster’s definition of truth: That which is considered to be the supreme reality and to have the ultimate meaning and value of existence and righteousness, among other things, it is applied to God, the perfection of His nature.
Moreover the Bible states:
- God is a God of truth (Duet 32:4)
- Jesus was full of truth (John 1:14)
- The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 14:17) who guides us into all truth (John 16:13),
- The Word of God is truth (Dan 10:21; John 17:17)
- And God made Jesus to be sin for us so what we might be made righteous (2 Cor 5:21).
I know that was a lot to digest, but the bottom line is that God expects us to be different when we are Born-Again and start walking in His light and His love.
Living in Darkness:
- Before I became a Christian I rejoiced in unrighteousness.
- I remember growing up in Brooklyn and how we hated cops. The police officers were there to establish order, but we rejoiced in disarray.
- We loved to see people fight. If a fight broke out, a crowd quickly gathered.
- We loved to hear arguments. If a couple broke out in an argument in the street, others quickly chimed in and instigated the argument to go further.
- We were not operating in light and truth, we were operating in deception and darkness and we rejoiced in the things that we participated in.
- Paul explained it well when he told us that we were children of disobedience and by nature, children of wrath (Eph 2:2,3).
Living in Light and Love:
1. Be light in the midst of darkness.
2. Be love in the midst of selfishness.
3. Be different… be God’s representative everywhere you go!
What God’s love is #13: Love takes no account of the evil done to it
(1 Cor 13:5 AMP) It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
What God’s love is #13: Love takes no account of the evil done to it from Rick Pina on Vimeo.
King James Version: “thinketh no evil”
Good News Bible: “does not keep a record of wrongs”
Message Bible: “Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others”
Meditation is Powerful: Don’t use it the wrong way.
I remember a series of commercials about College that ran when I was a kid. The message at the end of the commercials was, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”
- Unfortunately, many Christians waste valuable brain power on the wrong things.
- Many nurse and rehearse the wrongs done to them.
The word “meditate” used in Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:3 means more than just to think about; it also connotes muttering.
- It means that we are to not only to constantly think about the Word of God, but also to constantly speak the Word over and over as well.
- There is a level of faith that is activated when we think and speak something (see Romans 10:9,10).
It works the same in the negative:
- If you replay the evil done to you over and over in your mind, you will find yourself talking about it as well.
- Jesus taught us that our mouth will speak out of the overflow of our heart (Mat 12:34).
- So if we consistently think about the wrongs done to us and then begin to speak about them, we are activating a negative force and not a positive one over our lives.
- This is destructive for all parties in involved!
So:
1. Don’t keep good records of bad things.
- Use your time and mental energy in a productive way.
2. Be quick to forgive, so you don’t develop a root of bitterness.
- A root of bitterness will hurt you and the person you should forgive.
3. LET GO, so you can LAY HOLD!
- Far too many believers can’t LAY HOLD of their future, because they refuse to LET GO of their past.
What God’s love is #7: Love is Not Conceited
(1 Cor 13:5 AMP) It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
Conceited: To be conceited is to have or display a sense of overbearing self-worth or self-importance. This is a character trait that can literally cause God’s favor to cease from operating in your life. Peter told us that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). You don’t want to be on the other side of God’s resistance. We see an example of this in 1st Samuel chapter 15. Saul got to the point where he was no longer “little in his own eyes” (1 Samuel 15:17).
What can we learn from Saul’s story?
1. Never forget the God who placed you in the position in the first place.
2. A GOOD thing is not always a GOD thing – if it goes against something God told you.
3. Never place YOUR WILL above God’s!
4. Partial obedience is disobedience.
5. Never get too big in your own mind – don’t believe the hype others say about you!
6. You are who you are by the Grace of God!
What God’s love is #6: Love Does Not Display Itself Haughtily
(1 Cor 13:4 AMP) Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
Haughty: To be condescendingly proud or to believe others to be inferior.
- People who walk in the love of God do not put people down and make them feel inferior.
- Have you ever met a person that seemed to talk down to everyone?
- People who talk down to others often cause bitterness, resentment; and offense.
When you are haughty you:
1. Destroy your witness.
- Far too many believers leave church, only to treat people with disrespect.
- When you look down and mistreat others, you hinder your ability to reach them.
- Jesus said, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Mat 5:16). Instead of allowing light to shine, you are become a conduit for something else.
2. Put yourself on the wrong side of God.
- Jesus said, “Woe unto the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” (Mat 18:7). Never be the one who causes offenses.
- Never be the person who causes offense.
- Haughty people cause harm and not help.
- They lower other’s self-esteem, instead of helping raise it.
- They tear down instead of building up.
- They put down instead of encouraging.
*** When you walk in His love you seek to be a blessing and not a burden.
- You seek to build up and not tear down.
