LOVE IS THE PIVOT OF IDEAL CHRISTIAN LIFE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY JULY 07, 2021.

SUBJECT : LOVE IS THE PIVOT OF IDEAL CHRISTIAN LIFE!

Memory verse: "By this we know love, because He laid His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”  (First John 3 vs 16.)

READ: First Corinthians 13 vs 1 - 8:

13:1: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.

13:2: And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.

13:3: And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profits me nothing.

13:4: Love suffers long, and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up,

13:5: does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

13:6: does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

13:7: bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

13:8: love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

INTIMATION:

Love is the pivot of an ideal Christian life. It makes our actions and gifts useful. Although people have different gifts, love is available to everyone. Love is more important than all the spiritual gifts exercised in the church body. Great faith, acts of dedication or sacrifice, and miracle-working power have little effect without love. Without love, the privilege of understanding all things in reference to God’s work among men is useless. Without love that moves us to respond to our brother’s needs, the ability of one to remain personally faithful to God is useless. 

One could legally perform the duties of his beliefs after a meritorious manner. However, the doing of such is worthless without being moved by a heart of love. One could even meritoriously give himself into the hands of those who would persecute him to death for his faith. However, if the giving is not a love response to the grace of God, then it is useless. However, meritorious performances do not prepare one’s character for eternal dwelling in heaven. One can meritoriously do the works without a heart of love, but one cannot love without doing the works. It is a heart of love that is essential for one to be able to dwell in heaven.

In the passage we read today, verses 4 - 7, have fifteen qualities explained here concerning the nature of love. These are qualities that are manifested in one’s relationship with his fellow man. In this case, this should be the nature of the Christians’ relationship with one another in their behavior as disciples of Jesus. 

Love “suffers long”; patiently endures the weaknesses of others. It is not quick to discard a relationship simply because of a disagreement. Love is “kind”; it does not portray a harsh attitude with one’s brother or sister or spouse or child. Through kindness, love actively works toward the benefit of all those with whom it comes into contact. Love “does not envy”; it is not jealous over the accomplishments of others, nor does it seek for the possessions of others. It will thus build up and not tear down. 

Love does “not parade itself”; it does not push itself forward in order to be recognized, but is willing to humbly work in the background of the crowd in order to exalt others. It does not work in order to draw attention to itself. Love is “not puffed up”; it is not prideful or arrogant, and thus, does not insist on having its own way or consider itself better than others. It does not exalt itself above others. It does not lift itself up by knocking others down. Love “does not behave rudely”; it does not behave in a manner that manifests little consideration for others. It does not ignore the person of others for the sake of exalting itself.

Love “does not seek its own”; it does not love to be first. It does not seek to have its own way by ignoring the thoughts and dreams of others. Love is “not easily provoked”; it does not easily lose temper when something either goes wrong or is said that would generate anger. It does not react in disagreeable situations with rage and anger, but responds with calmness and gentleness. Love “thinks no evil”; it does not search for evil in the lives of others. Love does not search for evil in order to destroy its enemies by slanderous character assassination. It realizes that one’s perceptions of others is usually based on wrong information. It thus assumes the sincerity of others without questioning the motives of others.

Love does “not rejoice in iniquity”; it does not take pleasure in finding sin or failures in the lives of others. It does not rejoice when another sins or makes a mistake. It does not exalt itself above others by pointing out the mistakes of others. Love “rejoices in the truth”; it seeks truth and not evil. It is identified in the one who searches for truth and not evil in the lives of others. Love “bears all things”; when things becomes difficult, it does not cease to work. Without retaliation, it endures malicious slander that is spoken against it. When one is sinned against, one forbears without retaliation.

Love “believes all things”; it believes and seeks the good in all situations and people, and thus hopes for the best. Love is positive about life, and not negative. Love “hopes all things”; it believes that all things are working together for the good of the Christian. It believes that the best is yet to come. Love “endures all things”; because it believes that all things are working together for good, it looks on the positive side of things when things seem to go wrong. It is always confident about the future. True love never quits though things may go wrong. It never quits in the face of trials, discouragements, persecutions and temptations.

Ideally the fifteen character traits discussed above should be the hallmark of a perfect Christian life. Self evaluation is ours to do. Hallelujah!

Prayer: Abba Father, You have poured out Your love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us. Consequently, as You are so You have empowered us to be in this world. Endue me with the spirit of true love, and selflessness, that I may exhibit the ideal Christian life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!