1 Corinthians 13

Love

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love.

[this is a long one]

understanding our faith is hard. but understanding a simple foundation can bring it all into perspective and assist us in the day-to-day. i have a mathematical mind (ref. the song by spoon, “mathematical mind”). i tend to look at things in formulas and do a lot of cross-referencing. we know that God is our Creator. but where did He go? is He still here? how does He work now? puppetry?

GOD
read genesis 1

in the beginning, there was God. nothing else. God spoke (ruah = breath/wind) and there was. there was no building or putting together. he simply spoke…and there was. God’s words/breath has the ability to create, change and influence. when God breathed into man, his words came alive in [us]. therefore, our lives are full of the potential to create, change and influence because God’s very nature lives within us. great. so how do i do that? street corner evangelism? feed the hungry? i’m small…what can i do?

LOVE
read 1 john 4:7-8
read 1 corinthians 13:4-7
read genesis 1

1 john says that “God is Love.” not, “God is loving,” or “God is lovely. “GOD IS LOVE.”

GOD = LOVE.

they are the same thing. God is Love. Love is God. so…if God is Love, and we are created in the image of God…

1 corinthians gives us a definition…a picture, if you will, of love.

Love is…
patient
kind
not envious
not proud (or on parade)
not rude
not self-seeking (it IS self-LESS)
not easily angered (not provoked)

Love does not think evil thoughts, nor does it rejoice in them, but it rejoices in truth. Love BEARS ALL things, BELIEVES ALL things, HOPES ALL things and ENDURES ALL things. Love never fails. so what we have here is not a definition of some abstract feeling. it’s not just a cliche scripture set aside for weddings, though that’s what it seems like sometimes. it’s a description of the very God that we were created in the image of. God is Love, we are created in the image of God, therefore, we are THE IMAGE OF LOVE.

JESUS
read mark 12:28-34

Jesus tells us exactly what to do: Love God, Love others. He is the One that did that perfectly. He was the image of Love…the image of God. wholly. easy right.

here’s our problem: TRUST.

do you [i] trust God? do you [i] trust Love? or is it just a good idea? love sounds good in theory…but does it work? Jesus was proof that living a life composed completely of Love is the best possible way to live. He proved that Love never fails. He knew that. He believed that. He trusted that.

do you?

we are the image of love. and when we embrace that image…that lifestyle that Jesus showed us…when we trust God [Love], we have the power to create, change and influence.

LOVE WINS.

now go listen to “needle & thread” by sleeping at last.

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