What’s Love Got to Do With It?

I. Introduction

A.  Is it just a secondhand emotion?

B.  Background of 1 Corinthians 13

1.    In the middle of a discussion about the misuse and misunderstanding of miraculous spiritual gifts in Corinth, Paul writes one of the most familiar passages of the Bible.

2.    It is a passage spoken at many a wedding because of the subject matter.

3.    Paul writes about love. But why? What’s love got to do with it?

II.  What Love Has to Do With It

A.  , but (vs. 1-3)

1.    Love is to be our for serving God and one another.

2.    The challenge is that if they were engaging in them for reasons other than their love for God or one another, they were missing the point of the work itself.

a.    In Revelation 2:2-5 Jesus reminds the church at Ephesus that love is key to the work of the church.

b.    The spiritual gifts were meant to build up the body as a whole, not to glorify one person (1 Corinthians 12:7).

B.  A Surprising (vs. 4-7)

1.    Dictionary.com Definition

a.    A strong feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection

b.    A profoundly tender, passionate affection

c.    Active, self-giving concern for the well-being of others

2.    Paul’s Definition

a.    What it is-

                                                          i.     The list includes: patient, kind, rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

                                                        ii.     Love seeks to be charitable and seeks to give the benefit of the doubt.[1]

b.    What it isn’t-

                                                          i.     The list includes: envious, arrogant, rude, insistent in its own way, irritable, resentful, and joyous over wrongdoing.

                                                        ii.     Love does not in a way that places self-serving goals above another’s .

3.    Each of these involves a conscious choice. We decide to express love to one another in these ways.

a.    God to love us, and in turn, we should choose to love one another.

b.    1 John 4:7-12

4.    Perhaps we struggle to truly understand love because we use that word to describe so many things in life.

5.    Love is not just an emotion. Love is a choice to offer to someone what is best for them even when they do not want the same for us.

C.  Up (vs. 8-12)

1.    In another strange turn of events, Paul tells us that there is something more perfect than what they have now.

2.    The main point Paul is making is that all the things the Corinthians care so much about are .

a.    Warden observes, “Love was a central quality of Christianity; by comparison, speaking in tongues, healing, knowledge, and prophecy were only temporary gifts used for teaching about life in Jesus.”[2]

b.    The miraculous gifts were given selectively, but love was available to all.

c.    We often squabble over the smallest of issues while missing the bigger picture. We act like children instead of working together for the common good like adults should.

3.    A good lesson for another time is to explore what Paul means when he talks about the “perfect” coming, but suffice it to say He is making the point that love should be central to their efforts because it outlasts all the miraculous gifts in the world.

4.    Love encourages us to and find a way to what is more important than each individual’s desires.

D.  The  of These (v 13)

1.    Paul reminds them that three things are more important than all the spiritual gifts: faith, hope, and love.

2.    The greatest, he says, is love. Why?

a.    If not motivated by love, our work is just for (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

b.    Love is the essence of Christian (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

c.    Love is (1 Corinthians 13:8-13).

3.    Faith and hope are essential now, but won’t be needed in eternity. In contrast, love will always exist because God is love.

III. Conclusion

A.  What’s love got to do with it? Everything.

1.    It was love that motivated God to send His Son to die for us.

2.    It is love that motivates God to offer us continual grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

3.    It is love that motivates God to watch over and protect His people.

B.  Invitation