What is love?

text: 1 Corinthians 13

ARE YOU IN LOVE? Love is not just a many splendored thing that comes out from the most unexpected places. It may move mysteriously but it is not blind and can’t hurt anybody. You find it irresistible to love. “Whenever we ask, ‘What is love?’ it’s usually because we’re unsure if a certain special someone really loves us, or because a certain special someone just accused us of not really loving them. “When we are truly engaged in giving and receiving love, we don’t ponder such philosophical questions,” a writer once said. It’s only when something is lacking that we begin to analyze and contemplate what that thing actually is. For example, nobody sits down to a full meal and asks, “What is a pastrami sandwich?” It’s only when something is lacking that we begin to analyze and contemplate what that thing actually isSo, if we’re even asking the question, “What is love?” it probably means that we don’t feel completely loved, or that someone doesn’t feel completely loved by us. In the website ALL ABOUT GOD, it is defined as “the cost of giving” Real love demands sacrifice that can’t be found in self-centeredness. You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. Sacrificial love requires that we give what we value most: our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. Real love does not always follow our natural inclinations; it is not an impulse from feelings. Love can only be understood from the actions it prompts.

THE ABSENCE OF LOVE

A.     Ever-repeating annoyance (v1)

B.     No importance found (v2)

C.     Worthless, none the better (v3)

THE PRESENCE OF LOVE

A.   Patience and kindness is there and no envy (v4)

B.   No arrogance and ill-manner and even irritable qualities (v5)

C.  No gloating over other’s sins and keeps no record of their wrongs (v6)

THE ESSENCE OF LOVE (Inmost nature)

A.   Undying and eternal (v8)

B.   Delights in truth and honesty (v8)

C.   No limit and never fails (v7)

SCIENCE OF LOVE (Systematic)

A.   Begins simply from a childish outlook (v11)

B.   Then comes to mature understanding (v12)

C.   And finishes to complete, full knowledge seeing the true nature of love (v12)

REVIEW. Have faith in order to have an optimistic anticipation and give out or be in love. Find it irresistible in the strongest sense. Love is God’s Nature. God created love, not the reverse. He deliberately chose to express His love to us -- revealing the very nature of God Himself. When we bear with the failings and weaknesses of others, divine love reveals itself (Ephesians 4:2). At all costs, this love compels us to give so that we alleviate the suffering of others. Instead of seeking to fulfill our emotional and physical needs (receiving), we humbly give of ourselves (1 Peter 3:8–9).