| “A More Excellent Way” Lesson 1: Love Is
Profitable (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) Intro: 1. God is love. (1 John 4:16) 2. We
are created in the image of a God who is “love”. (Genesis 1:27) 3. Love
improves every circumstance by giving meaning to function. (John 14:15-23) 4.
Love is our ultimate obligation in all settings. (Romans 13:8) 5. Seeing that
God is synonymous with love we must allow him to define what love is. (1
Corinthians 13 – Our continuing text throughout the study) 6. Our series will
devote itself to understanding the love of God as it applies to both our
physical family and our spiritual family. I. Profit comes with love (1
Corinthians 13:1-3) 1. Action becomes beneficial when love is the motivation.
a. Motivation reaches to the core of who we really are as a person. (Proverb
23:7) b. All family responsibilities should be shaped by the love we have for
one another. (1) Parents and Children (Ephesians 6:1-4; Titus 2:4) (2)
Husbands and Wives (Titus 2:4; Ephesians 5:25) (3) Within the family of God
(1 Peter 1:22) II. Avoiding the dangers of becoming unprofitable. 1. Without
love my voice is a clanging cymbal or sounding trumpet. (vs. 1) a. Words
motivated without love are often harsh and fail to reach the desired result.
(Proverb 14:17) b. One Father was humbled by his daughter with this question,
“Daddy, why do you yell so much?” c. Brethren must also take caution to have
their speech “seasoned with grace and salt.” (Colossians 4:6) {How we speak
is as important as what we speak.} 2. Without love my wisdom and faith are
tarnished. (vs. 2) a. It is easier to embrace instruction from those you know
love you and have your best interest at heart. (Proverb 13:1) b. Being a
spiritual rock and being filled with faith and knowledge does not excuse us
from being loving. (Matthew 23:23) c. Our children, wives, husbands,
siblings, parents, etc… all need to know that we serve God out of love for
him and that he desires that we love one another. (John 13:34-35) d. We
encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to greater discipleship through
love. (1) Some brethren have a wealth of knowledge and wisdom but no
compassion or mercy in the manner in which they convey that knowledge. (2)
Many difficulties within the family of God could be avoided if love would be
employed in the midst of adversity. (3) Churches often become consumed with
fighting error that they forget what brought them to Christ to begin with.
(Revelation 2:1-7) 3. Without love sacrifices are empty. a. The principle of
discipleship must permeate the home. (Matthew 16:24) b. Learning to make
sacrifices out of love will help us avoid regrets. (1) On behalf of our
parents. (John 19:26) (2) On behalf of our children. (Luke 11:11) (3) On
behalf of our spouse. (Ephesians 5:22-25) c. Making sacrifices for our
brethren because we love them. (Acts 4:36-37) Conclusion: 1. With love our
work and actions are profitable. Without love we are empty. 2. Homes and
churches filled with love will be places where joy and peace reign. 3. What
am I doing to bring the profit of love into my physical and spiritual
family? |
