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If I have not love…….

abandoned plow

Today as I got out my pocket New Testament at work to read the next chapter of 1 Corinthians, I noticed it was chapter 13, the love chapter. (did hear my Barry White impersonation?) The verses found in this chapter have been used in more weddings than the Drive-In Chapel in Las Vegas. I read through it once and thought, alright I kind of just breezed through that half-heartedly. I am convinced that the Apostle Paul considered love to be of the utmost importance as you will notice in the first three verses. In those verses he states that you can basically have everything together as a religious person, but if you don’t have love, like the abandoned plow above, you are of no use. Then an idea hit me. I remember a pastor or a friend, or maybe both, suggesting that when you read through this chapter read it in the real first person narrative formatting the love statements into personal questions.So consider the following verses personally as I did and see if doesn’t convict the religious snot right out of you. Do it as such for verses 4 thru 7 : (I use the ESV)

Is BarryDean patient and kind? Does BarryDean envy or boast? Is BarryDean arrogant or rude? Does BarryDean insist on his own way? Is BarryDean irritable or resentful? Does BarryDean rejoice at wrong doing or rejoice at the truth? Does BarryDean bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things?

After reading it this way I realize that I have a long journey ahead in my sanctification. Thanks be to God that it isn’t all up to me, I have a Helper in this process. The same Holy Spirit that convicts also intercedes for us and is sanctifying us.

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Love, love, love

26 Jun

As the title might indicate this is not a posting about the The good Samaritan popular Beatles song. It is about the word love as it is used in the scriptures. Last night at OBC we were lead by Mike Holloway (a former elder to OBC) in a study about the word love, especially as it is used in Galatians 5:22. We are doing a 9 part series about the fruit of the Spirit on Sunday evenings throughout the summer.

Mike first established the definition of the word love as it is used in our culture today and as it is used in the New Testament. As you might suspect there are some contrasts. First of all the word love as we use it today is the Greek word eros, which is used to indicate romantic love. This form of the word love is not used in the New Testament. Another form of the word love is the Greek word philia. The city of Philadelphia derives its name from this form, meaning brotherly love. This form of the word love is rarely used in the New Testament. It is often used in the context of friendship. The last form of the word love used in the New Testament in the Greek word agape’. This form is used over 250 times in the New Testament. It is mostly used in the context of charity or love with grace. I would content this form of the word is impossible to do without the Spirit of God. This form of the word is used in Galatians 5:14.

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Without the spirit of God within you this form of love in the verb since is impossible to do. You may love out of what you perceive as unselfish motives but without God it is not a work in the purist sense, as used in 1 Corinthians 13.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

As Mike summed it up by challenging us to do a self-examination of sorts. How are we as believers in Christ doing in this form of love, agape’ love which we are to walk in. Are we loving our neighbors as ourselves? Are we loving the ugly, the repugnant, the undesirable, the unworthy and unattractive? This same love we have experienced from Christ when we were ugly, undesirable, unworthy and enemies of God. He loved us enough to send His son to die on a cross for us. Below is the link to the audio of Mike Holloway’s sermon on the fruit of the spirit which is love.

The Fruit of the Spirit: Love

This is something for us to consider daily. It is a challenge for me to be sure.