1 Corinthians 13  If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 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. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 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. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 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. 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. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Two small boys went to the dentist’s office and waited for him to finish his appointments. When he came to the waiting room, the older boy said, “Doctor, I want a tooth taken out, and I don’t want any gas, and I don’t want it deadened because we’re in a hurry.” The doctor smiled and said, “You’re a brave young man! You want a tooth pulled and you don’t want any gas and you don’t want it deadened.” The boy said, “That’s right, ’cause we’re in a hurry.” The dentist replied, “Well, O.K. Which tooth is it?” The little boy turned to his smaller friend and said, “Show him your tooth, Albert!”

I think most of us know people like that. They like to make decisions for someone else, not really concerned about how it will affect the other person. Their only concern is how it will affect them personally. And I’m sure most of you have been guilty of that at times. Selfishness takes control. That is anything but the loving kind of attitude that Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 13. He says that love should be the over-riding influence in the life of the Church. That is our goal! Love dictates our actions!

Some of the last lines written by playwright Oscar Hammerstein include the phrase, “Love isn’t love ’til you give it away.” I think that conveys the sentiment of the kind of love God would have us show. It is not something we keep to ourselves or direct only at our own person, but we are to love others as an expression of the new life to which we have been called. True Christian love is concerned for the other person and seeks their good.

These words were aimed at the church as a whole. The apostle was urging believers to get along with one another in the Christian community. He tells us that it is possible to have all kinds of gifts, to attend worship every week, and still miss the point of this chapter. In the previous chapter Paul wrote about Spiritual Gifts. In the middle of his discussion of spiritual gifts, he starts talking about good ol’ hard-working love. That love is unconditional; there are no strings attached. It is a love that is not earned or bought, but is given freely. He states that love is far superior to spiritual gifts. You need to use your gifts as God intends. You may be very talented, a great speaker or teacher or administrator, but if God’s love in Jesus Christ does not fill and flow through your efforts, they are ineffective. That is why Paul says that love is “the greatest.” Love has the most fruits. Love is where your faith is put into action with fellow men.

Earlier I quoted that phrase, “Love isn’t love ‘til you give it away.” We know this to be true from our own life experience. We have also seen this graphically demonstrated by God Himself in the gift of Jesus to be our Redeemer. We begin to receive and understand the joy of love by remembering where it comes from: God so loved the world (the same kind of love spoken of in our text) that He gave His son to die for our sins (including the sin of not loving) so that whoever believes in Him might have never-ending life.You know this from John 3:16. But there is another verse in 1 John 3:16 that explains this even further:

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

The ultimate expression of love was God’s rescue of you and me and all men from hell. That was done through the loving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His death was accepted by God as the full payment for sin. Through faith, you make that payment your own, and are forgiven. This act of God’s love is at the core of our existence as Christians. It should be our motivation to love others as God has loved us.