Breaking down the title: The Greatest Gift of God's Administration is Love
Greatest- the highest of importance and/or meaning
Gift- something given voluntarily without payment in return
Love- penetrating to the depths of ones being, set apart, ordain for a deity and sacred purpose; affectionate concern for the well-being of others
Putting it all together:
The most important and meaningful thing/substance freely given by God is the affectionate concern for the well-being of others (mainly, His affectionate concern for us) that penetrates to the depths of our being, sets us apart, and ordains us for His purpose.
1 Corinthians 12:31-The first thing we must do is have an eager desire for this gift (which is love).
But eagerly desire the greater
gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
John 3:16The Son= the greatest gift, because He was given by His father out of His love for us.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal
life.
-Would you or do you know anyone that would sacrifice his/her child, let alone their only child to save or redeem others?
Love- affectionate concern for the well-being of others
Gave- sacrificed; surrendered for the sake of something/someone else
Putting it all together:
For God was so affectionately concerned about [insert your name here] that He sacrificed and surrendered His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him (His Son) shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 is fundamental and key to this subject because this is where it all started, this verse is the foundation of our salvation. It lays the ground work for love. It defines and demonstrates love. It personifies love and brings it to life. If you don't believe and have not grasped on to this verse right here and what it is laying out for you, then you have not grasped on to REAL, unadulterated, uncut LOVE. Bottom line.
1 Corinthians 13:1
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
Gong- a shallow bell
Clanging- a loud sound or noise
Putting it all together:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not the affectionate concern for the well-being of others, I am only a resounding shallow bell or a loud noise.
-In other words, I'm all talk, just a bunch of noise. I cannot speak in tongues and praise God with my mouth one minute and then curse you out the next and claim to have LOVE.
1 Corinthians 13:2
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
Fathom- understand
Nothing- non existent
(You can put this one together yourselves I'm sure...lol)
-This is telling me that I can have all the degrees I want, all the letters behind my name, can read every book on the planet, and still it means nothing....not a thing without love... I can have all the faith in the world but without love it is still useless?!
-People get the impression that because they have a lot of "knowledge" that they are somehow ahead of the game, but what does all your "knowledge" mean or do for someone who is starving, lost, hungry, or hurting? I'm sure you can refer them to a good book on their condition...
-Even in the Church and within the body of Christ, we miss the mark so many times by thinking once we get a title or a position or because we have been in the church so long that we have somehow "arrived" and this could not be further from the truth. As Christians we can give people all the scriptures there are in the whole entire book, but the letters on the page mean nothing without the LOVE that they represent. In this cold and dying world, no one is looking for words on a page...they are searching for love and longing to fill a void in their lives, that unbeknownst to them, only HE can fill and satisfy.
1 Corinthian 13:3
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
-Good deeds are not enough to capture the hearts of the broken...it is love that covers the multitude of sin, not good deeds and kind acts. The love of Christ brings about salvation. Not to knock selfless acts, but we must make sure that our motives remain selfless as well and not self-serving.
1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
Patient- constant, to maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty or pain
Kind- showing awareness of anothers feelings
Envy- spite and resentment at seeing the success of another
Boast- to speak with exaggeration and excessive pride, esp. about oneself Proud- an excessively high opinion of oneself; conceit.
Putting it all together (this one really packs a punch):
Love is constant, and maintains it purpose through difficulty or pain, love shows awareness for the feelings of others. It does not harbor spite or resentment at seeing the success of another, it does not exaggerate, it is not conceited.
-We all know it is hard to love or feel love from an arrogant person or someone who is so full of themselves there is no room for anything else, like love...give up some of yourself, pour out some of yourself, so that you can receive some love, how about that?
-Attention: If you are a HATER, you are not operating in LOVE! Instead of us hating on each other, let us be glad for one another, encourage one another, congratulate those that are doing well around us.
-Be patient with others, I know its hard to believe, but everyone is not as perfect as you are! (smile)
1 Corinthians 13:5
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Rude- impolite
Self-seeking- the seeking of one's own interest or selfish ends
Angered- provoked; to bring about ill thoughts
Putting it all together:
It is not impolite, it does not seek its own interest or selfish ends, it is not easily provoked, IT KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS.
-That's right ladies and gentlemen...throw away your score cards!
-Road rage....nope...thats' not the kind of love He meant! (I'm guilty too)
1 Corinthians 13:6
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
Delight- to take pleasure in
Rejoice- to express great joy
Putting it all together:
Love does not take pleasure in evil but expresses great joy with the truth.
-Man, I wish that the young people (and not so young as well) would really take heed to this, that it would really sink in. Sometimes when choosing our friends and relationships we have a tendency to overlook the obvious.... anyone that is encouraging you to do wrong, who enjoys seeing you do wrong, who takes pleasure in participating in wrong with you, who stands by and watches and says/does nothing while you do wrong....I would really question their so called "love" for me.
-A lot of times we refrain from telling those we love the truth, because we are afraid of hurting their feelings or offending them, but when we withhold the truth from one another we are really doing each other a disservice and are not operating in love. I would rather run the risk of hurting your feelings and tell you the truth now, than to have you hurt by a lie later. And on the flip side of that, often times we do not want to hear the truth, because it is a lot easier to believe or live a lie, or because we don't want to face certain truths or be held accountable.
1 Corinthians 13:7
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Protects- to keep from being attacked, stolen, or damaged.
(wow, doesn't that sound familiar, satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy, so LOVE protects me from this happening? Amazing!)
Trusts- reliance on the integrity, strength, ability of a person or thing
Perseveres- remains constant to a purpose despite obstacles and discouragement
(You put it all together)
-Love keeps you focused
-Most people will not see the vision if/because they do not understand or recognize the LOVE behind it!
1 Corinthians 13:8
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
Fails- performs without producing results or fulfilling a need
Love NEVER performs without producing results or fulfilling a need!!!
- Love is the wellspring of all the gifts God gives. Salvation is based in love.
This is as far as I will go in this one post, there is more on the rest of the chapter, but I will come back and add that later, because I want to study it a bit more. But at this point I think anyone who reads this should have a clear understanding or at least definition/knowledge of what love is...
Knowing now, what really and truly love is, may cause you to examine your life, examine your relationships, friendships, to think more carefully before you throw that word around or claim to love someone... When you say "I love you" is your love conditional as the worlds love is or is it based on and rooted in what is presented here?
Its easy to love the ones we like, but real love, requires that we even love the ones we don't like, the ones that talk about us, that hurt us, that do us wrong, those that we don't even know. Do you have love? Are you operating in Christ's love (which is consistent and unconditional) or love the emotion aka the worlds love (which is based on conditions, its here today, gone tomorrow, shifting like the wind)?
I'll be back soon with part 2!
No comments:
Post a Comment