Without Love You Have Nothing!

13:1... The Corinthian’s prized the gift of speech. They enjoyed listening to many eloquent orators of the day.

The power of persuasive speech is a great gift and our history records many who have stirred people to do great things, even to engaged in battles that led to death.

Patrick Henry declared, “give me liberty or give me death, and a nation rose up to fight for freedom.

Winston Churchill, in response to grave concern of Hitler’s plans to invade the British Isles," proclaimed: "We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender!”

Human words have the power to curse or cheer, hurt or heal, inspire or infuriate. Paul is reminding us that our words, without the love of God, are like the sounds of cymbals or gongs, without any orchestration or melody.

People will be more interested in hearing about the God who loves them, if they first experience God’s love, for them, through you and me.

D.L. Moody once said, “We must get people to love us first, then turn them over to Christ.”

Jesus said (John 13:34), ”A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another,” (14:15), "If you love me, you will obey what I command,” (15:12), “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
13:2a... Not only is love greater than the most gifted speech; love is greater than prophecy!

Biblical prophets spoke God’s truth, so people could know and understand God’s plan, purpose, and provision of the Messiah, Jesus Christ!

Paul insists here, that without God’s love, even the proclamation of God’s revealed truths is lacking.
John 5:39, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me.”
John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
13:2b... Paul compares God’s love to the ability for one to understand “all mysteries” (divine truth). Without love for others, even this great gift, amounts to nothing.
13:2c... Man possesses more knowledge today than ever before. Scientific information is being recorded in such abundance, that even the brightest can’t stay up with it. The truth is, all the knowledge in world can’t solve humanity’s biggest problem - SIN; in fact, in many ways, more “knowledge” just seems to exacerbate the problem.

Knowledge is important, but knowledge must be immersed in love in order to be effective. Love allows God’s principles and precepts to transform lives, for genuine Godly love will always result in action.

St. Augustine said, “[Love] has hands to help others. It has feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.”

We often fail God, not because of a lack of knowledge; but because of our lack of love. Many Christians have considerable knowledge about God, but they lack God’s love. Knowledge without love is static! But knowledge with love is dynamic: life giving, nurturing, edifying, maturing, reproducing.
13:2d... The faith talked about here is the kind that gets things done (Matthew 17:20), “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Without faith, we cannot please God, in fact, faith is the foundation on which love can grow, for we must come to Christ in faith before we can know God’s love. Hebrews 11:1-3, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and
that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

George Sweeting, past President of the Moody Bible Institute said, “Faith is great, but love is greater. Faith has priority, but love has preeminence. Faith is the beginning; but love is the goal. Faith connects the soul with God, and God is love. Faith is the means that God uses to bring us into His love, but faith without love leaves us bankrupt.”
13:3a... Most all of us have given to the “poor,” at some time, by donating food, clothing, toys, or dollars, but you know, it is almost too easy for us to just write a check, or to just drop something off; it is very easy for us to distance ourself from a sincere sense of caring.
Too often we give out of a feeling of obligation rather than out of a sense of gratitude for what God has given to us, which should move us to share with others in need. Some people give out of guilt, others give in order to be recognized, but both of those reasons are wrong!

The activity and attitude of the early church models a the reason and manner for our giving (Acts 2:44-45), “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.”

The early Christians believed that God’s gifts were meant to supply the needs of all and should, therefore, be shared. What was not essential for their own needs they shared with those who had needs.

Our benevolence must be defined by God’s love. It has often been said, “One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving.” - Amy Carmichael 13:3b... Martyrdom is not common to our experience today, but it was at the time of Paul’s writing. Execution by burning at the stake was a horrible death suffered by many Christians who died because of their faith.

But martyrdom can be motivated by fanatical devotion to a cause rather than out of a love for Christ, e.g., many of you have seen pictures of Buddhist monks who set themselves on fire to make a pint about nonviolence; but when human sacrifice is motivated by self-interest or worldly causes, there is no spiritual value or significance.

During the Vietnam war, a young man in Washington, D.C., set fire to himself and burned to death, his reason was to publicly protest the war he felt was wrong.

Paul is saying that for a person to purposely suffer for any reason, besides their love for God, will produce absolutely nothing, and will not gain anything of value.

As humans we are very good at rationalizing and justifying a great many things, even our so called giving to those who are less fortunate, or our willingness to “suffer” in any given situation for what may appear to be a sacrifice on our part.

We are good at hiding or camouflaging our real motives, but God knows the very intentions of our heart and our motives are laid bare before Him.

God loves us so much that He provided His own Son as the sacrifice for our sins. God also provided His Spirit to live in us so that we might experience God’s love daily, and so that His love would cause changes in us as we are conformed to the character of Christ, with Whom we will spend eternity in heaven.

The lifelong goal for many is power, fame and fortune, while satisfying all their passions and desires in this life.
But God says (1John 2:15-16), “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world.”

In 1Corinthians 13:1-3, Paul contrasts God’s love with the ability to speak with great eloquence, to proclaim the mysteries and wisdom of God, to have supernatural faith, to deeply care and share with those in need, and even the wherewithal to die for the sake of Christ; in final evaluation, not one of these has any value if they are not done out of a genuine love from and for God.

What a great joy it is to personally experience God’s Love, and what a great blessing it is to be able to share God’s Love with others. That is why He has saved us!

Ephesians 3:14-21, For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.