1 Corinthians 13:1-7, NLT
1If 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. 2If 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. 3If 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.
4Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
MEMORY VERSES: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
I.Fake Love: It’s object - Self
The Vanity of Knowledge
1 Corinthians 13:1-2
1If 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.
2If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge,
The Vanity of Good Works
1 Corinthians 13:2b-3
and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
3If 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.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 [NCV]
10 Using the gift God gave me, I laid the foundation of that house like an expert builder. Others are building on that foundation, but all people should be careful how they build on it. 11 The foundation that has already been laid is Jesus Christ, and no one can lay down any other foundation. 12 But if people build on that foundation, using gold, silver, jewels, wood, grass, or straw, 13 their work will be clearly seen, because the Day of Judgment will make it visible. That Day will appear with fire, and the fire will test everyone’s work to show what sort of work it was. 14 If the building that has been put on the foundation still stands, the builder will get a reward. 15 But if the building is burned up, the builder will suffer loss. The builder will be saved, but it will be as one who escaped from a fire.
I.True Love: Its object - Others
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4Love is patient and kind.
Patience signifies forbearance, slowness to repay for offenses.
Love is not jealous
Jealousy and envy begin when admiration and desire turn to resentment of others for what they have.
Love is not.. boastful or
Boastful - exalting ourselves over others as if our accomplishments were based on our own merit and ability.
proud 5or
To be proud is to be overly self-confident or insubordinate to God and others.
When one cares about other people, he does not find himself full of self-importance or arrogance toward others.
Pride reproaches other images of God.
Self-hatred reproaches oneself as the image of God.
rude.
At the heart of rudeness is a disregard for the social customs that others have adopted.
Nevertheless, When the customs of a culture contradict the higher ideals of the Christian faith, it is not unloving to break these social mores.
It does not demand its own way.
The loving person puts the benefit of others over his or her own good.
This practice does not mean ignoring one’s own legitimate needs.
It is not irritable, and [is not easily angered]
Those who love others are not quick to become irritated and angry whenever others do wrong, but rather are slow to anger. They are patient.
it keeps no record of being wronged.
People who love others do not keep meticulous records of offenses. They offer forgiveness time and again.
6It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Those who truly love do not enjoy seeing their loved ones stumble into evil. They rejoice when their loved ones try to live according to the truth of the gospel. Sin destroys people’s lives, so to rejoice in their sin is to rejoice in their destruction.
7Love never gives up, [always protects.]
Love handles the sins of others in ways that will not bring exposure or shame.
never loses faith, [always trusts]
“Love gives the benefit of the doubt.” .. those who love is to trust the good
intentions of others as much as possible.
is always hopeful, and
Love … always hopes. Loving someone requires maintaining a measure of optimism on that person’s behalf.
Failure … often causes others to give up on the one who fails.
Hope is an attitude that good will eventually come to those who may now be failing because they trust in the faithfulness of GOD.
endures through every circumstance.
True love is expressed to people who challenge one’s affections by offending or failing.
Christians must consider Christ’s love of endurance and perseverance us our example.
III.Eternal Love: Its source - GOD
1 Corinthians 13:8-7
8Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!
The love Christians express in this life will extend to eternity.
10But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. [NLT]
The gifts do not disappear; imperfect understanding disappears. Christians will put the gifts behind them when their need for the gifts is gone.
Paul said that when perfection came he would see “face to face” (13:12),
1 Corinthians 13:12 [ESV]
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. [ESV]
The coming of perfection coincides with meeting Christ in person; therefore, for the church as a whole, it must take place at Christ’s second coming—at the consummation of all things in him (Eph. 1:10).
IV.Mature/Perfected Love: Its fulfillment - Heaven
1 Corinthians 13:11-13 [NLT]
11When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.
12Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
1 Corinthians 13:12, [ESV]
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
NOTE: Most of the commentary is taken from the Holman New Testament
Commentary. I have added my comments to clarify certain concepts.