Love: The Greatest Thing
Text: 1 Corinthians 13
Core Idea: Love is the greatest thing because it never fails. Then to give this kind of love, let’s soak ourselves in the love of God in Christ. He will make this possible.
INTRODUCTION
I want to welcome all of you but especially our Tugboat and Anchor friends who will be joining us today for the whole service. As a church, we want to be intentional about worshiping together at least once a month to remind ourselves that worship is an event for the entire family of God – not just the adults, but the children and youth as well. Of course, this is not to say that it’s going to be easy – but I firmly believe that, in the long run, this will help all of us (both adults and children) to grow as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. When we learn to do life together, we’ll see that all our struggles were worth it. Today, we’ll be looking at the First Letter to the Corinthians – following the curriculum that the Tugboat ministry is currently going through. This is just a way for us to help our children feel more engaged – preaching from the passage that they may be familiar with. So, with that in mind, please turn your Bible to 1 Corinthians 13. And I will invite Alisia to the front – she will read the passage for us. Afterward, Pastor Cindy will share a message for our children.
1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 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 do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 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. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 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 the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a 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. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Thank you, Alisia, for reading the passage for us. And thank you, Pastor Cindy, for teaching us how we can love even when it’s not so easy to love. Now, this may be one of the most famous passages in the Bible – and that’s because it has been used in many weddings all over the world. The problem is that we’ve become so familiar with this passage and the atmosphere associated with it (that sentimental feeling of the wedding) that we could fail to see that the message Paul gives here was actually very counter-cultural and even confrontational. This message was first given to the church that had a lot of relational conflicts. They were divided over church leaders (Ch. 1), they were split over a certain sin issue (Ch. 5), they were taking each other to court (Ch. 6), they were dishonoring the body of Christ through their sexual immorality (Ch. 7), they were stumbling one another through their actions (Ch. 8), in fact, they had no regard for other believers and did whatever they saw fit (Ch. 9), they were undermining the directions of the leaders – abusing the Lord’s Supper (Ch. 11), they were competing against one another – boasting about their gifts and looking down upon those who were not as gifted as them (Ch. 12), and more. All that to say, this was not a healthy church. They may have been incredibly competent and effective in their ministry, but love was not one of the marks that described this community – which means that Paul’s words here would’ve landed very differently to the believers in Corinth compared to the people attending a wedding. I share this because we need to have the right frame of mind as we look at this passage because I don’t want us to miss anything that Paul teaches here which is incredibly radical and challenging but also life-giving. Then let me share three things from this passage.
· THE EMINENCE OF LOVE
· THE ESSENCE OF LOVE
· THE ETERNALITY OF LOVE
1) THE EMINENCE OF LOVE
Verse 1, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” Here, Paul talks about the amazing ability to speak many languages (that’s what the word “tongue” means in Greek) or even the ability to speak the language of angels (I won’t go into this because that’s not the focus of this passage – we’ll talk about it another time). But he shares that if your heart is not filled with love, you’re like a gong or cymbal that’s just irritatingly loud and repulsive to those around you. Verse 2, “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 do not have love, I am nothing.” Again, Paul shares spiritual qualities that should be admired by the believers – the gift of prophecy (which is the ability to get a revelation from God and speak life into people’s lives and guide them), the knowledge to understand all mysteries (in that, you’ve mastered the Scripture and you’re competent to teach it), and a faith that can move mountains (the kind of faith that inspires and empowers others to attempt radical things for the Lord). Who wouldn’t want these things? And yet Paul says that they amount to absolutely nothing without love – it’s useless. Verse 3, “If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” Here, Paul describes two marks of a mature believer – this radical generosity to the poor and this willingness to suffer for Christ. And yet Paul says that they also mean absolutely nothing – it’s meaningless. What is Paul trying to get at here? That it’s possible to have the appearance of a godly life (of love) with a self-serving heart. Isn’t that scary? It could seem like you’re growing in the faith, empowering ministries, advancing the gospel, honoring the Lord – but God may not be pleased with any of it. In fact, it could even be detestable by God because you’re not doing this out of your love for Him but your love for yourself. God isn’t so beautiful to you as He is useful – in that, He’s just a means to an end. Your devotion has nothing to do with God but everything to do with what He can give you.
