LOVE: THE BETTER WAY (18)
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13
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Love: The Better Way (18)
Series: 1 Corinthians
Robert Dawson
1 Corinthians 13
A little girl was staying with a friend for the weekend and as it neared suppertime the mother asked if she like broccoli. The little girl responded, ''Yes. I love broccoli.'' At supper as they passed food around the table the mother noticed this little girl passed the plate of buttered broccoli on to the next person without getting any for herself. She asked, ''I thought you loved broccoli?'' The little girl responded, ''Oh, I do love broccoli. I just don't love it enough to eat it.''
This little girl demonstrates what we all know to be true, love, like so many things, is a word easily spoken but no so easily expressed. It is much easier to talk about love than to demonstrate love. It is easier to profess our love for something or someone than to prove it.
Corinth, as we have seen, was a church in ruin. Paul has been addressing issue after issue. In Chapter 13 he puts a finger on the problem behind the problems. Their interpersonal struggles were due to a lack of love, which should be one of the distinguishing marks of the church. This church was one of the wealthier churches in the NT. It was a spiritually gifted church, but it lacked something basic and fundamental to the Christian life and ministry, love.
Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians is one of the most famous passages in all the Bible. We hear it read at weddings, anniversary celebrations and it is the inspiration for songs and poems - most of which give it a more romantic nuance. While it is a great passage to use when talking about marriage, we need to be expositionally faithful in our understanding of it. Too often we lift it from its wider context and thereby miss its significance when it comes to ministry.
Love is foundational to the work of ministry. It is its motivation. It is the grease in the gears that keeps it running and not grinding to a screeching halt. When love is absent ministry loses its voice a ...
Series: 1 Corinthians
Robert Dawson
1 Corinthians 13
A little girl was staying with a friend for the weekend and as it neared suppertime the mother asked if she like broccoli. The little girl responded, ''Yes. I love broccoli.'' At supper as they passed food around the table the mother noticed this little girl passed the plate of buttered broccoli on to the next person without getting any for herself. She asked, ''I thought you loved broccoli?'' The little girl responded, ''Oh, I do love broccoli. I just don't love it enough to eat it.''
This little girl demonstrates what we all know to be true, love, like so many things, is a word easily spoken but no so easily expressed. It is much easier to talk about love than to demonstrate love. It is easier to profess our love for something or someone than to prove it.
Corinth, as we have seen, was a church in ruin. Paul has been addressing issue after issue. In Chapter 13 he puts a finger on the problem behind the problems. Their interpersonal struggles were due to a lack of love, which should be one of the distinguishing marks of the church. This church was one of the wealthier churches in the NT. It was a spiritually gifted church, but it lacked something basic and fundamental to the Christian life and ministry, love.
Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians is one of the most famous passages in all the Bible. We hear it read at weddings, anniversary celebrations and it is the inspiration for songs and poems - most of which give it a more romantic nuance. While it is a great passage to use when talking about marriage, we need to be expositionally faithful in our understanding of it. Too often we lift it from its wider context and thereby miss its significance when it comes to ministry.
Love is foundational to the work of ministry. It is its motivation. It is the grease in the gears that keeps it running and not grinding to a screeching halt. When love is absent ministry loses its voice a ...
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