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 #20: Love Never Fails
What God’s love is #20: Love Never Fails from Rick Pina on Vimeo.
(1Co 13:8 AMP) 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as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth].
If something has been superseded it means that is has been set aside, displaced, replaced, or removed; all because the issue/item has become obsolete, inferior, or antiquated.
- This gives us a better understanding of out text.
- The text connotes that the gifts of prophecy and tongues have had and continue to have their role in the Kingdom of God, but there will come a time where they will become obsolete.
- When Jesus returns (ultimately) or when a believer dies (more directly) the role of prophecy and tongues ceases; but love will continue to operate, because God is love (1stJohn 4:8).
- Love is an eternal requirement so we might as well come to grips with it.
Love will never lose its relevancy, never become outdated, and never be replaced by some “higher” characteristic.
- Most importantly, love will never become inferior to anything else.
- Love is God’s highest calling.
- You can’t get around it, over it, or under it.
So:
1. God requires us to operate in love today and forever.
2. There will be no hatred in heaven, so we might as well prepare ourselves now (in time) for eternity.
3. Create a checklist of these 20 characteristics of love and seek to perfect them in your life.
4. If you want to know if you are growing in Christ, then simply measure whether or not you are growing in love.
What God’s love is #17: Love is ever ready to believe the best
(1Co 13:7 AMP) 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 #17 from Rick Pina on Vimeo.
This is a big one. I have dealt with many people who consistently believe the worst of people. Love is always ready to believe the best, no matter what.
- This does not mean that God wants you to be gullible.
- It does not mean that the person walking in the influence of God’s love is under some type of mystical spell that makes them all naïve;
- that they are prone to believe a falsehood as the truth; or that they do not make the effort to investigate the truth.
- What is means is that a person walking in the love of God is disposed to give the benefit of the doubt to others;
- is ready to put the most positive slant on the information they receive about others;
- and tends to believe that others are acting upon good motives.
- Love produces this type of positive expectation because it rejoices in the happiness and goodness of others and refuses to believe the contrary except on irrefutable evidence.
To put it another way, love has faith in men.
- Love wants to believe that people are good and not evil.
- Love wants to believe the best and not he worst.
- I have met many people that have lost faith in people.
- They have been hurt so many times that they now refuse to allow others to get close to them and they expect the worst out of people.
- These types of people close themselves down towards others and build up walls of resentment, bitterness, and pain.
- Love refuses to allow the actions of a few to influence our actions towards the masses.
So:
1. Don’t allow yourself to expect the worst in people, just because some people did you wrong.
Have people mistreated me? Sure. Have some led me astray? Of course. But those are not grounds for me to taint my opinion of people as a whole. Love empowers us to forgive those that have hurt us in particular and to continue to expect the best out of people in general.
2. Don’t allow the actions of a few to influence your attitude towards the masses.
Have you been hurt in the past? Please don’t allow the hurt caused by a few to cause you to expect the worst of the rest of the world. There are people in this world that are here to bless you and others here for you to bless. If you have the wrong attitude you might miss both opportunities!
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 #12: Love is not Touchy, Fretful, or Resentful
(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 #12: Love is not Touchy, Fretful, or Resentful from Rick Pina on Vimeo.
Touchy: This is a person who tends to take offense for the slightest reason. They are oversensitive.
- This person requires special tact to deal with them.
- Any insignificant event may cause them to fly off the handle.
Have you ever met a person like this? I am sure you have. Walking up to a touchy person is like walking into a mine zone. You may say something like, “I like your shoes. Where did you get them?” And they might reply, “Why do you want to know where I get my shoes? I can’t stand copycats! I am tired of people trying to copy me! Why can’t you just find your own shoes?”
Fretful: This person is inclined to be displeased or troubled. They look for things to go wrong and looking for ways to be upset.
- This person seemingly likes being upset, they are looking for ways to be displeased, and if you are not careful, they will pour their fret into you!
Resentful: This person keeps a persistent ill will towards those who have wronged them.
- Even after an apology has been rendered, a resentful person will harbor ill feelings for a long time.
The Major Point is: When you walk in God’s love you learn to Rule Your Emotions and you don’t allow your Emotions to Rule You!
- Emotional people are touchy, fretful and resentful.
- Emotional people are unstable, unbalanced and insecure.