In fact, this may be the very reason why Paul used these musical instruments as an example in verse 1. Gongs and cymbals were used in the temples around the city to get the attention of their local gods. Playing these instruments was their way of saying, “Look how passionately we’re worshiping you. Look how devoted we are to you. Look at all that we’re doing for you. Now, listen to our prayers. Help us. Give us what we need – and only if you do this will we continue with our worship.” Do you notice something interesting? The intensity of their devotion to their gods simply exposes the intensity of their love for themselves. In other words, the passion they showed in playing these instruments was ultimately for their own benefit. Then using this concept, Paul was basically saying to the Christians in Corinth and to us, “Even if you have the greatest skills and knowledge, wisdom and faith, generosity and courage, without love, you’re no different from these pagans who worship these false gods. You could just be using God, saying, ‘See how good I am. See what I’m doing for You. See how much I honor You. Then listen to me. Favor me. Answer my prayers.’” Brothers and sisters, just because we’re religiously fervent and gifted on the outside doesn’t mean that we’re spiritually mature and healthy on the inside if we don’t have love.
Now, this reminded me of the question that I wrestled through years ago that went something like this, “What’s more important in pastoral ministry – character or competence?” In fact, let me ask you, “What do you think is more important?” Just so that we’re on the same page, character reflects the consistency of who you are when everyone is looking and when no one is looking while competence addresses the effectiveness and efficiency in using the skills required for your job. At first, I thought that the answer was very clear – character, of course. How can we invite our people to trust us if we’re not growing in godly characters? How can we lead in a way that honors God if there’s no integrity in who we are in public and in private? But someone asked, “What if the pastor was compassionate and loving but really bad at preaching? What if the pastor was humble, honest, and gracious but the quality of his work is always underwhelming?” That made me pause because it was clear that competence was as important as character. Of course, in the end, both are important – but I think one thing we can learn from this passage is that if it comes down to it, character will always outweigh competence. Again, this isn’t to say that competence is not important – as Christians, we should always desire to grow in our skills and talents so that we can offer what is excellent to the God who deserves the best. But at the same time, no matter how competent we may be, if we’re not driven by our love for God and love for others, our efforts would be for nothing. We can know the Bible inside out, serve the church, pray faithfully, worship passionately, fight for the weak and the oppressed, share the gospel with others, and go on mission trips around the world but if we don’t have love, we’ve completely missed the point. Then let me ask you, “Are we tempted to make skills, gifts, and talents more than what it is – to value them even at the cost of character? Are we making excuses for people who lack love because of the ways that they can contribute to the community?” Think of it also this way. “What kind of church do we want to be remembered as – a church that is known for its skills or for its love? A church that leaves the people feeling impressed or the one that leaves the people feeling loved?” Again, we should desire both (a church that is driven by godly character and competent in all that we do) but we must make sure that love is what drives us. May our hearts reflect the way we serve the Lord and His people.
2) THE ESSENCE OF LOVE
If love is the most important thing, what is love? Paul answers it in verses 4-7. But before we talk about all these things in detail, let me just point out one thing that he doesn’t do – he doesn’t describe love in terms of emotions. There’s absolutely no mention of feelings. This is interesting because that’s how many of us describe love. But, here, Paul tells us that love is action – something that we do to honor the ones that we love. But this is not easy for two reasons. First, love is essentially selfless. Think about all the words that Paul uses to describe love – it is completely other-centered. But that’s not us – we all have a sinful nature that prioritizes self which is why we don’t like it when things don’t go our way; we don’t like it when people hurt us. But Paul teaches us that we have to die to ourselves in order to love like this. Second, love makes you vulnerable. When you choose to give yourself to others, you’re essentially opening yourself up to get hurt because they could take advantage of you. C.S. Lewis said it like this, “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket (safe, dark, motionless, airless), it will change. It will not be broken; but it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” All that to say, it’s not easy to love but it’s what we need – it’s what we’re called to do. Then let’s go through these 14 descriptions so that we have a fuller picture of the love that Paul shares. In fact, as I go through them, evaluate to see if this is how you love God and others in your life.
