1 Corinthians 13:1-13, A Better Way

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. – The Message –

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But now I want to lay out a far better way for you. (1 Cor 12:31)

This is what Paul has taught so far:

1.      Encourage one another
2.      God sustains us
3.      Cultivate a “Life in Common”
4.      Faith is “being” more than “doing”
5.      “Excellence” is the best evangelist
6.      Don’t complicate the Gospel
7.      “Sola Scriptura”
8.      Live in God’s community
9.      Make your life a “comfortable place for God to dwell”
10.  Submit to spiritual authority
11.  Don’t ignore sin
12.  Don’t let the world arbitrate between believers
13.  “Legal” is not the same as “moral”
14.  Pay attention to your spouse’s needs
15.  Don’t make commitments to unbelievers
16.  Be thankful
17.  Don’t create God in your own image
18.  Grace is not a permit for sloppy living
19.  Serve God without thought of reward
20.  Stay away from temptation
21.  Stay close to God
22.  Become an “expert” on living a Godly life
23.  Honor others
24.  Honor God
25.  Use the gifts God has given
26.  Live thankfully within the Body of Christ

It’s a long list…a lot to remember. And now, he says I want to lay out a far better way for you. Maybe he could have started here.

But, chapter 13 is not “instead” of chapters 1-12.  Chapter 13 is “key” to everything that comes before. Look at the list again. It’s important. Yet, we’d become neurotic if we woke up every morning, reviewed the list and went out intending to complete it.

Love…Agape.

Agape is “intentional” love…love with a purpose. It has been perfectly demonstrated in Christ. What is His intention? Christ’s sole intention toward us is to redeem us…buy us back from the consequences of sin.

Paul says this is the best way to satisfy everything in the first 12 chapters: live an agape life. His implication is clear. If I live my daily life with the intention of influencing people toward Christ, it will closely resemble the qualities on the list.

Paul was promoting Gestalt therapy before we even knew it existed…emphasizing personal responsibility that focuses upon the individual's experience in the present moment. If we “do this moment” properly, the ensuing moments will benefit.

Right now I am going to agape…

Oh, and Paul tells us what it looks like.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Don’t “do” this, “be” this. Very difficult, but possible. Just look at Christ. He is the incarnation of agape. We shouldn’t say “God, help me put up with my spouse”. We should say “God, help me be like Christ”.

It’s just going to look like we’re putting up with our spouse…

Live boldly out there today…