- You seek to walk in peace and not offense.
- You seek to make others feel superior and not inferior.
3. Miss a golden opportunity.
The old adage, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” is simply not true. Words can hurt.
- When you talk down to people you can actually help destroy their dreams!
- Be cognizant today of how you talk to and deal with people.
- When dealing with a Private or a General, a pauper or a President, your subordinate or your superior; always remember to treat them as God would have you to treat them and to be a blessing and not a burden!
(Prov 18:21 KJV) Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
(Prov 15:4 MSG) “Kind words heal and help; cutting words wound and maim.”
What God’s Love is #4: Love is Never Envious
When you operate in the Love of God you:
1. Are thankful (for your gifts and for the gifts of others)
2. Are able to celebrate the diversities of gifts without jealousy
3. Have a healthy Self-Image (not too high or too low)
What God’s Love Is #2: Love is Patient (ONE-SIDED)
Major points I want to make this week:
- God’s love remains the same (always).
- God’s love is ONE-SIDED!
What God’s Love Is #2: Love is Patient (ONE-SIDED) from Rick Pina on Vimeo.
(1 Cor 13:4 AMP) Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
Last week I told you that verses 4 through 8 of 1 Corinthians chapter 13 contain 20 characteristics of love; and we took a look at the first one: love endures long. We learned how the love of God lasts through the ups and downs of life. This week we look at the cousin of enduring long, in the characteristic of patience.
- A while back I taught on “Faith and Patience – the Power Twins!”
- Patience is the ability to remain the same or “the force of consistency.”
- While God’s love is enduring long, it’s must also remain the same while it’s enduring.
- If you complain every step of the way, that’s not the love of God!
God’s love (patient love) is ONE-SIDED!
- Paul said of God and His love, “We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him” (Rom 5:7,8 MSG).
- Even while we ignored, disrespected, and dishonored God; He loved us enough to send His son to die for our sins.
- His love endured long and His love was patient. His love remained the same.
- His love was one-sided.
After coming to God, did God get rid of us when we missed the mark? Did God stop loving us when we failed to love Him? Did He retract His love? Did He change the way He dealt with us? Did He start treating us with a ‘ten foot pole?’ No! God’s love never changes, because His love is one-sided.
So remember:
- God’s love does not require a tit for a tat.
- God’s love empowers you to love others, even when you do not like what they are doing.
- God’s love enables you to look beyond flaws and still love the flawed.
- God’s love equips you with His consistency, even while the object of your love is inconsistent.
- God’s love is one-sided! When you operate in one-sided love, you are able to consistently love others, even while they are living inconsistent lives!
What God’s Love Is #1: Love Endures Long
Major points I want to make this week:
- Pursuing God’s love is greater than pursuing spiritual gifts.
- When you truly love someone you are able to look beyond faults, flaws, and failures and love still them.
What God’s Love Is: #1) Love Endures Long from Rick Pina on Vimeo.
(1 Cor 13:4-8 Amplified Bible) “Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As for prophecy (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth].”
- There are 20 characteristics of God’s love in these 5 verses and we will look at each one.
Characteristic #1: Love endures long
- Simply put, love does not give up easily.
- When you truly love someone you are able to look beyond faults, flaws, and failures and love still them.
- The story of the prodigal son is a good example (see Luke 15:11-31).
- This kid disrespected his father by asking for his inheritance early.
- He then set off for a distant country and wasted the money on fast living.
- After the kid was broke (financially) and broken (in spirit), he decided to come back home and ask his father for a job.
- He knew he had messed up and no longer considered himself a son.
- He was willing to take the position of a hired servant.
- His father, on the other hand, was operating in love. He woke up every day expecting that his son would come home. One day, while the kid was still a good ways off, the father saw him coming and was filled with compassion for him.
- The father was not filled with rage, resentment, or bitterness. This father was filled with a love for his son that “endured long.”
- He did not wait for his son to make it to him, he ran out to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him.
- The son tried to explain that he was willing to be a hired servant, but the father ignored the foolish comments.
- Instead of saying, “I told you so,” the father told his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.”
****God enables you to endure disappointments from and mistakes by the ones that you love.
- When you operate in the love of God you are not quick to hold grudges, nor focus on the bad. You are quick to forgive and to move forward and you don’t live in the past.
- Are you operating in the love of God?
- Does your love endure long, or is it a love that only loves when others do what you like?
Developing in the Love of God
Major points I want to make this week:
1. Love is the Rod that holds everything else in place.
2. Jesus simplified the message of the Bible down to this: Love God and Love others.
3. The Love of God is the foundation for Christian living.
Developing in the Love of God from Rick Pina on Vimeo.
True Love
God loves you so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die in your place…. that’s love!
Worship Element: True Love from Adam Kring on Vimeo.