Love is one of those very human emotions that can ebb and flow according to how we feel on a certain day. If we have a good day, we might be more loving. If we have a bad day, the love is a little hard to produce. There is a scripture in 1 Corinthians 13 that speaks a lot about love, God's love. We use it in the marriage vows to hopefully prompt a response of true love between two people committing their lives to be one. We must never forget that the love Paul is writing about is the "love of God." It is a God-produced love because GOD IS LOVE! The very essence of love is found in God.
When counseling young couples about to get married, it is very important for them to both be believers because if they are unequally yoked, their marriage will have a tough time lasting. We cannot love like God until we have God in control of our lives, and the control is made possible through a life-changing faith in Jesus Christ. Then, the love characteristics of God are made possible by receiving His love. The scriptures in 1 Corinthians are as follows: 1 Corinthians 13: If I speak with the tongues of mankind and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.3 And if I give away all my possessions to charity, and if I surrender my body so that I may glory, but do not have love, it does me no good.
Our very existence as believers is founded on God's love, and when God says not to judge, we don't judge because we have God's love. If God's love says, "live for Him." We live for Him. We have too many Christians going around not showing God's love because they have not looked to God to realize that love. What happens from that is we shoot our wounded in churches, and we don't have a burden for those who are lost in their sin. So, our gut reactions rule out what kind of love we are going to show. We have no other option but to show the love God has given to us. Here are some of the characteristics of the love God shows to us.
1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient; love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. 5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, six it does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. If you want a great way to be an effective witness for Jesus, then have the above ingredients in your life salad. The above list of what true love is should be a priority for all of us who call Jesus Savior and Lord. We are just clanging cymbals without them. Here is the list in order: Love is patient, kind, not jealous, does not brag, is not arrogant, doesn't act disgracefully, doesn't seek its own benefit, isn't easily provoked, doesn't keep a record of wrongs, doesn't rejoice in unrighteousness and rejoices with the truth. Love keeps every confidence, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Here is the result of showing God's love. 1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of [c]prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with. 9 For we know in part and prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with.
What do we do with this love instruction? We live it as the Holy Spirit leads us. For those who think we don't really have to be filled with the Holy Spirit, guess what? You cannot even begin to show or live this love. It is not possible with human effort, so don't even try without the power of the Holy Spirit enabling you because you will fail and you are probably already failing. The power of God to move in marriages is when two spirit-filled man and wife believers commit their lives to walk together. The love to keep that marriage strong and lasting is possible because the Holy Spirit holds that union together and even grows it.
There are some necessary ingredients we need in our lives, but love is the main ingredient, and what Paul says about the priorities of our lives readily shows that love is not only possible but vital in our personal lives, our churches, and our marriages because it permeates all relationships. Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12, For now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, and love remain these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Over the next fews days I will write to each one of the characteristics of this love of God and expand how it impacts our lives and our world. Tomorrow I will speak to the subject of what we speak and how that impacts our lives, so tune in and pray for me as I expose this very important scripture. I only want to be led by the Holy Spirit as I write, and that has always been my priority. The Things We Do For Love is found in the Word of God and not just a title to a seventies song by the group 10cc.
Vesselogical Out,
David Warren
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