“Love always perserveres.” (view transliteration of perserveres HERE)
Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
~In our theme verse from 1 Corinthians 13 (top), the Greek word hypomenō is translated as “perserveres”. In Hebrews 12:2, it is translated as “endured”. If we are to perservere in our love for one another, how does Christs example help?
Romans 5:3-5 “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
~How can we demonstrate hope in our love walk? What would that look like in practical everyday life?
Love keeps no record of wrongs (KJV: “love…thinketh no evil”) 2 Corinthians 2:7-8 “Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.”
~How would you define “wrongs”?
~Society tends to judge people who don’t measure up in some way. “Keeping no record of wrongs” also means loving people for who they are and where they are in life…not keeping score of who’s “ahead”. This song called The Face of Christ illustrates this point:
Love is not self-seeking (view transliteration of self-seeking: “seek”:HERE“its own”:HERE)
Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
James 3:16 “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
~What does Philippians 2:3-4 tell us we should replace selfishness with? Why do you think that is against our “human” nature? ~According to James, what accompanies selfish ambition?
LOVE DOES NOT BOAST (read the transliteration of boastHERE)
1 Corinthians 4:7 NLT “For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?”
Ephesians 2:9 NLT “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”
~Why are we unable to boast in our own accomplishments?
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