WWUTT 1597 Love is Patient, Love is Kind (1 Corinthians 13:4-6)

You have heard it said many, many times, love is patient, love is kind.

But what do these things mean? It's not about being romantic. It's about being

Christ -like when we understand the text. You're listening to When We Understand the

Text, an online Bible ministry so that we may know all the riches freely given to us by God.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter of the

Bible. I really got to quit saying that. So you can't say the love chapter without, first of all, the way you say it is spelled

L -U -V, and then you got to stretch it out. Yeah. Anyway, I'm going to start reading in verse 4 and go through verse 8.

The Apostle Paul writing to the church in Corinth, love is patient. Love is kind, is not jealous, does not brag, is not puffed up.

It does not act becomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered.

It does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. But if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away.

If there are tongues, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will be done away.

Now that last portion there of verse 8, I might wait until tomorrow to get to that. What we're going to look at mainly here in verses 4 through 7, we're going to go through each one of these qualities of love that Paul describes for the church in Corinth and understand more deeply what these things mean.

So first of all, love is patient. Now I want to remind you once again, as Paul is giving this list of qualifications of love to the church in Corinth, what he describes love as being, the church is doing the opposite.

They're not doing this, right? So for Paul to say to the church in Corinth, love is patient.

If you were to go into that church, you would see demonstrated impatience.

You would not see patience among the Christians there in the church. And I want to clarify again that this is not a church where the

Holy Spirit does not exist. Paul truly believes that the Spirit is there.

But as he stated back in chapter 3, these are infants in the faith. So it's like he's got to go back to laying down the basic principles once again.

And some of those basic teachings are going to be understanding what love is. If he did not believe that the

Holy Spirit was there, then he wouldn't even be writing to them at all. That would just be it.

They're a lost cause. Farewell church in Corinth. But because he knows they are sons and daughters of God, and these are indeed people that believe in the gospel and desire to grow in it, then he is long -suffering with them.

He is teaching them these things and wanting to grow them in the knowledge of the truth, that they may be sanctified.

So in helping the church to understand what love is, as Christ has demonstrated it, because everything that we're going to read here about love, this is love as God has given it to us.

Because God is love, right? First John 4, 7. So the first thing on the list that Paul says regarding love to the church in Corinth is that love is patient.

Now what is patience? We use this a lot. You've heard this description of love many times.

Love is patient. Love is kind. But what does this mean? The word as it appears in scripture, especially in the

New Testament, because of course the original language here was Greek. So as we're translating it from Greek into English, the original word in Greek is actually a long word.

It's a longer word than patient, and I'm not going to try to pronounce it since I'm not a Greek guy anyway, but the word means long -suffering.

It means to suffer long, to be forebearing, to persevere.

So how is God patient with us? Well, though we have sinned, he doesn't obliterate us, right?

He doesn't wipe us out. Though God would be completely justified in pouring out his wrath on us the moment that we go astray, which is any given moment really.

There is no place in time in which you have been perfectly righteous, worthy of the presence of God.

We are received into his presence. We have a relationship with God because he's patient, because he's long -suffering with us, not because we did something exactly right today.

We have acquired just enough righteousness that I may now have fellowship with God. No, you would never get there.

The righteousness that we have, that we may have a relationship with God, is by faith in Jesus Christ, who has imputed his righteousness to us.

So that now when God looks at us, he doesn't see the wretched sinner. He sees a righteous person that has been given the righteousness of Christ.

We've had our sinful, filthy rags removed, and we've been clothed in Christ's righteousness.

And so God loves us with the same love that he loves his own son. And because he loves us, whenever we go astray, he doesn't disown us, but rather is patient with us.

We receive correction and discipline for, as it says in Hebrews 12, if we were not disciplined by God, then we would be illegitimate children.

And we would not be the sons and daughters of God. But God is long -suffering with us in this way, just like you as a parent are long -suffering with your own children.

Now you would not be justified in obliterating your kids. The moment that they do something wrong, you wouldn't be justified in that.

God is holy. He is righteous. He is the judge, and we are not. So he could destroy us, and God would be just in doing so.

But he is loving and patient. And just as God is patient with us, so we're patient with one another.

Parents is you are patient with your kids. So when it comes to fellow believers in the body of Christ, we are patient with those who are weak and helping to build them up in this most holy faith.

The instruction in Romans 15, 1 and 2, we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves, but we look out for our neighbor to build him up.

And this is all tied up with love being patient. You also get a sense of commitment here with this descriptor that love is patient.

If we are long -suffering with one another, if we are enduring, then we are committed to each other.

And that's Paul's instruction for the church in Corinth. It's for the church today, as the Holy Spirit continues to say to us that love must be patient.

We must be committed to one another, not writing one another off the moment that you were offended by somebody else, because God doesn't get rid of us when we offend him.

He is patient with us. We must be patient with one another. He is forgiving of us. We must forgive each other.

So first of all, love is patient. It's committed. It's long -suffering. It endures.

