Month: April 2016

Knowledge is love and light and vision.
Helen Keller

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
The English Standard Version

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard.  Mother would come out and say, “You’re tearing up the grass.”  “We’re not raising grass,” Dad would reply, “We’re raising boys.”
Harmon Killebrew

It’s difficult to imagine anything more nourishing to the soul than family life.
Thomas Moore

A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies.
Proverbs 14:5
The Revised Standard Version

The real joy of life is in its play.  Play is anything we do for the joy and love of doing it, apart from any profit, compulsion, or sense of duty.  It is the real living of life.
Walter Rauschenbusch

God’s promises are to be the guide and measure of our desires and expectations.
Matthew Henry

I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.
Psalm 143:6
The King James Version

Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer.  Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen.
Leonardo da Vinci

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Our Peace
by Jim Black
Ephesians 2:11-22
Focus: Jesus has brought peace; destroying the walls between us and making his people ONE in him.
Function: To encourage a church with the message of reconciliation in Jesus, vertically (with God) and horizontally (with fellow mankind.
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.”
That’s the way Robert Frost began his famous poem, “Mending Wall.” It’s a wonderful poem full of humor and (I think) a sense of sadness.  Its about two neighbors who go through the same ritual each spring, meeting at the wall to repair it-to refill the gaps that fallen stones have left and repair the damage done by hunters whose pursuit of their game has left the wall in disrepair. The neighbors have apparently done this for many years, yet it strikes the narrator in the poem to question just why it is they have the wall in the first place.
“And on a day we meet to walk the line
and set the wall between us once again
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
we have to use a spell to make them balance:
‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned!’
We wear our fingers tough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of outdoor game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, “Good fences make good neighbors.”
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
“Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it
Where there are cows?
Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall , . ..
They don’t have cows anymore that might stray onto the other’s property! Just trees. So why is the wall there? Hasn’t the time come that its purpose no longer exists? Yet, it remains . . . why? Because its always been there?
The truth is: its human nature to construct walls, isn’t it?  In our neighborhoods, we build our houses and then hold up inside of them rarely venturing out to get to know our neighbors. . . . I mean really get to know them. In society in general, we construct walls.   There are the walls which 140 years (this month) after the end of slavery in America still divides black and white. There are walls which divide gender- men and women; there are walls of social status- the divide of affluent and the poor Walls are all around us! And for many- perhaps they help us feel comfortable, protected, unchallenged. I’m convinced that’s how it was for 1st century Gentiles- to whom Paul is writing his letter of Ephesians to! We see in this text that was just read this divide between Jew & Gentile!
Ephesians is about the church. Paul is writing it to the church at Ephesus to be circulated among other area churches to show them how to be the church! He will concentrate later on- on some of the moral implications of being in Christ. He has emphasized the blessings that are found in Christ, the power that is found in Christ; & he has reminded these Christians from whence they came- “you were dead in your sin.” But ALL of THIS has been to show the church how to be the church! God is about building His church! But, as any good construction worker can tell you, before you can build . . . some things have to go!
Eph 2:11-12
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)– 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. (NIV)
I. Paul starts out this passage by saying, “Remember the WALL!”
Remember Paul is talking to Gentiles, here. . . (like us) “Uncircumcised” was a typical & disrespectful term used by the Jews (“The Chosen”) to describe the Gentiles. They were heathens . . . clearly NOT the people of God! It would be hard to adequately describe for you in today’s terms the disdain that Jews had for Gentiles (& vice versa- no doubt). As wide as the divide has been between whites & blacks in America- I don’t think that quite does it justice. As bitter the divide right now between some fundamentalist Moslems and Christians – that’s not the same thing either! The divide was racial- but extended far beyond race. It was political- but extended far beyond politics. It was religious- but extended far beyond religion. Other ancient Jewish writings refer to Gentiles as “fuel for the fires of hell.”