- Emotional people live their lives like a roller coaster (a continual series of ups and downs).
- Develop in God’s Love and you will be able to live a Strong, Stable, and Secure life!
What God’s Love Is #11: Love is not Self-Seeking
(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].
- To be self-seeking is to be overly concerned with your own interests, desires, or needs.
- Being passionate and determined for personal advancement in and of itself is not a bad thing, but people who are self-seeking are passionate about their personal advancement, even if it comes as the cost of others.
- Self-seeking people are simply selfish. The root word for selfish is “self.”
- These are people that simply put their desires above everyone else’s and neglect others in their pursuit of personal satisfaction. This is definitely not a characteristic of a person who is walking in the love of God.
What God’s love is #11: Love is not Self-Seeking from Rick Pina on Vimeo.
There are many descriptions in the Bible of what God is “like,” but I have only found two declarations of what God literally “is.”
- (1 John 1:5) says “God is light.”
- (1 John 4:8) says “God is love.”
- God is like many things, but it is clear that He literally is both light and love.
- The opposite of light is darkness. There are many scriptures that support the fact that God wants us to “walk in the light” and not the darkness of this world.
- The opposite of love is selfishness. There are many scriptures (today’s text included) that support the fact God does not want us to be selfish.
In closing:
1. Your success should not come at the expense of others.
- You should strive to be your best, you should endeavor to succeed in everything God allows you to do, and you should seek excellence in every area of your life; but you should not do it while neglecting and stepping on/over other people.
2. The Blessing is not limited. Others being successful does not threaten your success.
- The Father wants you to be blessed, but to also bless others along the way.
- God does not want to know how many times you made it up the mountain of success; He wants to know how many people you were able to take with you.
3. Don’t seek self, seek God!
- When pursue God – who is love – success will pursue you. (Mat 6:33)
- You can give without loving, but you cannot truly love without giving.
What God’s Love is #9: Love does not act Unbecomingly
(1Co 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.
What God’s love is #9: Love does not act Unbecomingly from Rick Pina on Vimeo.
Acting unbecomingly: Acting in such a way that is not consistent with who you are (in Christ).
Points to highlight this week:
1. You don’t get to control the way others act, but God expects you to control YOU!
- You don’t even control the actions of those you have authority over.
- The other person makes his or her own decisions, but you get to make yours as well.
2. Dealing with difficult people is not easy. If walking in love were easy, everyone would do it!
- Relationships can be trying at times, buy you must maintain your love walk.
3. When you walk in love you are able to respond instead of react.
- When you react you give the other person control of you and your actions.
4. No matter how difficult the person is to deal with, remember, you have the grace for it!
- If you are facing it, it’s because God trusts you with it.
- When you are weak (in your own strength), you can be made strong (in His).
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 #5: Love is NOT Boastful or Vainglorious
(1Co 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.
*** There is no greater expectation of us from God than that of walking in His love. As we are learning these characteristics of love, we are actually learning how God expects us to live.
We have covered 4 of the 20, here is #5: Love is not Boastful or Vainglorious
Boastful: to speak of one’s self with excessive pride; having an excessively high opinion of oneself.
Vainglory: unwarranted pride in one’s accomplishments or qualities. In today’s vernacular, this is basically being “full of yourself.”
* There is a thin line between confidence and arrogance and even the best of us cross that line from time to time. That’s why we must
Pride is the silent killer in the church.
- You can sing a great song, and people get touched by God, but if you sang it in pride, you’ll miss out on your blessing.
- You can preach a great sermon and people, and people get touched by God, but if you did it in pride, you’ll miss out on your blessing.
- You can fool others, but you can’t fool God. He sees your heart and He knows your pride!
Pride is a characteristic of satan. It’s one of his BIG 3 (1 Jn 2:16):
1) the lust of the flesh
2) the lust of the eyes
3) the pride of life
- Solomon said, “Pride goes before destruction… ” (Proverbs 16:18).
- This is what happened to satan. Pride got him kicked out of heaven.
- Satan said, “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” (Isaiah 14:13,14).
So remember:
1. While it’s not God’s will for you to have a low self-esteem, arrogance is not His will either.
2. You are not a self-made man/woman. You are who you are by the grace of God.
3. When the glory comes, deflect it back to God. You get the benefits, He gets the glory!
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)