Latest revision as of 14:25, 8 July 2018

Objectives

• Students will ask themselves how they can show love to others.
• Students will determine to show love as a means of displaying the Spirit's working in their lives.

Opening

• The game "Would You Rather" is all about comparisons. Consider the following questions:
  • Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or always be 20 minutes early?
  • Would you rather lose all of your money and valuables or all of the pictures you have ever taken?
  • Would you rather be able to see 10 minutes into your own future or 10 minutes into the future of anyone but yourself?
  • Would you rather be famous when you are alive and forgotten when you die or unknown when you are alive but famous after you die?
  • Would you rather go to jail for 4 years for something you didn’t do or get away with something horrible you did but always live in fear of being caught?
  • Would you rather accidentally be responsible for the death of a child or accidentally be responsible for the deaths of three adults?

• Why do people enjoy the game so much? Because the game forces you to make a hard choice between items that are very different but have seemingly comparable levels of reward or consequence. The Corinthians appear to have been using spiritual gifs as a rank ordering measure. In 1st Corinthians 13 Paul obliterates the Corinthian system of rank ordering by introducing the trump card, love.

Main Body

The Superiority of Love V. 1-3

Compared with tongues

• What comparison does Paul make to tongues without love?
  • Corinth was known for its production of Corinthian brass. The people would have been very familiar with the sound of a hammer striking brass.
  • Paul's comment on the tongues of angels may be a play on the people's view that they had arrived. The people may well have identified themselves as having arrived and being at the level of angelic beings in their worship. Paul's contrast with a clanging symbol is striking.

Compared with Prophecy and Knowledge

• What are some spiritual things that you do not understand? Wouldn't you like to know the answer?
  • It is worth noting that commentaries disagree on how many gifts are actually mentioned here. For example some argue that prophecy, understanding mysteries, understanding knowledge, and faith are all separate. Others think of this as just prophecy and faith. In this context it is somewhat irrelevant, the key here is that none of this matters without love.

Compared with self-sacrifice

• What does our society typically think of as being the ultimate testament of a person's spirituality?
  • We often think of self-sacrifice as being the ultimate test of spirituality. However, again, Paul brings love into the equation.

The progression

To the person who would argue that gifts of the Spirit give spiritual standing Paul offers the following: without love I am just a lot of noise, I am nothing, and I gain nothing.

Love Defined V.4-7

Is and Is nots

For Paul, love is not just a theoretical abstract concept, but something that has real consequences in the life of the one who has love.

• According to verses 5-6 what is love? (be sure not to include any of the love is no statements yet!).
  • forbearing (Present active verb)
    • God's forbearance was often linked with His love. Joel 2:13
  • kind (present indicative verb indicates continuing action)
  • joyful in truth
• It is often useful to give a few non-examples when defining a term. Sometimes it is easier to describe what something is not rather than to describe what it is. According to verses 4-6, what is love now?
  • Does not envy
    • The Greek word for envy means earnest striving after,
  • boastful
    • Compare this with the envy. It seems there was probably issues in the church where some people were working hard to reach a high position and others were boasting in there high position. Neither of these is love.
  • puffed up
    • 1 Corinthians 8:1 had already stated that knowledge puffed-up. Here we have a contrast, knowledge puffs-up and love builds-up. It is not that knowledge is itself evil, but rather that love is the more important.
  • rude
    • The word for rude is only used here and in 1 Corinthians 7:36 where it refers to how one should not act toward a future spouse. The word falls between puffed-up and self-seeking.
  • self-seeking
  • easily provoked
    • The verb here is in the passive voice.
  • a recorder of wrongs
  • joyful at evil

Actions V.7

• What does love do?
  • • In the greek Paul uses the word παντα after each verb, the emphasis is clearly on all things.
  • Puts up with all things
  • Believes in all things
    • Does this mean truth can be safely relativized?
      • No, but we must exercise great care in explaining this.
  • Hopes in all things
  • Endures all things

Love's Endurance V. 8-13

• In the end, love is the most effective tool the church can use to reach the lost.

Closing

• What are some aspects of love that our church is getting right?
• What are some aspects of love that our church is getting wrong?
• What are some aspects of love in which you feel you have been successful?
• What are some aspects of love in which you feel you need to grow?