Love Others

The second of the great commands.
I Corinthians 13:1-7


Last summer I got to work at Northland Camp in Wisconsin. The first week and a half of camp was “staff training” week where we learned what we were doing and how to do it. During this first week I got to know a lot of the leadership team of the camp. Starting with brother Steve all the way down to the team leaders, the leadership team showed a constant, Godly love for the rest of the staff. They taught us how to love and demonstrated their teachings with their lives. This would be the beginning of a huge lesson that God was teaching me.

In 1 Corinthians God gives us a clear picture of what love does. All of our good works and all of our great attempts at helping others or serving our communities really do not mean anything without love. It says in chapter 13:1 that one could have “ the tongues of men and of angels.” This is referring to what was considered the greatest spiritual gift in that day. Here we are told that even with a great gift, it means nothing without love. Today this could be the gift of a great voice, or the ability to perform music well. Although you may be a great artist, or an amazing singer it really doesn’t matter and is not really important unless love is the motivation for your performance. He continues by telling us that even if we have “… faith to remove mountains…” without love, it is no big deal. Dwell on this for a moment. Christians today rarely have any faith, let alone faith to move mountains. Personally, I struggle to trust God with forgiveness. I worry and am fearful of my sin which causes me to bear guilt constantly. This is a mountain in my life. This is what I need to trust God with, and as I learn how to He will move this out of my life. What kind of faith do we have? What causes you to worry or fear? That thing is exactly what God wants you to commit to Him. In verse three Paul tells us that the ultimate sacrifice is futile without the love of Christ guiding our steps. He writes that you can martyr yourself, give up your life, sacrifice your body “to be burned” , without love. This forces us to take a hard long look at all of our motivations. Why did I just go get that cup of water? Why am I holding this door open? Is it to make myself look good? Am I serving me? Because all that I do for myself or for others is futile, unless my ultimate driving motivation is a love for Christ ultimately and for others practically.

Beginning in verse 4 we see what love is. First of all, love is patient and kind. Think about this briefly. Patient – waiting on others, literally able to wait without being annoyed or anxious. This could be with an unsaved friend who will not turn to the Gospel. It could be with a parent, sibling, or teacher who doesn’t see things the same way as you, and who insists on their way being correct. He also says love is kind. Kindness, being considerate. Understand when a brother has views that are stricter than your own and is adamant about their personal views. Just as you don’t want to be rejected because of a looser standard, don’t reject someone because they have stricter views than that of your own. By the same token, if someone is “liberal” in your estimation, that does not give you the right to view them as less than you. Be kind, understand, and never view a Christian as less than yourself. We are all sinners! Secondly in verse 6 we are told that love “rejoices with the truth.” This idea pertains specifically in my life to gossip. Talking behind another’s back is a very common, easy thing to do, and for some reason we (Christians) justify this sin in our minds and feel okay afterward. This verse calls us not to seek out gossip and falsehoods, but instead to rejoice with the truth. So, when that brother comes to you and starts talking about another Christian, you do not rejoice or participate or allow that to go on. Instead, if you know the truth you are excited for this believer and you spread that truth instead. This does not say to spread the truth of their sin. In verse 7 we are instructed to “bear all things, hope all things, endure all things.” This part of the verse is referring to when you find out about others sin. After you have confronted the brother or sister in their sin, and they have acknowledged their sin and tell you they are working on it with God’s grace. Then you cannot go and tell others. You are to be a help to that person by keeping them accountable and praying for them. Never are you to go gossip with another believer because this one who has sinned has confided in you! They have trusted you as another Christian to hold them up before the Lord in prayer, but this gives you no right to share that information. You are to “cover” their sin. Not hide it or help them continue in it, but you don’t publicize the sin to others. My pastor said it is like covering them with a blanket of protection. This is very different than how we generally deal with these situations.

Love literally means that you have a selfless concern for the welfare of others. This is not going to be a natural thing for any of us. But God has called us to it. At camp they taught us that if you struggle to love someone than you must do two things. First, you have to pray for that individual. Bring them before your God and ask Him to bless them. Next, look for evidences of grace in their lives. If you start naming all the things Christ has done in their lives they seem like pretty good people, and probably not very different from you. Christ has called you to love others, it is the Second Greatest Command in the Bible. Put yourself out of mind, and love.