We Must Have Love 1 Corinthians 13 1

We Must Have Love 1 Corinthians 13

1 Corinthians 12: 18 “But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. ”

G. Campbell Morgan wrote that “examining this chapter is like dissecting a flower to understand it. If you tear it apart too much, you lose the beauty. ” Alan Redpath said “One could get a spiritual suntan from the warmth of this chapter. ”

Henry Alford calls it “a pure and perfect gem, perhaps the noblest assemblage of beautiful language in existence in this our world. ”

“And, in the outset, he (Paul) proceeds upon this — that all excellencies are of no value without love; for nothing is so excellent or worthy of esteem as not to be spoiled in the sight of God, if love is wanting. Nor does he teach anything here but what he does elsewhere, when he declares,

…that it is the end of the law, and the bond of perfection, and also when he makes the holiness of the godly consist entirely in this, Colossians 3: 14, “But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. ” — for what else does God require from us in the second Table of the Law?

It is not then to be wondered, if all our deeds are estimated by this test — their appearing to proceed from love. It is also not to be wondered, if gifts, otherwise excellent, come to have their true value only when they are made subservient to love. ” John Calvin

The Four Meanings of Love Eros = Physical Love This is the word we get our word, “erotic” which is not even used in the NT. The NT uses eros when referring to lovers or physical attraction when between married couples.

Storge = Family Love Paul uses this word in the negative form, unloving, in Romans 1: 31 & 2 Timothy 3: 3. Also Paul combines storge and philia, the next word, in Romans 12: 10 “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another…” referring to the family of God.

Philia = Affectionate Love We all know the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia. This word refers to warmhearted, spontaneous affection, attractive appeal and friendship. God, the Father loves the Son in both this affectionate way, John 5: 20 “He pleases Him so well…” And in the next love, the love of choice, John 3: 35, "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. ”

Agape = Love of Choice This is the Love Paul is speaking of in Chapter 13. It is the Love we have for God and the Love God has for us. It is the love we are commanded to show our enemies and those who hate us. It is also the love we have for one another within the body of Christ, the Church.

1 John 4: 7 -8 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ”

1 Corinthians 12: 31 “So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. ” or as it reads in the NIV “And now I will show you the most excellent way. ”

1 Corinthians 13: 1 -3 “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge,

and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. ”

John 13: 35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. "

1 Corinthians 13: 4 -7 “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. ”

Kevin is patient and kind. Kevin is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. I do not demand my own way…

1 Corinthians 13: 4 -7 “_____ is patient and kind. _____ is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. I do not demand my own way. I am not irritable, and I keeps no record of being wronged.

I do not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ____ never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. ”

“Sometimes the people who seem to work the hardest at love are the ones the furthest from it. They do things many would perceive as loving, yet they do them in a manner that would parade itself. This isn’t love; it is pride looking for glory by the appearance of love. ” David Guzik

1 Corinthians 13: 8 “Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!”

1 Corinthians 13: 9 -10 “Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. ”

“As Paul explained it, the gift of knowledge, essential as it was, was not exhaustive. The ability to prophesy, however crucial for the church’s life, was of limited scope. The gifts were temporary blessings in an imperfect age. One day they would give way to perfection, toward which all the gifts pointed. ” J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck

1 Corinthians 13: 11 -12 “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. ”

1 Corinthians 13: 12 b “All that I know is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. ”

1 Corinthians 13: 13 “Three things will last forever— faith, hope, and love— and the greatest of these is love. ”

“Faith is an expression of love (the word “trusts, ” pisteuei, found in verse 7, “believes all things, ” is the verb form of the noun “faith, ” pistis), as is hope, also in v 7, “hopes all things. ” Faith and hope, as manifestations of love, will endure eternally. So too everyone who follows the way of love. ” Walvoord

“The abiding lesson is that while the Gifts of the Spirit are partial and temporary, the Fruit of the Spirit is eternal and is more excellent. If we practice love, it will save us from the misuse of gifts and from the strife and divisions that have arisen as a result of their abuse. ” William Mac. Donald