And that actually comes up even at the end of these descriptions. So love is patient.

It endures. What do we have at the start of verse 8? Love never fails. It endures. So that kind of becomes the bookends of these descriptions of love.

The next one is love is kind. Now that's one of those words that doesn't really need a definition, right?

You know what kindness is. Or do you? Sometimes when we define a word as basic as kind, we give it a negative definition.

Like, well kindness is not being mean. As long as I'm not cruel to somebody else, then

I'm being kind. Is that really what kindness is though? Just abstain from doing bad things to others and then you're automatically a kind person?

No, Paul is denoting action here. So he's calling the Corinthians to do something.

Love is active. As you've heard it said before, it's almost a cliche. But love is a verb.

So in order to love one another, we must actually do for one another. So kindness would be encouraging, it's gentleness, it's service to one another.

And it is looking for ways that we can do that for each other. So it's more than just abstaining from being mean.

But we are looking for ways that we might serve and build one another up.

And as Paul has been instructing the church here to do that which is spiritual, as we are filled with the

Holy Spirit of God. If you've been given a gift, you use it for the service of the church.

Then for him to tell the church that love is kind is to tell them serve one another.

Love is patient. You're committed to each other. Love is kind. You're serving one another. Now, the first two definitions of love are positive.

They're active. Love is patient. Love is kind. Then we have negative, right?

So that's what love is. Here's what love is not. We begin with love is patient, love is kind, then it's love is not jealous.

So you're not looking at what somebody else has and wishing that you had that. As that goes with spiritual gifts, since that's the context that we find 1

Corinthians 13 in, it's not seeing somebody else's gifting or the work that they do or the service that they have in the church and wishing that you could do that.

So you're not jealous of another person's position, their opportunities, the talents that they have.

You're not jealous of those things. You are content with what you have and you know that God has called you to something in particular, and though it may not be as seen or as popular or as recognized or as celebrated as what somebody else is doing, you are content and happy to do so for the service of God and for the blessing of his body.

Because again, even though it's not something that is as celebrated as a gifting that somebody else has, yet the job that you do is so incredibly important that it is building one another up in love.

So you're not jealous of what someone else has. You would celebrate what it is that they have.

Praise God that God has given you that gift. And then you're also praising God for the gift that you have received.

Again, there's something active in here in this. It's not just simply looking at what another person has or the way that God has blessed another person.

And then as long as I don't feel something negative toward that person that I'm being loving, no, you are celebrating what they have.

Praise God for you. What a blessing that God has chosen you for this. How can

I help you? How can I be of service so that I'm helping build you up in love? And then the whole church is building up together.

So this is what Paul is motivating the church toward here when he says love is not jealous.

It's more than just abstaining from jealousy. But you are actively looking for ways to encourage and build one another up.

If you're doing that, if you're showing the kindness in the word before, in the descriptor before, then you're not being jealous.

If you're being kind, you're not being jealous. If you're looking for ways to encourage and build one another up, then you're not looking for those things that you wish that you had that another person has.

You are content with what you have. What Christ has blessed you with is sufficient. And you continue in this to the service of God and for the building up of his church.

Next up, love does not brag. So if you are one who has been so blessed by God, you're not boasting in what you have.

You say God has blessed you with a kind of a gifting and an opportunity that makes you more seen and more celebrated than most people.

Well, you don't use that gift to advance yourself, to establish your brand and then using other people around you to kind of build yourself up.

If that's what you're using your gift for, then you don't have love and it's nothing. You're not boasting in yourself or progressing yourself or out for you.

Again, even the person who has the gift that is more recognized and more celebrated by others uses this gift.

For the blessing of the church to serve God and to build up his church, love does not it is not puffed up, that's the last part of verse four.

So love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous, it does not brag, it is not puffed up, it's not conceded is a way that another translation might put it.

The next verse, verse five, also has negative definitions of love, meaning that these are things love is not.

The first one is love does not act unbecomingly. It's not indecent or improper.

Now, the word, the Greek word here for behaving unbecomingly, it's used only twice in the

Bible and both times are in First Corinthians. The other time that we saw this was in chapter seven, verse 36, where Paul says, if any man thinks that he is acting unbecomingly toward his virgin daughter, if she is past her youth, then it must be so.

Let him do what he wishes. He does not sin. Let her marry. So if you'll remember back to the instructions in First Corinthians seven,

Paul is saying that the times are going to be difficult. I want to spare you from some of the trials that you're going to have to face because of persecution that is coming into the world.

And so it would be better for you in these days to not marry. And, and Paul's instruction to fathers is if it's better for you to not let your daughter marry, then keep her from that, keep her from marriage.

But in so doing, if you think that keeping her from marriage is being unfair toward your daughter, that would be another way of describing acting unbecomingly, right?

You think you're being unfair to her in some way, then listen to that conviction that is in your heart.

And if that opportunity arises to give her to a good young man, then let her marry. That's the, the only two places that we see this particular

Greek word used in first Corinthians. It's there in chapter seven and then right here in chapter 13.

