Love One Another

 

1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  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, but have not love, I am nothing.  3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.  4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  8 Love never fails.

 

Paul has just given us a beautiful definition of what true love is all about and he is letting us know that no matter what you do or how smart you are if you don’t have love, you have nothing. As Paul continues on in this chapter he talks about how tongues, prophecies, and miracles would cease but love would remain.

 

1 Corinthians 13:13  And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

 

All of Christianity hinges on true love, and God’s Word teaches us that love is the most important thing we should have in our lives. Notice what,  

 

Colossians 3: 12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;  13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 

 

These are very important attributes that every Christian must strive to have. But watch what the next verse says,

 

14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

 

Here we see that Paul is keeping the same thought as he did when he wrote to the Corinthians because once again love tops the list because it is like mortar for bricks, because with out love, all these other wonderful attributes would be nothing because love is what binds them all together and makes them have meaning. This is why it is so important that we strive to make love the center of our lives and we can certainly see what love is all about as we begin to examine the great love of God.

 

1 John 4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

 

This is what love is all about. God gave up something very precious to Him, and Jesus accepted this fate because he was willing to suffer and die for us all in the name of love, and we can see this in many verses such as,

 

2 Corinthians 8:9  For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

 

We are so fortunate that we have a God that loves us so much even though the human race has failed over and over again. What we deserved was great destruction, but instead God showed us how much he loves and cares for by sending His best, His son Jesus. Jesus also shows His great love for us in that he was willing to give up the riches of heaven just so he could manifest himself as a human and live like us and die like us so that we could become rich through his great sacrifice. We would have never knew what true love was if God had not showed us what it was all about as He gave his precious Son for all of us:

 

Romans 5:6  For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.  8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 

 

Paul is explaining Jesus death from a human perspective. He is telling us that sometimes a person would be willing to die for a righteous person, and I am sure there were some people in the first century that would had died to protect the apostles. Then he goes on to say that someone just might dare to die for a good man. That is someone that is just good old boy. However, very few would be willing to give their life for another person especial if they don’t know them. It is from this example that we can really put God’s love in perspective because we were his enemy, because we were stained with sin, yet Christ died for every single one of us. It is only through the great love of God that we could become justified by the blood of Jesus and be allowed to escape God’s wrath.

 

Knowing that we have a God that loves us this much should cause us to rejoice in our hearts and thank our creator daily for what He has done for us, and we should be willing to learn from our master and try to make love the center of our life every single day.

 

Another great verse that I love to read from time to time that reaffirms how much God loves us and is always there for us is found in,

 

 Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."  6 So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

 

 

Another aspect of Gods love is found in:

 

1 John 5:3   For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

 

God will not forsake us, but if we choose not to obey His commands, then we have chosen not to love Him back. God is not going to force you to love Him because He gave you a free will, and He wants you to chose to love Him. I hope everyone this morning will always choose to love God by obeying his commands. It’s the least we can do after everything He has done for us.

 

Now we just learned that the love of God includes us keeping his commandments. So, let’s take look at one the commandments we are to obey in,  

 

John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

 

Jesus makes it clear for us, if we are a Christian and we want to be pleasing to God, then we must love one another just a Christ loved us. When you read through the 4 gospels and you study Jesus’ short work on the earth, you learn about the great love and compassion He had for those around Him. Many people during that time wouldn’t have anything to do with the poor, sick, or the maimed, but Jesus was the kind of man that would put His arm around them and eat with them.

 

He had such a deep love for those around Him that He would even shed tears for them when they suffered. This is the same kind of love that we are to have for one another. When we love each other and those around us, we will stand out and be different from those in the world. Some today only care about themselves and their immediate family, but when you see Christians who sincerely care for one another and have compassion on those out in the world, people will know that they are disciples of Jesus.  Now look at,

 

Galatians 5:13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.  14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

 

Whenever we became a Christian, we were liberated from sin, and as we study God’s Word, we understand that there is something more than just ourselves and our immediate family. That is why Paul tells us to serve one another. Jesus is our master example and notice what he says in,

 

Matthew 20:27 "And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave --  28 "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.",

 

So based on Jesus’ example, if we want to be first and be like Jesus, we must love each other enough to serve one another with love.

