The Nature of Love
THE NATURE OF LOVE
(1 Corinthians 13:1-13)
1Co 13:1 If I speak in the tongues[1] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
1Co 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
1Co 13:3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[2] but have not love, I gain nothing.
1Co 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
1Co 13:5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1Co 13:6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
1Co 13:7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1Co 13:8 Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass.
1Co 13:9 For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only partial;
1Co 13:10 but when what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear.
1Co 13:11 When I was a child, my speech, feelings, and thinking were all those of a child; now that I am an adult, I have no more use for childish ways.
1Co 13:12 What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete--- as complete as God's knowledge of me.
1Co 13:13 Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.
AN OUTLINE
I. THE INDISPENSABILITY OF LOVE (Vs. 1-3) II. THE EXCELLENCE OF LOVE (Vs. 4-7) III. THE PRE-EMINENCE OF LOVE (Vs. 8-13)
INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT OF 1 COR. 13
The Iliad by Homer is a classic story about the Trojan wars. It was about a 10 years siege of Troy by the combined Greek armies. It is about heroism, honor and the influence of the Greek
(1 Corinthians 13:1-13)
1Co 13:1 If I speak in the tongues[1] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
1Co 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
1Co 13:3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[2] but have not love, I gain nothing.
1Co 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
1Co 13:5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1Co 13:6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
1Co 13:7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1Co 13:8 Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass.
1Co 13:9 For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only partial;
1Co 13:10 but when what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear.
1Co 13:11 When I was a child, my speech, feelings, and thinking were all those of a child; now that I am an adult, I have no more use for childish ways.
1Co 13:12 What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete--- as complete as God's knowledge of me.
1Co 13:13 Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.
AN OUTLINE
I. THE INDISPENSABILITY OF LOVE (Vs. 1-3) II. THE EXCELLENCE OF LOVE (Vs. 4-7) III. THE PRE-EMINENCE OF LOVE (Vs. 8-13)
INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT OF 1 COR. 13
The Iliad by Homer is a classic story about the Trojan wars. It was about a 10 years siege of Troy by the combined Greek armies. It is about heroism, honor and the influence of the Greek