In the temple in the 1st century there was a literal dividing wall which separated the important part of the temple, the Court of the Israelites, with the Court of the Gentiles. Signs were posted in Latin and Greek warning Gentiles not to go any farther into the temple precincts under penalty of death! Archaeological and other evidence has found such signs! This was a serious divide! Imagine how difficult it must have been for either group to extend the other the right hand of fellowship!
But remember, Paul is talking to Gentile CHRISTIANS! They were Gentiles ‘by birth’ (lit. ‘By flesh’) but they were now Christians and now a part of the church at Ephesus. Paul tells them to remember when they were separated from God! Remember when that wall had separated them from God!   Separation from Christ/ God is the very definition of spiritual death! They were excluded from citizenship among God’s chosen people; ‘foreigners’/ strangers to the covenant / the promise of God.   They were without HOPE because they were without God! Why does Paul want them to remember?
Because one needs to remember ‘how bad it was before Christ’ before one can appreciate ‘how sweet it is in Christ.’ ??? There was this bitter wall which had separated them (not just from the Jews) but from God!
In 1949, following the defeat of Nazi Germany in WW II and the re-organization of Europe, the nation of Germany was divided into East & West. In the East a communist government was set up under the influence of the Soviet Union. In the West a free, democratic government was set up and benefitted greatly from the Marshall Plan & the economics of free enterprise. Life became much better in the West for German citizens. The city of Berlin became a crucible where these divided philosophies would literally divide the city. Fearful of losing many of its citizens, East Germany closed the border between the two states in 1952. But that didn’t keep an estimated 2.5 million East Germans from fleeing to West Germany between 1949 -1961. So, in 1961 the East German government built the Berlin Wall and strictly enforcing such defections. The wall stood for almost 30 years as a very real and symbolic divide between the East & the West.
I still remember a speech given by President Reagan in 1987 at the Brandenburg Gate- a section of the Berlin Wall in West Berlin. At the height of the Cold War, the President used the opportunity to encourage freedom and a new peace. As he spoke about the wall behind him which separated West Berlin from East Berlin for decades, I still remember his words, “Mr. Gorbechev, tear down this wall!”   I can’t help in hearing those words, from recalling images we saw just a few short years later when the wall was quite literally torn down. In November of 1987, the East German government held a press conference and lifted travel restrictions between the two Germanys. And Germans (both from the East & the West) scaled the wall and danced in celebration! Perhaps some of you traveled to Germany in the late eighties and have a piece of that wall? Today nothing of it remains in a united Germany and a whole Berlin. The wall is just gone, a thing of the past. The most frequently asked question in Berlin today is: “Where’s the wall?”
Eph 2:13-18
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. 14  For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. (NIV)
II. Paul’s emphasis: Christ, himself, is our Peace!  Christ has torn down that wall that had divided for so long! We typically think of ‘Peace’ as the absence of war; especially in our time when that peace is threatened and the issue of war is a real possibility.  Especially now when I think of ‘peace’ my mind conjures up images of those who are protesting the possible war in Iraq and images of those in the 60’s who created their own sub-culture and came to be known as ‘peacenicks’. That’s NOT the kind of peace that Paul is talking about here! Peace is not JUST the absence of hostility . . . it is much more! It has its roots in the Old Testament concept of “shalom”, a fundamental Jewish concept even today. Shalom is a much more comprehensive term for salvation and life with God. It means wholeness, completeness, well-being, prosperity . . . In other words: Shalom is the way things SHOULD be; the ideal!
Christ has restored the ideal by destroying the wall and bringing Jew & Gentile together! Notice, the two are made one in Him! “His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace.” The Gentiles who had been so far away from God- separated by so much- have been brought near! Israel, too, who had been awaiting this coming Messiah, but had failed him miserably in their keeping of the law . . reconciliation happens thru the blood of Christ . . i.e. what God has done in Christ. For Paul, all of this happens IN CHRIST! We were walled away from God and Christ tore down that wall!
