1 Corinthian 13:6-8, NIV
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
What if God told you that you couldn’t leave the place He’s put you in? How would that change your mindset?
If God wouldn’t let you leave a place, a job, or a relationship, what would you do?
Would you endure the trial because He’s asked you to endure this season, or would you walk away from Him?
That’s a tough question, but it’s an important question. It’s a question that God asks His people at some point in their lives.
What would you do if you couldn’t walk away?
You do have a choice in the matter. That’s a gift from God. He gives you a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7) and freewill to make your own choices (Romans 10:9-10).
So, would you endure or get bitter? Those are your only real options as a child of God.
God wants you to choose “endure.”
Why? It’s because “you need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised” (Hebrews 10:36, NIV).
How do you make the choice to endure when things are hard and when relationships are hard?
Paul says, “It requires a love that endures all things.”
Here are five practical tips on how to love with endurance:
- Recognize that God is allowing this for your good. Sometimes it feels like we’ve got too much on our shoulders. The burdens are too big. The relationships are too hard. But could you be right where you are for “such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14) Just like Esther, you don’t know what your risk to stand by and “endure” could mean for someone else’s future in God’s Kingdom.
- You have a helper in the Holy Spirit. When you don’t feel like loving someone, your first instinct may be to leave, to not call, or to avoid them completely. However, God calls us out of our comfort zones. He wants us to find comfort in His strength and love our neighbors even when they are unlovable. That’s why He gave us His helper in the Holy Spirit – to strengthen us and push us forward.
- Take courage. Your mindset is a powerful weapon when times and people are hard. When you choose to grab courage by the throat and declare you are staying where God put you, He will bless you with the spiritual endurance to love even when you are under siege. The Spirit will give you the courage you lack.
- Recognize that God believes in you. One of the greatest gifts we can share with someone else is our faith. We can believe that they are precious to God. We can see past what we see now. Did you know God believes that of you? Think about how much He trusts you with His prickly people.
- Make hard choices. Pray when you want to fight. Stay put when you want to quit. Trust when you want to doubt. Stand when you want to run. Forgive when you want to fight back.
If God has ordained certain difficult and imperfect relationships in this season, accept that fleeing is not an option. Stop imagining life without it. Declare before the Lord that fleeing is not an option, but loving is. And remember if He brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
I Corinthians 13:7 (NIV)
Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
In I Corinthians 13, Paul is trying to iron out some common conflicts between the saints at Corinth. The major conflict is status. The saints are bickering over who has greater spiritual gifts, a greater leader, and a greater church.
The truth is that spiritual gifts are no better or worse in each saint’s life. Yet, the people have gotten caught up in the temptation to put themselves before others. It’s caused splinters and factions in the church and strained relationships.
Isn’t that so similar to how we live life today? We put ideas and conflicts above loving other people.
The first lesson is that we are all unique, handcrafted by God. No one is better than another, but God has purposed each of us to fulfill a different role in the body of Christ
The second lesson is the message Paul is focusing on in today’s verse, “Love is there because God is there.” Paul is trying to tell them [and us] that the love of God that gives them passion and desire to see God’s best for them also makes them look for the best in each other.
And if you know the context of the letters Paul is writing to the Corinthians, he’s very upset with them, like a father with a child. He loves them, but they have walked so far away from what he’s taught them that it’s hard for him to be around them.
Do you have anyone like that in your life? It’s hard to be around the prickly people. It’s hard to love them, yet Christ calls us to do just that.
And that’s what Paul is teaching here. You have to look for the good in people because God is there within them.
Another truth to know about Paul—even though he is hurting over the saints, he is supremely confident in the future.
He anchors his hope in the reality that a yielded life surrendered to God will (even in difficult, conflict-ridden relationships) “always” love and look for the love of God that exists within others.
Here are some practical ways to “always” look for the God (and good) in others:
- Keep your hope present. Are you living a Scripture-filled, prayer-intense, worship-passionate life? If not, start here. You will have strength to look past doubt and negativity when focusing on reading your Bible, praying intentionally, and worshiping passionately. God’s Word does not return void.
- Love anyway. The prickly people are usually covered in layers and layers of pain. If you establish your confidence that God is STILL in there somewhere, you can endure and love them where they are.