So if you are behaving toward another person in such a way that you become convicted about how you're treating them, like there's something in your mind and your heart, maybe

I'm just not treating them fairly. Listen to that. It could be the Holy spirit that is convicting you about your attitude toward that person.

Do not act unbecomingly towards someone else, but even think about your attitude toward other people.

The next part of verse five, love does not seek its own. And we've been talking about that as we've been going through these definitions, you're not trying to build your own platform, but you are using those gifts, those opportunities that God has granted to you for the encouragement of somebody else to build them up, to grow them in sanctification.

Like we're all growing and godliness and Christ likeness and holiness together.

When we serve one another in the ways that the Holy spirit here is calling us to serve each other.

So we're not seeking our own. If we are filled with the love of God who gave his son for us to die on a cross for our sins, that we might live that kind of sacrifice for us.

We are looking for ways that we can even sacrifice for one another. And if we're sacrificing for others, then we're not seeking our own.

We're helping one another. This description of love goes on. Love is not provoked.

It's not easily provoked. It's not a easily aroused to anger.

In other words. Now, as a parent, this is one that I find myself really needing to work on that.

I don't lose my cool with my children too quickly. You've heard

Becky and I say that we don't fight. We have never raised our voices to each other. We've never called one another names, been married for over 10 years, and we've never said a disparaging word to one another.

Now I have a one time, one time, a few times I've made comments insensitively.

It was not with an intent to try to tear her down. It was just, I just wasn't thinking about what

I was saying and I've apologized for those words, but I've never deliberately tried to go after her and make her feel bad or cut her down or make her feel guilty for something.

We, as a husband and wife, are trying to build each other up. The world is crazy.

We get cut down enough by the people that are in this world. So we want to be able to come home and find encouragement and building each other up in our marriage.

We're not as good about that with our kids. And so this is one of those places where I need to work on patience, right?

I need to work on not being easily provoked, but I'm slow to anger. God is slow to anger toward me.

So I need to be slow to anger toward my kids. And when my kids do something wrong, when something is a mistake, not to take it as though it's some sort of offense toward me, but to be patient with that and help to correct them.

If it's a disobedience, even in their sin and their disobedience, I don't respond in anger as though I've been personally offended because then all my kids are learning at that point is, well, just don't make mom and dad mad.

They don't really learn that what I did was wrong. So when they're getting in trouble for a sin or something that they've done wrong, that's an opportunity for me to sit down with them and explain to them what they've done wrong, not just reacting with immediate punishment, because then to them, it just looks like, well,

I just made mom and dad mad. So I just need to make sure I'm not making them mad. They're not really learning the difference between right and wrong.

So when we're not easily provoked to anger, we are patient with one another and helping to correct one another, admonishing, which means to correct with goodwill, building one another up in love.

Paul goes on to say, love does not take into account a wrong suffered. So another way you've heard this put is love keeps no record of wrongs.

We don't have a running tally of things that somebody has done against us. And the moment they do something else, boom, here comes that list.

Yeah, well, you've also done this, this, this, and this, as Paul said to the church in Colossi in Colossians chapter three, he said to them, as you have been forgiven, so you must also forgive the forgiveness that God has shown us.

We must show to one another, not keeping a list of wrong suffered, but we are forgiving, letting it go, continuing to build one another up and encourage each other in the

Lord verse six. Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but it rejoices with the truth.

So here we've even got a moral connotation here regarding love. Those that claim that same sex marriage is love.

Just let love be love. Nope. That's rejoicing in immorality. It's rejoicing in unrighteousness.

That's contrary to what Paul says about love. If love rejoices in the truth, then that which is true, according to what

God says is true, must be the thing that we love. We love God's truth.

If we're walking in sin and evil and unrighteousness, you can call it love, but it's not.

It's counterfeit. The loving thing to do when you see a person in sin, the loving thing to do is to tell them that it's wicked and that the judgment of God is coming against such things, pleading with them that they would turn from this sinfulness to the

Lord Jesus Christ and be forgiven and so be saved. We are told in Colossians chapter three, beginning in verse five.

Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.

On account of these, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, and we must warn the world that the wrath of God is coming against such things.

That's the loving thing to do so that they would turn from that sin to the goodness and righteousness of Christ and so be saved.

Be careful, be wary about what the world says is loving and fear

God and not men. So anyone's opinions of you do not matter.

You are serving the Lord Christ and building one another up in love.

Let's finish there. We'll pick up in verse seven tomorrow. Heavenly Father, we thank you for loving us, for showing patience toward us and being kind to us, sending the

Lord Jesus Christ to die for our sins, rising again from the grave so that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

Jesus said to his disciples, no greater love as any man than this, that he lays down his life for his friends.

And that's what Jesus has done for us. May we consider the needs of others even ahead of our own as you have considered our need and gave your own.

It's in Jesus' precious name that we pray. Amen. Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues.

You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com. Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's Word, when we understand the text.