Notice the fullness of the Godhead in vs. 18- what happens as a result of this reconciliation. For thru him [Christ] we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. With the barriers gone, we ALL (Jew, Gentile, male, female, black, white, etc.) have full access to Father . . .because we share the one Spirit.
Eph 2:19-22
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (NIV)
III. “Welcome to the Great House of God!”
As we said, in order to build, one must tear down first. Now, with the wall torn down, God has built his church; the house of God.
Notice who is in this house. “You . . . are fellow citizens with God’s people (lit. ‘holy people’) and members of God’s household.” In other words, we’re FAMILY! An amazing thing happened when Christ removed that barrier between us and Himself! He also tore down the barriers that we build between ourselves and other people! His church is to be a place where all people can come and share together . . . equally!
Gal 3:28-29 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise  (NIV)
The ground at the cross is level! This ‘peace’; the restored relationship; is both Vertical & Horizontal!   Between me and God; between you and me! Too many people believe that religion is only what a person does when they are alone with God. They forget that the vertical relationship with God expresses itself in the horizontal relationships with people. Christianity is to be lived out in community with other Christians! The text did NOT say, “He is my peace,” but rather “He is our peace.”
This house seems to be on pretty solid footing “..built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” Here I don’t believe Paul has in mind the O.T. prophets, but the numerous evangelists, teachers & preachers like himself who have traveled preaching this message of reconciliation to anyone who would listen!
2 Cor 5:17-20 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (NIV)
The message: Reconciliation- “The Wall has come down!” The messengers: the ambassadors like Paul to whom this message had been committed.
But the Cornerstone is Jesus Christ, himself! He is the most important stone in THIS building!  Cornerstones in ancient buildings were the primary load-bearing stones that determined how solid the building was going to be. It set the plumb-line (so to speak) for the rest of the building. One cornerstone unearthed in Palestine was found to weigh 570 tons! God’s church would be built upon the ROCK: Jesus Christ, himself! He is to set the standard for the church, not the world. He is to set the agenda for the church, not the world. In fact, the Christian community has no other reason to exist other than Christ himself.
What does this message have to say to us? The only thing Paul tells us to DO in this text is remember.
If this is God’s Word to His church, what does this have to say to the walls either implicit or explicit that we erect? Among Christians, what walls exist among us? Are there still walls which divide the affluent & the poor? The black & the white? What about less obvious walls like between the old & the young; or the long-timer members vs. the new comers? Are we doing everything we can to be welcoming of EVERYBODY? Does everybody find a comfortable place within our family? Who are we walling in or out . . even unintentionally & unknowingly?
If this is God’s Word to His church, what does this have to say about our foundation?  Who or What is this church founded upon? What is our cornerstone? Is it Jesus Christ or ourselves?   Our own works or abilities? If tomorrow the very foundations of this congregation were shaken to the very core and everything changed . . . if all of a sudden the government told us that it would be illegal to worship our God and our building was burned down in front of us . . . if our church leaders were arrested and hauled off to prison . . . what would be left? Could this church survive being shaken to the very core? I know that it would if it is built upon the chief cornerstone: Jesus Christ! But if its just built upon men, -even elders or preachers- or programs, or traditions- what would happen?
This text is a call for the church to be the CHURCH!
. . . to be family! . . . to be a place of reconciliation!
. . . to be a place where the walls are let down and open & honest, real relationships are formed!
. . . to be a place where Jesus is central & at the heart & core of everything we do!
And it’s a call for US to be the type of Christians that can form a church such as this!
The invitation of Jesus is offered to you this morning. Its an invitation that is ALWAYS open! Its an invitation for anyone who has a need for the prayers of this church to let those be known so that we can pray for you. Especially if you don’t know Jesus.
Have you had the dividing wall between you and God broken down? Have you committed your life to Jesus Christ who SO wants to destroy that wall for you? Have you turned from the sins of your past, named Him as the Lord of your life and committed your life to Him by being baptized into Christ? If not, let us encourage you to do so this morning!