- Go the distance. Loving people intentionally is the way to bring the “God in them” out. It may take time. Be prepared for conflict. Love them through it. Pray for them. Let them know you are there.
- Remember that God made everything good. He did. “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31 NIV). If God created everything good, there’s good in everyone. If good gets buried under layers, God’s best is still in them.
- Rely on the Spirit for help. If we have the gift of the Spirit, we can love people “always” and help them to find the good that’s always been there.
1 Corinthians 13:6 (NIV)
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
To feel envy is human, but to enjoy other people’s misfortune is downright diabolical. As Paul continues to describe the characteristics of God’s kind of love, he suggests that it is worse than weak to partake in this kind of rejoicing. In fact, he says it’s wicked to enjoy this.
This immoral approach to love is happening in the city of Corinth. The saints are taking pleasure in other people’s misfortunes. Paul feels conflicted; he feels that love doesn’t rejoice in evil, but rejoices in the truth. Love doesn’t gloat when bad things happen to other people. Love doesn’t secretly rub its hands together in enjoyment. Love doesn’t enjoy misfortunes even in those who have done wrong. Love does not find satisfaction in the wrongdoings of enemies.
You should love your neighbor even when they fall.
However, pain always wants compensation. The wrong done to you forces you to shut down the hope in the one who has done you wrong. But the presence of the Spirit in your life ought to be stronger than these wicked feelings. The Holy Spirit should give you the strength not to take pleasure in others’ failures. When the Holy Spirit dominates your soul, you should have no desire to rub your hands together in happiness when one of your enemies falls.
Imagine driving down the road, and a car cuts in front of you, then drives past and gives you a rude gesture through the window. A couple blocks later, you see a cop has pulled them over. Maybe you hope they forgot their license that day or they weren’t wearing a seatbelt. At the very least, maybe they’ll spill coffee on their clothes or get an agitated cop who gives them a ticket. But Paul says your love shouldn’t gloat over the misfortune of those who’ve done you wrong. Even when it comes to an ex friend or significant other—and considering all the pain and hardship they’ve put you through—Paul still stresses that love doesn’t revel in the pain of others.
Don’t search for contentment in your life through the misfortunes of those who have wronged you. God’s love in you can and should provide all the contentment you need. When you understand the magnitude of the love of God that is in you and begin to truly value that love, nothing else will matter. You don’t have to feel more impressed with yourself, or superior, or inferior based upon another person’s behavior. You should simply be grateful God brought you this far.
As much as you’ve been hurt, He makes you stronger through every hurt you have experienced. Maybe some events in your past should have prevented you from smiling again or having new aspirations or finding joy, but God brought you through. When you think about how He’s brought you back from the edge—how He didn’t let you fall when you were barely hanging on—how can you be anything but content? He sorts, heals, sanctifies, and makes the crooked places straight.
Find joy and contentment in God every day, not just seasons where you are winning and your enemies are losing. Wrap your future in the strength of His presence. Rejoice not in the misfortune of others, but in the love He puts on your life. God is enough!
1 Corinthian 13:1-3 (AMP)
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love [for others growing out of God’s love for me], then I have become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal [just an annoying distraction]. And if I have the gift of prophecy [and speak a new message from God to the people], and understand all mysteries, and [possess] all knowledge; and if I have all [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love [reaching out to others], I am nothing. If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it does me no good at all.
In these times of political turmoil, our culture is turning to incivility. We see someone on the street and instead of talking to them, giving a polite smile, wave, or “Good Afternoon!”, we look the other way. We wait for them to say something. And I must admit, I am guilty of this myself. We become tired of the incivility in others, so we give up too. We look the other way, we ignore others, and the cycle of incivility continues. It’s in the church, it’s in our culture—it’s everywhere.
Last week we talked about incivility on a cultural level, but this week I want to discuss this at an individual level. Paul is lecturing to the people of Corinth that without love, our spiritual gifts are fruitless. Our words become hollow. If we can’t relate to others and come together in God, our acts of good amount to nothing. He asks, “What is the root of God’s work in you?” The answer should be love. Our spiritual endowments are given to us so we can help one another in the body of Christ.
