FRUITFUL LIVING – LOVE
Be sure to listen to the audio – valuable illustrations, discussions, comments are not in the written notes.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
We talk about it – sing about it – praise it – seek it – long for it – LOVE~! God’s kind of love is really foreign to us. How can we have the ability to love the unlovely – not endure them – but to love them? How can we genuinely desire the best, not just for ourselves & our friends but for our enemies? Love challenges us doesn’t it? It also frightens us. Ultimately only love – the love that comes from God – love that IS God (God is love) - can change us so that we become people who love.
There are 3 types of love: Eros, Phileo / philos & Agape… tonight we are going to talk about the facets of Agape which is the Greek word used in Galatians 5:22. Next week, we will discuss the other types of love. Agape – divine love, stands in a class all its own. Agape is not a feeling, it is a response, it’s not something based on common interests or connection. Agape flows from what is right and best. God is commanding us to agape – not to a feeling. He is commanding us to surrender to an act of His Spirit which is obedience – emotion may accompany agape but they are not the same nor is it necessary.
Back to 1 Cor 13 – keep in mind that ‘love’ in these verses is ‘agape’. Do you feel challenged? Overwhelmed? Feel it is unattainable? Or.. are you confident? It is evident by these words that agape is truly divine and must be supernaturally obtained.
What are the characteristics of agape?
1. Patient – the proper definition of this Greek word is “a person who is able to avenge himself yet refrains from doing so”
2. Kind – “to show oneself useful”: willing to help, assist.
3. Does not Envy – left to reap, envy always ends in some form of action. Listen to the news.. you’ll find out exactly what actions envy and jealousy lead to: competition, fighting, theft, idolatry of all kinds, and even murder (Examples)
4. Does not Boast – This Greek word comes from the root word that means ‘braggart’. What is the only grounds for boasting? 1Cor 1:31 1 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”[a]
5. Not Proud – Where does pride lead us? Discuss… Proverbs 13:10 Where there is strife, there is pride,
but wisdom is found in those who take advice. If we are loving with agape love – what can be said about our relational interactions? Remember – quarreling and loving confrontation are 2 different things. Quarreling oftentimes has more to do with us than anything else – are we fearful of what people will think – if it’s a spouse or a child that is not acting in accord with your will.
but wisdom is found in those who take advice. If we are loving with agape love – what can be said about our relational interactions? Remember – quarreling and loving confrontation are 2 different things. Quarreling oftentimes has more to do with us than anything else – are we fearful of what people will think – if it’s a spouse or a child that is not acting in accord with your will.
6. Not Rude – “to behave in an ugly, indecent, unseemly or unbecoming manner” this includes things that are obscene – that is ‘unbecoming’.. If we participate in the indecent or obscene, we cripple our ability to exercise agape. Phil 4:8 provides guidelines for us so it is not quenched. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
7. Not Self-Seeking – Self-seeking is the polar opposite of agape.
8. Not Easily Angered – This one goes with #7 – Much of what angers us is a result of how we perceive we are personally affected by a situation. Let’s look at Psalm 145:8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The assumption we can find from this passage is that we cannot be rich in love without being slow to anger. Do you agree?
9. Keeps no Record of Wrongs – Somehow most human beings revel in recording the failures of others – perhaps it’s because then we can feel better about ourselves.
10. Does not Delight in Evil but Rejoices with the Truth – Is it easy always rejoice in the truth? When is it not easy?
11. Always Protects – “to cover over in silence” A good picture of this would be covering an individual with a cloak of love that their faults cannot be seen. If I am quick to notice fault and it is easy for me to expose that fault, then I am not exercising agape.
12. Always Trusts – “having faith in someone” – believing in them
13. Always Hopes – “to expect with desire” – expect the best from them
14. Always Perseveres – “to remain under” “to hang in there” – this is necessary if we are ever going to enjoy long term relationships
15. Never Fails – “to be without effect, to be in vain”
If we allow God to exercise agape through us no matter what happens, it will never be in vain! Agape is the love of God expressed through us to others. It begins as a response and ends with a feeling.
Agape in Action – John 13:34-35 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Additional characteristics of agape:
Agape Sacrifices. Agape is Demonstrative! Agape shows. Agape cannot help but be expressed because that is its essence. Of course the greatest demonstration was the cross….
In John 17 we find at least 8 ways Christ demonstrated his love for us.
1. He reveals His father to us
2. ..gives us the Father’s word
3. ..prays for us
4. ..protects us
5. ..gives us His glory
6. .. places us in Him
7. ..makes the Father known to us
8. ..desires for us to be with Him and to see His glory
FRUITFUL LIVING – LOVE
GROUP WORK
1. Think about several people you ‘agape love’ the most – Do they know without a doubt you love them? How?
2. Is there someone God is calling you to ‘agape’ that you are resisting? Why the resistance? Is your heart the problem?
1 John 3:20 “If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”
3. How does God want you to respond to this lesson tonight?
4. Share the impact as you consider God ‘agape’ loves you. What do you feel and think as you consider 1 Cor 13 toward you from God?
Note: much of the lessons presented in Fruitful Living come from a study by Beth Moore: “Living Beyond Yourself”
1 comment:
Pride builds up the ego/self and stifles the Holy Spirit inside us. Impossible to love with agape with a prideful heart.
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