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The sun…in its full glory, either at rising or setting–this, and many other like blessings we enjoy daily; and for the most of them, because they are so common, most men forget to pay their praises.  But let not us.
Isaac Walton

As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me.  You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!
Psalm 40:17
The English Standard Version

God always gives the best to those who leave the choice with Him.
Unknown

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Many of us have inherited great riches from our parents–the bank account of personal faith and family prayers.
Nels F. S. Ferre

The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns:  but the way of the righteous is made plain.
Proverbs 15:19
The King James Version

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As light increases we see ourselves to be worse than we thought.
Francis Fenelon

For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10:10
The New King James Version

When we love Christ and our desire is to please him in everything, we are released from clinging to rules, regulations, and performance.
Arthur Halliday

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Heaven’s calendar has seven Sundays a week.  God sanctifies each day.  He conducts holy business at all hours and in all places.  He uncommons the common by turning kitchen sinks into shrines, cafes into convents, and nine-to-five workdays into spiritual adventures.
Max Lucado

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement.
Matthew 12:36
The King James Version

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Cleave to the teachings of Christ completely, and let go of other teachings, just as a sailor reads his compass, though other signs around him might contradict it.
Leo Tolstoy

My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
Psalm 63:5
The New International Version

Certain thoughts are prayers.  There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees.
Victor Hugo

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The Elements of Love
by Dennis Davidson
 