1. Love is patient. This means that we must let go of our expectations and be okay with the fact that people are not perfect. They will disappoint us. They will disagree with us. They will distrust us. But love chooses to commit to them and walk with them in all circumstances instead of letting out our anger at them or despising them.
2. Love is kind. This means that you’re considerate – you’re constantly thinking about their needs and doing everything you can to meet those needs. This is not just passively walking with others but actively lifting the burden off of others.
3. Love does not envy. What is envy? Envy is the desire to have for yourself what rightfully belongs to someone else. Just as a point of reference, jealousy is the desire to keep for yourself what rightfully belongs to you. So, for example, you feel jealous when you think that your friend is hanging out with another person more than you (because you think that he/she is your friend), but you feel envious when you crave for yourself what belongs to your friend (it could be their wealth, status, popularity, and so on). In fact, this is why God can be described as jealous but never envious – the Bible says that God is jealous for us because we continue to offer ourselves to idols when we rightfully belong to Him. All this to say, Paul shares that love does not envy because we’re able to rejoice in someone else’s blessings even when we don’t have them. Love delights in the happiness of others even when we’re going through trials of our own.
4. Love does not boast. Of course, no one does this noticeably – everyone does it subtly. We slightly turn our conversations to make us look better – to draw attention to good things about us and cover over bad things about us. Then when Paul says that love doesn’t boast, it means that we don’t use our blessings to feel superior to others – instead, we use them to bless others.
5. Love is not proud. This means that we choose to let go of our rights. We don’t demand things from people but rather we humble ourselves so that those we love will be lifted up. This reminded me of 1 Corinthians 8 where some people were complaining to Paul about Christians eating meat sacrificed to the idols. They believed that it was a sin to eat food that was once used in the temples. Now, Paul personally didn’t see anything wrong with it because these idols were nothing – to him, food was just food. But knowing that this was a stumbling issue for some, this is what he said in 1 Corinthians 8:13, “If what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.” That’s the kind of love Paul describes here.
6. Love does not dishonor others. This means that we don’t love them to use them but simply to honor them. We don’t see people as just a means to an end – instead, we put their joy and their happiness as the priority of our devotion.
7. Love is not self-seeking. This means that we let go of our desires, preferences, and ambitions for the sake of others. We stop asking, “What can you do for me?” but we begin to say, “What can I do for you?” We don’t walk away because we’re not getting much out of it, but we walk with them because we want to add more to their lives. We do this because we know that we’re here to serve, not to be served.
8. Love is not easily angered. This means that we’re not easily triggered when we don’t get what we desire. Instead, we choose to affirm, encourage, and empower even when they frustrate or disappoint us.
9. Love keeps no record of wrongs. This means that we’re quick to forgive. There’s no doubt that the people we love will hurt us because they’re not perfect. But true love enables us to let go and move on. You might say, “That’s not fair.” It’s true. But if you seek fairness, you’re not pursuing love but justice. J.D. Greear said, “Past wrongs are like spent ammunition – bullets that can’t be fired again.” We don’t use their past sins and mistakes against them because as 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Love covers over a multitude of sins.”
10. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. This means that when we see the people we love sin, we speak the truth in love because we want them to be brought back to the path of holiness. I personally find this really difficult because one of the things that I often struggle with is people-pleasing. I want to be liked – so, even though I may clearly see a sin in their lives, I don’t want to point it out because I’m scared that I might lose them. But Paul reminds me that that is to delight in evil – if I love them, I must draw them back to the truth.
11. Love always protects. The word “protects” in Greek literally means “to keep a secret.” Then true love protects by covering their flaws and weaknesses – instead of exposing them. In fact, we create a safe environment for them to make mistakes and learn so that they’ll grow to become more like Christ.
12. Love always trusts. This means that we offer an unfailing, unconditional commitment to the people we love. Even if they fail us, even if they do things that make us doubt them, we are always for them, not against them.
13. Love always hopes. This means that love never stops believing that they can become the people that God created them to be. This is not being naïve. We’re simply choosing to place our hope in God who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine.
