Love: The Preeminent Gift of the Holy Spirit
March 10, 2019 Preacher: Series: Love: The Preeminent Gift of the Holy Spirit
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4–7
Key Truth: We are called to love others in patience and kindness in all aspects of their lives with an abiding love just as God has loved us in Christ.
Introduction:
Who has loved you in patience and kindness in all aspects of your life with an abiding love?
Patience and Kindness: The Passive and Active Qualities of Love:
1 Corinthians 13:4-6
“Love is concerned to give itself, not to assert itself.”
Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: Tyndale New Testament Commentaries
How has/is God loved/loving you by being patient with you?
How has/is God loved/loving you by being kind to you?
What are some ways in which you are loving others in patience and kindness?
The Total Breadth and Abiding Nature of Love:
1 Corinthians 13:7
“…no hardship or rebuff ever makes love to cease to be love.”
C.K. Barrett, The First Epistle to the Corinthians
How has/is God loved/loving you by bearing with you and your failures?
How has/is God loved/loving you by believing in His image and gifts in you?
How has/is God hoped/hoping in you in your union with Christ and indwelling of the Holy Spirit?
How has/is God endured/enduring with you despite your imperfections and lack of knowledge?
What are some ways in which you are loving others this way?
Application:
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 teaches us that that we are called to love others in:
- patience and kindness
- in all aspects of their lives with an abiding love just as God has loved us in Christ
“Love is not an idea for Paul, not even a ‘motivating factor’ for behavior. It is behavior. To love is to act; anything short of action is not love at all.”
Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians: NICOT
Communion