1 Corinthians 13:4-6
Perhaps you’ve seen this Peanuts cartoon: Linus announces to his cranky sister, Lucy, that he’s going to be a doctor. “You, a doctor?” She asks. “How can you be a doctor? You don’t love mankind.” Linus replies, “I do too love mankind. It’s people I can’t stand.”
Aren’t we all tempted to love that way, in the abstract. It takes much less commitment. It is much less costly.
Love though is not an abstract concept but a living reality. So after contrasting the indispensable virtue of love with words, spiritual gifts and sacrificial deeds, the Bible compresses in four very short verses an amazing descriptive analysis of what this supreme gift is. In our look at love we will find that it is made up of many elements. You may have seen a scientist take a ray of light and pass it through a crystal prism and seen it come out on the other side broken up into its component colors; orange, indigo, violet, yellow, red, blue and green -the colors of the rainbow (colors of the light spectrum).
In the same way God takes love and passes it through Paul’s inspired intellect and it comes out broken down into its elements [fourteen descriptive statements listed in pairs]. In these few words we have what one might call The Spectrum of The Eternal Gift of Love ( or the analysis of love). Will you observe what its elements are? Will you grasp their common names and practice their virtues that make up the supreme gift of love? All of love’s 15 [14] virtuous actions relate to persons and to life. They are concerned primarily with the here and now of daily life.
We hear a great deal about God’s love for man and even man’s love for God but Christ also spoke about man’s love for man. Christianity is not a separate or an added component to life, but the inspiration of every day life, the breathing of the eternal into this temporal world. Love is not simply a component of life but love is an intent, a purpose, that causes thoughts, words and acts of everyday life. This intent to love was the need of the Corinthians, and this is still our need today.
So that we are all diving for pearls at the same depth perhaps we should distinguish the term love used in our text from other terms. The word used here is agape, not eros which denotes physical love or philos which denotes friendship love, but agape, love that originates with and comes from God Himself which sanctifies all other types of love. Agape love is Christian love. So that we understand this distinction the Apostle uses the definite article with agape.
I. REAL LOVE’S BEGINNING, 13:4.
II. REAL LOVE’S CONSTRAINS, 13:4b-6a.
This hymn of love in 1 Corinthians 13 describes how love is demonstrated in specific actions. The first two pair of descriptive characteristics are positive. Next we will look at the four pairs given in the negative that follow. The first characteristic of agape love is given in verse 4.
“The Love is Patient (long-suffering ).”
The word used for patience here is makrothumeo which is made up of two words, makros-meaning “long” and thumos meaning “passion, anger, rage.” The word literally means long tempered or that the temper is a long time in rising. Thus the word denotes a long waiting time during which the waiter refuses to give into anger. It is the quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation that does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish. It’s the quality of having a long fuse.
It could be looked at as love passive. Love waiting for opportunity to begin. Love not in a hurry, calm ready to do its work when opportunity arises.
Our first color in love’s spectrum is that it agape love is slow to arouse resentment and patiently endures provocation waiting for an opening to do its good work.
Robert Ingersoll, the well-known atheist of the last century, often would stop in the middle of his lectures against God and say, “I’ll give God five minutes to strike me dead for the things I’ve said.” He then used the fact that he was not struck dead as proof that God did not exist. Theodore Parker said of Ingersoll’s claim, “and did the gentleman think he could exhaust the patience of the Eternal God in five minutes?”
God’s children who have appropriated His love will not quickly take offense, much less seek revenge. They will bear patiently with the wrongdoer, not rendering evil for evil, but striving to overcome evil with good, not only in thought but in word and deed.
One of ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S earliest political enemies was Edwin M. Stanton. He called Lincoln a “low cunning clown” and “the original gorilla.” “It was ridiculous for people to go to Africa to see a gorilla,” he would say, “when they could find one easily in Springfield, Illinois.” Lincoln never responded to the slander, but when, as president, he needed a secretary of war, he chose Stanton. When his incredulous friends asked why?, Lincoln replied, “Because he is the best man.” Years later, as the slain president’s body lay in state, Stanton looked into the coffin and said through his tears, “There lies the greatest ruler of men the world has ever seen.” Stanton’s animosity was finally broken by Lincoln’s long-suffering, non-retaliatory spirit. Patient love won out.
Which brings us to our next ingredient of love in verse 4. “The Love is Kind.” Some people say that love is blind. It isn’t blind, but it is kind. It sees people’s imperfections and still cares. Love is not unkindly sever in its criticisms or disagreeable in its actions.
