LOVE

 
October 14, 2017                              LOVE
1 Corinthians 13:1 “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angles, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               I love sunny days-I love a good cup of coffee-I love coconut crème pie-I love my truck-I love my wife-I love my church-I love a lot of things!  We use, and we hear the word ‘love’ so often that perhaps we lose the impact of the word. Its perfectly fine to say “I love sunny days”-or whatever, but let us not lose sight of what it means to love people-especially those close to us. For certain, man defines or views love differently than God does; the love of man is a selfish love, whereas the love of God is totally unselfish. The selfish love of man is the dominant factor that leads to broken relationships and damaged emotions. Selfish love says that I love him-or her-because I like the way they make me feel, or I like the way they look, etc. In contrast to the love of man is the love of God, and 1 Corinthians 13 is the classic description of the love that originates with, and flows from God. As we read this chapter, we are forced to compare the love that we say we have with the love as defined by God. For example, does our love stand up to the test of verses 4 and 5 where we read: “Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous, love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,.” No matter how hard we may try, we cannot upgrade man’s love to the love of God. In order to experience this love of God and to demonstrate the love of God, the love of God must flow from Him to us. The good news for all believers is that God has put His love in our hearts as we see in Romans 5:5-“and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” It is this love of God that transforms us into His image whereby we can experience His love and we can express this love to others-regardless of what they are like or no matter what they do. Romans 5:8 speaks of the unselfish love of God: “But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Knowing the love of God is a miracle, it does not come from our own effort. 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us “But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” The miracle is that as we look at, as we focus on God and who He is, as we seek Him, the transformation process begins in us from the inside out. If you are a believer, God has already poured out His love in you. If you do not yet know that love, then begin to learn of God, read and believe the scriptures, ask God to open your spiritual eyes that you may see His work in you, and as a priority in life, seek Him first. In the process, you will become more and more aware of His love that has been poured out in you.
Ephesians 1:18: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”
Blessings,
Buddy