1cor13

Chapter 13 is a continuation of the ending of chapter 12. In chapter 12 Paul introduced the subject of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and there position in the church individually and corporately for the edification and good of the church. At the closing of chapter 12 Paul said it was okay for them to desire the more prominent of the gifts given by the Spirit as long as they all worked together for the good of the church. But there was one gift that was more valuable than all others. And everyone could receive this gift. The gift he was speaking of is the topic of this chapter--Love. Some versions use the word charity in place of love; we will use the word love. We will see in this chapter that Paul expresses the gift of love being above the gift of speaking in tongues, above the power of discernment, above faith, and helps, it is above all gifts and we will see that without love none of the gifts are of value!

Paul begins this chapter saying that even though he speaks with all the tongues, which are upon earth in the voice of an angel it means nothing if he does not have love! If we do not have the love of God in us it makes no difference of the sounds that come from our mouth they will all sound like clamorous banging and hollow sounding brass. Paul first speaks of love saying that without it all other gifts are useless because all the gifts are to be for the edification and glorification of God and God is love! Love is for us to express to God and to men! Gifts used only for personal edification are empty and worthless! And Paul goes on in verse two saying though I have the gift of prophecy with understanding of great mysteries and I have knowledge of divine things and human wisdom, and even have faith outstanding without love I am nothing! Verse three continues saying if I search after glory by offering up all I have to the poor and even offer up my own body what does it bring to me if I do not have love? Without love there is no profit. Paul does not use the word profit to mean financial gain or glory but instead means that there is no true satisfaction and no glory to God because it was done without love.

Beginning with verse four and going to the first part of verse eight Paul gives a detailed description of Love's characteristics. We must make sure we define between love and lust. In our society today we often confuse lust with love. Lust is directed towards self and never shows anything for others. Love is directed towards others! The type of love that God gives us is an outward type of love that is unselfish. This type of love expects nothing in return. Lust though expects everything in return. God loves us even if we do not return His love. His love is unconditional. God's love is a love that goes against our normal thoughts. We always want something in return for what we give. To have the type of love that God wants us to have we must get close to Him. To get close to God we must become more like Christ! Father, help me to become more like Christ. Give me the character of Christ so I may walk in the unselfish unconditional love that You desire me to walk in! Paul says that love:

·         Is patient--to be patient you must express endurance--long suffering--not tiring or becoming frustrated quickly--having patience is intently listening while another bears their heart to you. Having patience is crying with them, laughing with them, and just spending time with them with no care of time--your time is their time!
·       Is kind not jealous--this means love never hurts and love never attempts to destroy or ridicule. Love never shows jealousy--love never wants more than the other, love never wants something that belongs to another!
·       Is not boastful or haughty--love does not brag up its self nor does it think it is better than another!
·       Is not rude or obnoxious--love does not brag or act indecently!
·       Is not self-seeking--love does not desire to only please self but instead desires to please others before self!
·       Is not provoked or subject to evil--love cannot be quenched by frustration, aggravation, or irritation. Love cannot be tempted or made to come about by force! Love does not stop when things go wrong!
·       Does not express joy when evil is shown and rejoices over the truth and that which is right. The fullness of unrighteousness is Satan and the fullness of righteousness is God!
·       Rejoices in the truth of God and abhors the unrighteousness of Satan!
·       Bears all things and this is not just a small thing for it covers all things--contains all things, holds in all things--to cover as a blanket over and to shelter and protect!
·       Believes all things--means that love looks at all things openly, willingly, and wanting to know the truth! Love has hope--in other words love wants to share and give value to all things.
·       Endures all things--means love has an infinite amount of patience!
·       Faileth not--this is a very strong statement and actually concludes verse seven but has been put as the beginning to verse eight so we will address it in two parts. Love never failing is an all-encompassing statement and is Godlike! God never fails, never leaves, never forsakes, never gives up, never turns His back on us, and love is God so love never fails!

Paul says in the balance of verse eight that none of the gifts are life--they are for the operation and working of God's church. The gifts come to an end or can come to an end but God's love never comes to an end! Love is eternal! Only love will last forever and God is love. In Heaven the gifts will no longer be needed but love will remain! Living by love gives us a taste of heaven! Verses nine to 10 tell us that love never ends and when Christ comes again the gifts of the Spirit will no longer be needed for Christ will make all things complete and love will rule and all strength will come from Christ! Paul says in verse 11 that we must grow in Christ! To grow in Christ and become mature Believers means that love must become most important to us! We must put away the less important things and focus on the more important thing--love!

Paul concludes this chapter by saying that one day we will know it all! Right now we know part of the story, we know how it is supposed to end, we know the truth, but have yet seen the truth face to face, we see only glimpses of the truth but one day soon it will be a glorious moment when Christ returns for His bride! But until that day there abides in us and for us three things--faith, hope, and love--and love is the greatest! Love should be an unselfish expression to others. It is the evidence of your care and is God's desire for all to love without want of return! Faith is the recipient of all God's blessings and gives credibility to the Spiritual things and things that have not yet happened. Hope reaps the results of faith and love interweaves all things of faith and hope and shares it with others and self! Love is the greatest gift because LOVE IS GOD!

Father, help me to love as You! Give me strength and boldness to trust and believe with Your mind not mine! Father, I know that of all the gifts given by the Spirit the greatest is Love and I want more of it poured out upon me right now and every moment of every day so that I can love unconditionally in Jesus name Amen!

Where Jesus is Lord!
Living Vine Ministries
Pastor Thomas Miles

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