The verb chrestemeuetai noun form is chrestos meaning “useful, gracious, kind,” which comes from chraomai meaning “to use.” This is love active and means more than considerate in behavior. It indicates one enabled to make oneself useful. It is the victory over idle selfishness and comfortable self pleasure.
Have you ever noticed how much of Christ’s life was spent doing kind things? He spent a great portion of His life simply helping people. A great demonstration of love you can do for our heavenly Father is to be kind to His other children. How much our brethren need our kindness. How much our neighbors need our kindness. Kindness, not harshness, is more apt to encourage good in another person.
This verb denotes the disposition to put oneself at the service of others. Passive love is patient, is slow to resent affronts. Active love, or kindness, is disposed to do good.
Love must be specific. A person who loves is one who is patient and kind with an elderly grandmother, a cranky neighbor, an insensitive boss, and off-key choir member, a troublesome daughter, or someone who is mean to him. It is to specific people in our lives that we must be patient and kind. If we keep love in the abstract we will insulate ourselves from its sacrifices and actions. How about you? Is your love abstract or concrete? Love without appropriate actions is not love. Love acts in a way that is kind, gracious, useful and beneficial. Love is demonstrated in specific acts.
An article appeared in the newspaper about a young boy who went to the lingerie department of a store to purchase a gift for his mother. Bashfully he whispered to the clerk that he wanted to buy a slip for his mom, but he didn’t know her size.
The woman explained that it would help is he could describe her-was she thin, fat, short, tall, or what? “Well,” replied the youngster, “she’s just about perfect.” So the clerk sent him home with a medium size.
The article reported that a few days later the mother came to the store to exchange the gift. It was too small. She needed a considerably larger size. The little fellow had seen her through the eyes of love, which always look beyond external appearances.
The kindness of love won’t focus on faults or shortcomings. This doesn’t mean that it is blind to people’s weaknesses and sins. But it sees beyond them, accepting people as they are, looking at their best qualities, and wanting what’s best for them.
We need to examine our response to others in the light of love. If negative attitudes quickly surface, if glaring character defects always loom up before us, let’s ask God to help us see others through eyes of love. Love sees faults through a telescope, not a microscope. Remember, more people have been attracted to Christianity by a believer’s kindness that through zeal, eloquence or learning combined.
II. LOVE’S CONSTRAINS 13: 4b-6a.
Love is like a two sided coin. There are some things it is, positives, and some things it is not, negatives. So here follow eight negative qualities that stifle love. Where these are love cannot be. They are enemies of love. The first four deal with the abuse of the gift of love.
(The Love ) is not envious (jealous).
This is the word zeloo from zeo to boil. The word is used to express any wrong feeling when viewing the good of others. Envy or jealousy is a feeling of ill will or begrudging because of the supposed advantages of others.
Love is not in competition with others. When you attempt a good work there will be others doing it better. Do not be jealous or envious of them but grateful for them. eg. Adrian Rodgers’ preaching.
Beware of envy. Eve was envious of God, wanting to know what He knew and satan seduced her. Cain’s envy of Abel’s acceptable worship hatched the murder of his brother. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery because of envy. Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den because of the jealousy of his fellow officials in Babylon. Real love does not resent the blessings, successes, or well-being of another.
Love is generous and we need to fortify ourselves with great magnanimity and be content with what we are, with what we have and where we are at, doing our best for the Master.
“Does not boast.”
Perpereuetai comes from perperos meaning “vain glory, braggart.” In Greek literature it is used of a talkative, self asserting or self exaggerating persons who put on a show or an outward display. One who sounds his own praises. Love is humble. It puts a seal upon the lips and lets one forget all his accomplishments.
Good communication is essential for a loving marriage. Poet Ogden Nash seems to have hit on a formula to help us remember how to communicate effectively. Nash, in his witty style, wrote:
If you want your marriage to sizzle
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you’re wrong, admit it;
Whenever you’re right, shut up!
We need to put a seal on our lips and forget what we have done. Our self-esteem needs to come from Jesus’ love for us. A love so amazing that He died for us and has forgiven us and now calls us brethren.
When the Florida Marlins baseball team won their first trip to the WORLD SERIES, the press began to shower praise on manager Jim Leyland. When congratulated on winning his first National League Pennant, Leyland responded, “I didn’t win anything. I didn’t throw a pitch, or make a play, or score a run. The players won this-not me.” What a great attitude of humility! Few things are more noticeable to a watching world than those who are gracious not only in defeat but also in victory.