Don’t let others make you sacrifice your civility or act like you don’t believe in God or the principles outlined in the Bible. You are not saved because you say you are, but because of the grace and mercy that God has extended to you. Don’t go around saying you’re anointed but treat others who don’t agree with you with disrespect. Don’t lose your hope. Stay encouraged when faced with threats every day. Maintain your grace not just when money’s in the bank and food is on the table, but when your back is against the wall and others aren’t treating you well.
You may have acted with disrespect before you were saved, but when God extended the gift of salvation to you, it made you different. God does not judge you based on who you were before you were saved—He cares about your behavior now. He cares that no matter how the culture is behaving around you, you don’t have to become corrupt just to fit in. He cares that you love even when people hate and that you put your weapons on the shelf and use your spiritual gifts instead. Your relationship with Jesus should make you believe that there is always life after tough seasons.
Maybe you were a naturally distrustful person because of your background. But when you gave your life to Christ, that all goes away. He transformed your life and spiritually empowered you. That means you don’t have to succumb to incivility. The Holy Spirit transformed you to help you live and love for the kingdom and make others want to know the Christ who set you free. Being a Christian doesn’t give you a pass.
What made us lose confidence in love? When did we stop trusting its substance or sustainability? Too often we judge others by their actions and judge ourselves by our intentions. What would happen if we reversed that?
Don’t let the infection that is setting in this culture make you forget you’ve been inoculated from its ingestion by the Holy Spirit. We can’t know the joy of God without others. Always remember that the love of Christ never fails and is a gift that should be shared with anyone that crosses your path!
1 Corinthian 13:1-3 (AMP)
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love [for others growing out of God’s love for me], then I have become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal [just an annoying distraction]. And if I have the gift of prophecy [and speak a new message from God to the people], and understand all mysteries, and [possess] all knowledge; and if I have all [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love [reaching out to others], I am nothing. If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it does me no good at all.
In this passage, Paul is explaining to us that we should live a spirit-led life that compels others to want to live the same way. The presence of the Holy Spirit’s gifts is the highest expression of God’s presence in the life of a believer. The gifts are sent to help one another in the body of Christ. But let me ask you, what good are your gifts from God if they are not presented with love?
As Christians, we should be growing our faith and encouraging others in theirs, but that’s not what I’m seeing in today’s culture. Today’s culture is mocking that of which we see in Paul’s Corinth. In Corinth, they’re rude to each other. We see name calling, insults, cruelty, and debate for no purpose or benefit. This spreading infection is called incivility. Incivility is defined in the dictionary as “rude or unsociable speech or behavior.”
Much like in Corinth, our world is in jeopardy due to this incivility. Your faith in Christ might be able to withstand a hurricane, but there will be holes in the foundation caused by the termites of incivility eating away at it.
When Paul speaks, conversation in the city hushes. He explains that if the townspeople don’t express themselves with love, their words will be reduced to a hollow song of nothing. If they can’t relate to others and come together in God, their speech will amount to nothing.
We live in a world of demonizing descriptions and opinions that are encouraged by half truths. We’ve gotten to the point where when something good is done, it seems shaded and motivated by something darker. And I’m not just seeing this in our culture, I’m seeing it in the church. Our sharpness of tongue and inability to debate without using weapons of mass destruction has put us Christians on edge about everything. It’s human incivility.
We are better than this. We Christians are better than how we have been acting. Don’t let others make you sacrifice your civility. Don’t let culture make you act cruel, too. Don’t let the mean you see in the streets make you mean and cynical in the church. Just because you say you’re saved and anointed doesn’t mean you are. The proof is in how you treat others.
Don’t cave in to crushing incivility.
Many people believe that as the culture goes, so goes the church. I don’t believe that. I believe the church leads the culture. So therefore, as the church goes, so goes the culture. Don’t allow incivility to fatigue you and act in the same manner. You are God’s mouthpiece. You might have a natural inclination to be distrustful of people you meet on the street, but even though you are wired a certain way, recognize that you can be transformed by the Holy Spirit to act in a different way. Guard your tongue, mind your business, and be kind.
Don’t let the infection toxify your system. Don’t cave to incivility.
No matter how crazy this culture is in 2018, a revival is on the way. We can’t wait for culture to change; we have to be the ones to start the change. Don’t wait for someone else.