 

Again you can see how powerful love is in our text in Gal. 5:14, which states that the whole law is fulfilled in one word Love. Notice, it says you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Life is so much more pleasant when people love each other as the Bible tells us to do. Once again notice verse 15

 

."  15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

 

Sometimes Christians can be some of the meanest unloving people you have ever seen. It’s like their heart has became hardened and all they can find in themselves is something mean to say. They focus in on the negative traits of people and they stomp them into the ground. Paul describes this as devouring one another or consuming one another. We have to be very careful that we don’t find ourselves being like this because all it does is destroys relationships, and it destroys the unity of love within a congregation. Notice what,

 

Romans 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.  10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;

 

When a Christian is mean spirited to his brother or sister in Christ, their love is full of hypocrisy because they are not practicing true love. Some seem to be able to love their family and a few select people, but they can’t seem to find love for everyone. But Jesus makes it clear that we must learn to love everyone including our enemies.

 

Luke 6:27 " But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,  28 "bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.

 

So, if we are going to have the kind of love that God wants us to have, we must learn to love our enemies. That is a tough one, but that is what true love is all about. Paul also tells us that Christians are to give preference to one another. As Christian we become brother and sister in Christ because we belong the family of God, and since we have the same goals of being pleasing God, we should prefer one another. Now look at our next verse,  

 

1 Peter 4:8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."

 

Once again we see that love tops the list. Notice, Peter says, “and above all things have fervent love one another.” The word fervent means to have a “strong out stretched” love for one another. When we have this kind of love for one another it means that we will watch out for and encourage one another. If we focusing our attention on loving one another it will help prevent us from sinning against each other and become jealous of each other. Love definitely covers a multitude of sins. So let’s always strive to have this kind of love for one another.

 

Now lets talk about the Love between a husband and wife.

 

Marriage is institution from God that is to be between a man and women. Once a man and women are joined together it is suppose to be for life.

 

Matthew 19:6 "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."

 

Marriage can be a beautiful thing when it based on the Word of God.

 

First lets take a look at how Paul describes marriage and compares it to the church.

 

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.  24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.  25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,  26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,  27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.  28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.  29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

 

Paul is teaching us that a wife is not a slave but that she is a humble companion of man. Notice husbands are to love their wives just as Christ loved the church and also says that husbands should love their wives just as they love themselves. Using these guidelines,  men and women will have a wonderful marriage.

 

 However, we are human and we mess up  from time to time and we don’t treat each other as we should. Just as Christ forgives us when we repent, our spouses should forgive us when we fall short and we ask for their forgiveness. Husbands and wives should be willing to make sacrifices for one another and not let little things cause major problems. You should ask yourself, is it really worth it to argue over a small things such as leaving the cap off the toothpaste, or maybe leaving the lid up on the commode? Some of these things can be annoying, but they certainly are not worth battling over. The longer your married, you will learn to compromise and the more you do this happier your marriage will be

 

1 Corinthians 7:3 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.  4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.  5 Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

 

When a man and women marry one another they become one flesh. This means you are to be a part of each others life. You no longer live for yourself but for each other. Spend as much quality time as you can with each other because you never know how long you will have. Not only should your spouse be the love of your life, they should also be your best friend. So make an effort to spend as much time as you can with your spouse.

 

Titus 2:3 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things --  4 that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,  5 to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

 

Paul is telling us that the women are to love their husbands and their children and to be discreet chaste homemakers. In all these passages we have looked at so far we have learned that husbands are to love their wives and that wives are to love their husbands. If they have children, they are to share this love with them.

 

Paul also mentions one of the duties of a wife is being a homemaker or keeper of the home.  However, this does not mean that the husbands cannot help out. If he is going to love his wife as himself and he is going to treat her as he would himself, then you are going to see a husband who is going help with some of those household duties just as the wife can help her husband with some of things that only he does.

 

Men you might be surprised at how much your wives would appreciate it if you snuck around and did the dishes one night or cleaned the bathroom or some other room in the house. Ladies, you might be surprised at how much your husbands would appreciate it you help them with some of the outside work. For example if they mow the grass, you could help by picking up the trash and moving things out of the way so they don’t have to, or if their doing some kind of mechanical work, you could be their by their side to hand them tools as they need them.

 

Doing little things like this for one another as you work together will show that you care and love one other and will strengthen your marriage. 

 

In this lesson we have talked about how important our love is in our relationship to God and to those that around us. I hope this lesson will encourage you to try and increase the love that you have for God, others, and your spouse.