In other words, Love is humble. A humble person does his deeds of love in the name of Jesus for His heavenly Father and not for the eyes of ears of men.
“Nor becomes arrogant.”
The word phusioutai is from phusa-bellows. It means to be puffed out, full of oneself like air puffs out a pair of bellows. The previous word, boast, denotes outward display, this word, arrogant, the inward disposition. It speaks of conceit and presumptuous self-satisfaction.
The arrogant man boasts or toots his own horn and sees others as inferior. The man of love on the other hand is modest and humble, modest because he is humble. The arrogance that makes unwilling to receive the help of others also makes us insensitive to those who need us.
WILLIAM CAREY, who is often referred to as the father of modern missions, illustrates the kind of love that is not puffed up. He was a brilliant linguist and was responsible for translating parts of the Bible into at least 34 different languages and dialects. Yet his accomplishments grew out of humble beginnings that remained in his heart. He was raised in a simple home in England and worked as a cobbler in his early years. When his efforts for the gospel led him to India, he was often ridiculed for his “low” birth and former occupation. At a dinner party one evening another guest, seeking to call attention to Carey’s humble beginnings, said, “Mr. Carey, I understand that you once worked as a shoemaker.” “Oh no, your lordship, “Carey replied, “I was not a shoemaker, only a shoe repairman.”
By contrast, puffed-up people, full of themselves and having an exaggerated opinion of their own importance, are likely to assume that their happiness, well-being, opinions, and feelings are the only things that really count. Puffed-up people find it easy to dismiss the needs and feelings of others.
The first place we might look to see if we have a puffed-up sense of our own importance is in our prayers. Do we pray only for ourselves and our own interests, or do we also pray for the children, spouses, and concerns of others?
If we are wrong we need to admit it. Not only in marriage, but all relationships benefit from this kind of honesty (Prov. 12:22). Protecting ourselves when we’re wrong makes resolution impossible.
On the other hand, we can be equally hard to live with if we insist that we’re always right-and if we’re afraid to let our spouse know that we are fallible. No one likes to be around someone who always seems to be patting himself on the back.
Two simple guidelines for a marriage that pleases God: admit wrong and keep quiet about being right. It’s a good way to keep the relationship strong.
Button up your lip securely
Against the words that bring a tear,
But be swift with words of comfort,
Words of praise, and words of cheer.
In verse 5 we find the sixth characteristic of the love. does not behave unbecomingly (rudely).
Aschemoneo from schea, “behavior,” and meno, “remain,” literally the word means “un-remainable or unabidable behavior.” Not having the conduct that creates the desire that the person would remain (abide).
Those that behave themselves honorably during any situation with any strata of society, be it in the mansion or in the ghetto, can do so because of agape love. When behavior is disgraceful or dishonorable know that agape love is not there. And if love is not there, God is not abiding there, for God is love. See 1 John 4: 7& 8.
The secret of politeness, courteousness and respectfulness is love. Love controlled behavior does nothing of which one ought to be ashamed. Real love will never ask others to prove their love by doing something that is wrong. Real love will never prompt an unmarried person to say “if you love me you’ll prove it by giving yourself to me.” Those who love will never ask others to prove their love by doing something that is wrong. Those who love will never ask others to prove their loyalty by lying, cheating, or stealing for them.
The next four negatives deal with the Christian life in general. Love…
Does not seek its own.
A tombstone in a small English village reads,
Here lies a miser who lived for himself,
And cared for nothing but gathering wealth.
Now where he is or how he fares,
Nobody knows and nobody cares.
In contrast, a plain tombstone in the courtyard at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London reads, “Sacred is the memory of General Charles George Gordon, who at all times and everywhere gave his strength to the weak, his substance to the poor, his sympathy to the suffering, his heart to God.”
The love is not selfish. The love is not manipulative, it is not used to get ones own way. In agape love there is no “I’ll love you if…” [Jesus said in John 15:10 “If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love,” meaning God will love you regardless but if you want to experience the abiding presence of Him who is love you must keep His commandments.]
Our society confuses love with lust. Unlike lust God’s kind of love is directed outward toward others, not inward toward our selves. It is utterly unselfish. The heart that is so consumed with its own interests cannot show concern for the needs and interests of others. Agape love goes against our natural inclinations to put self first. It is possible to practice this love only if God helps us set aside our own desires and instincts, so that we can give love while expecting nothing in return. Thus the more we become like Christ, the more love we will show to others.