14. Love always perseveres. This means that we don’t give up no matter what. In fact, the word “perseveres” in Greek is hupomone which describes the ability to plant our feet and endure all things. Then to love this way is to wait for God to finish His work in them. We can persevere because we believe that God is in control and that His ways are always good.
So, there it is – the descriptions of what love is. It took some time, but I went through this because I wanted to show that love is much more comprehensive than we think. Then we can’t help but ask, “Who can love like this?” I know I can’t. But I know someone who can – Jesus Christ. Then let’s re-read this passage but let’s do so as a description of His love for us. Jesus is always patient with us even when we fail Him. He’s always kind – constantly thinking about our needs. He doesn’t envy – though He’s jealous for us. He doesn’t boast – instead, He always wants to bless us with all that He has. He’s not proud – in fact, He “did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6-8). He does not dishonor us – instead, in Him, we are always lifted up. He is not self-seeking – He poured out His very life for us so that we can have life and life to the full. He’s not easily angered but is always gentle and compassionate in dealing with us. He keeps no record of wrongs even though we deserve to be condemned for all that we have done. He does not delight in our evil, but He invites us back to the truth so that we may rejoice in His ways again. He always protects – in that, He takes away our shame. He always trusts even though we give Him so many reasons to give up on us. He always hopes and walks with us so that we become the people that God desires us to be. And He always perseveres because He is for us and not against us. This passage is first and foremost about how Christ loves us. Are you questioning His love for you today because you’re going through a very difficult season in your life? Do you feel like He has given up on you – that you’re abandoned? If so, look at this passage again because it tells us that He is committed to you. He will never let go of you because your heart has been bound up with His. You are His, and He is yours. But His love is great for another reason – which leads to our last point.
3) THE ETERNALITY OF LOVE
Verse 8, “Love never fails.” Paul shares that love will never crumble under pressure, never give up no matter how difficult the situation may be but that it will continue to eternity. Everything else will all pass away when Christ comes back but love will remain. This by the way is the reason why Paul offers the illustrations of a child growing into adulthood – it shows us that spiritual gifts are temporary. It’s not that the gift of prophecy or tongues is immature or inappropriate – it’s just that they’re appropriate only for a time. For example, when Julian started crawling, we thought it was the cutest thing – it brought joy to all of our hearts. But what if I started crawling around the house for no reason? It’ll make people feel really uncomfortable. Then that’s essentially what Paul was getting at – which is why Paul says in verse 13, “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” When Christ comes back, our faith will become sight and all that we have hoped will be fulfilled – which means that these two things, as great as they may be, will come to cease. But love will never cease because the love between us and the King will never end. Friends, everything will come to an end. Health, wealth, power, career, beauty, and more – there’s an expiration date to all these things. But love will remain forever. Then let me ask you, “Are you investing your time and energy in the right place? Are you pouring all that you have into the things that will ultimately fade away or into the things that will last forever?” I pray that you’ll invest in love – love for God and love for others because it will be worth it.
Then how can we produce this kind of love for God and others in our hearts? In order for us to love like this, we must experience this love first. Love can never be taught intellectually. No matter how accurate and detailed the teaching may be, unless you experience that love for yourself, you’ll never know love and you’ll never be able to give that kind of love to others. Then let’s look to the costly love of the Father on the cross because this is the only way to have our hearts moved to love like Christ. Paul says in 1 John 4:19, “We love because He first loved us.” Friends, have you experienced this love? I pray that you’ll experience it today and let that love flow out of you because that’s the nature of love.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, love is the greatest thing because it never fails. Then in order to give this kind of love, let’s soak ourselves in the love of God in Christ. He will make this possible.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) Read verses 1-3. Have you ever made excuses for people who lack love because of the ways that they can contribute to the community? What kind of church do we want to be remembered as – a church that leaves the people feeling impressed or a church that leaves the people feeling loved?
2) Read verses 4-7. If you read them as the description of Christ’s love for you, how does this impact your relationship with Him today?
3) Read verse 8. Are you pouring all that you have into the things that will ultimately fade away or into the things that will last forever? How are you investing your time and energy in love?