1 Corinthians 13:4-13 (NIV) 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, 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 perfection comes, the imperfect 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 childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor 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.
Love is Selfless
1. DOES NOT ENVY
Envy is at the core of comparison.
WARNING: Envy can nurture a bitter spirit.
Proverbs 14:30 (NIV) A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
James 3:14-16 (NIV) 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.
“When I am loving well I celebrate what others have, even if it’s something I long to have.”
2. DOES NOT BOAST/ IS NOT PROUD
Envy is focuses on what I don’t have, pride is bragging in what I do.
Pride: (KJV) Puffed up. gk Inflated.
Gifts are meant to speak of the giver of the gift not to puff the pride of the recipient.
2 Corinthians 10:17-18 (NLT) As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.” when people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.
Although gifts emphasize our value they also reveal our lack.
“Humility is the prerequisite of perfect love.”
Matthew 6:1 (NIV)"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Philippians 2:3-8 (NIV) 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!
“You cannot love someone that you put yourself in front of.”
Both of these things (envy, boasting proud) are very self-focusses….
3. NOT SELF-SEEKING.
At the heart of self-seeking is Narcissism.
Many confuse love with happiness.
Ephesians 5:21(NIV) Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Nurturing Selfless-love
1. See yourself Investment not a waste.
“When I realize I have something to offer, I find joy in offering it.”
Matthew 16:24-26 (NIV) Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
2. Go First. Be the first to be last.
“We experience love the most when we are showing it.”
John 15:11-13 (NLT) I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! his is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
3. Have confidence in God’s love
1 John 4:16-17, 19 (NLT) 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. …19 We love each other because he loved us first.