Love for our Relationships
Message Notes // May 22nd
SERIES: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.
Revelation + Application = Transformation
Romans 12:2
Don’t copy the behavior of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
revelation - a surprising and previously unknown fact, especially one that is made known in a dramatic way. The divine or supernatural disclosure to humans of something relating to human existence or the world.
application - the action of putting something into operation.
We put into practice what the revelation has shown us!
Transformation happens when we take the information we’ve been given, be that natural or supernatural, and apply it to our lives.
Love…For Our Relationships
[Love] does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
1. [Love] does not demand its own way…
…[love] is not self-seeking… (NIV)
[Love] does not insist on its own way... (ESV)
[Love] does not seek its own benefit… (NASB)
Love isn’t selfish… (CEV)
[love] never thinks just of herself… (International Standard Version)
[love] isn’t always “me first”… (Message)
[love does not] selfishly seek its own honor. (TPT)
Asking our Four Questions:
How does God love me in this way?
How do I love God in this way?
How do I love myself in this way?
How do I love others in this way?
How does God love us in “not being rude”?
If being rude in its simplest form is really not thinking about you, then God is never rude because he has done everything for us and is always thinking of us.
Psalm 139:17-18
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me.
How do I love God by not being rude toward Him?
Do I live my life thinking about Him, and how my actions and my life affect Him? Do I take what Jesus did for me on the cross for granted? Like Paul says, have I made grace cheap? Do I honor God with my time, my finances, my words & my actions?
How do we not be rude toward God? By actively thinking about Him in regard to the choices we make for our lives!
If rude is not thinking about you, then selfish is deciding to think ONLY of me.
Selfish is saying, “I’m concerned only with me, regardless of how that will effect you.”
1 Corinthians 8:9
But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.
Romans 14:22
You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God.
Romans 14:23
But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, YOU are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.
Romans 15:3
For even Christ didn’t live to please himself…
What I WANT becomes secondary to what you NEED.
2. Love is not irritable
paroxyno [irritable] - easily provoked, to stimulate, to spur on, to urge, to irritate, or arouse to anger. To scorn, despise, provoke, make angry.
[love] is not easily angered… (NIV)
[love] is not easily provoked… (KJV) and the Amplified version adds to that (nor overly sensitive and easily angered) (AMP)
[love] doesn’t fly off the handle… (Message)
provoked - to stimulate or incite someone to do or feel something, especially arousing anger in them. To deliberately make someone annoyed or angry.
WHAT do you think WHEN you get annoyed / angry / provoked?
Psalm 37:8
Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper - it only leads to harm.
Proverbs 14:29
People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness.
We must learn to manage our emotions, or our emotions will manage our actions.
Three Practical Steps to live by “Love is not easily angered…”
James 1:19
Be Quick to Listen
Slow to Speak
Slow to Anger
Listening is more important than speaking.
Saying the right thing at the right time in the right way is more important than just having the right thing to say.
3. Love keeps no record of being wronged…
[love is not] resentful… (ESV)
[love] keeps no account of wrongs... (Berean Study Bible)
[love] thinks no evil… (NKJV)
[love] doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do… (CEV)
[love] doesn’t keep score of the sins of others… (MSG)
[love is not] quick to take offense… (TPT)
What does it mean to take a record of being wronged?
Keeping ammunition for future events…
“Time heals all wounds…” should be:
”Time heals wounds that are tended to properly…”
Ephesians 4:31-32
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Love is not selfish, love is not easily irritated, love keeps no record of the wrongs done to them…