The goal of a person that loves will not be to seek things for himself. Christ taught that the highest happiness is in giving, not getting. Love means not enjoying pleasures which would cause your weaker brother to stumble, even though you think you have a right to. Real love will look beyond its own interests and embrace the concerns of others.
The love is unselfish. A supreme regard to our own happiness is inconsistent with love. Love has a spirit of liberality. So go, give some thing valuable to you away.
The next ingredient in the spectrum of love is: Nor becomes provoked.
Paroxuno can mean “exasperated, irritated, touchy, sharpness of spirit, aroused to resentment.” Real love is not easily driven to irritation or sharpness of spirit.
We look upon a bad temper as a minor weakness, but it is not. A quick temper or touchy disposition is often the one blot on an otherwise noble character.
The sin of the otherwise noble elder brother of the prodigal son in Luke 15:28 was that “he became angry.” How many prodigals are kept out of the Kingdom of God by the unloving character of those who profess to be inside?
An illustration within the book of Corinthians historical context would be in chapter four where there were dissensions and law suits among Christians. Love though is no so provoked.
The Great New England preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards had a daughter with an uncontrollable temper. When a young man fell in love with her and asked her father for her hand in marriage, Dr. Edwards replied, “You can’t have her.” “But I love her and she loves me,” he protested. “It doesn’t matter,” the father insisted. Asked why, he said, “Because she is not worthy of you.” “But she is a Christian isn’t she?” “Yes,” said Edwards, “but the grace of God can live with some people with whom no one else could ever live.”
Love is seen in a good attitude or temperament. Chuck Swindoll wrote, “The most significant decision I make each day is my choice of an attitude. We my attitudes are right there’s no barrier to high, no valley too deep, no dream to large, not challenge to great for me.”
One day PRESIDENT THOMAS JEFFERSON and a group of companions were traveling across the country on horseback. They came to a river that had overflowed its banks because of a recent downpour. The river had washed away the bridge so each rider was forced to cross it on horseback, fight for his well-being against the currents. Though several riders were preparing to cross a traveler who was not part of their group asked if President Jefferson would carry him across. The President without hesitation agreed. So the man climbed on and the two of they made it safely to the other side. After the stranger had slid off the horse on to dry ground, on of Jefferson’s companions asked, “Why did you select the President?” The man was shocked and admitted he’d no idea that it was the President who’d helped him. “All I know,” He said, “is that on some of your faces was written doubt and no some was faith. His was a faith face. A good attitude has a faith face.
Our next phrase about the love is: Nor take account of (count up) the wrong (evil).
The word logiaomai is a bookkeeping term that means “to count up, to take account of,” as in a ledger or notebook. The thought is keeping score or the desire to settle the account.
Here is mentioned the need of suspicious people. A suspicious person has a negative effect on situations and people he is suspicious of and involved with. If you will think for a moment about the people who influenced you to change you will discover that they were people who believed in you. In an atmosphere of suspicion, men dry up but in a trusting atmosphere they expand and find encouragement. Love does not attribute evil motives or suspicions to others. That is conviction without evidence. Only God can judge the heart.
But this prohibition is not just against suspecting evil of one but it also concerns evil actually done to you by someone. We are to forgive for Christ has forgiven us. Real love will not hold bitter grudges or allow long standing resentments against others, even when the wrongs done against us are spiteful and hurt.
Those that are bringing up some past evil concerning themselves or someone else are out to destroy respect. When we refuse to think evil concerning someone we can respect them, and our respect for a person is the first step toward a person respecting themselves.
Love instead of entering evil as a debt in its accounting books voluntarily passes the eraser over what it endures. Love forgives and removes the record of accountability for the offense. We don’t need to keep record of wrongs to protect ourselves when we are confident that God is in control of the outcome, and when we know that He is looking after our needs.
(Verse 6) Nor rejoices at unrighteousness (injustice).
Unrighteousness (adikiai) means anything not conforming to the standard of the right which is God’s just standard. Unrighteousness denies the truth. All wrong behavior is rooted in a misbelief about reality. All immorality is rooted in a process of self-deception.
Love does not get its kicks out of unrighteousness. Too many Christians are entertained nightly by TV programs that elevate wickedness. Surely God is not well pleased with people who get their entertainment by watching people being beaten, stabbed, raped, yelled at and hated.
Love experiences no joy on seeing faults or falling into sin even of those who are of the opposing party. Love mourns at sin and injustice no matter whose it is. Love does not pass along a juicy morsel of someone else’s failures just because it tastes good to do so. Breaking the news of sin must be for the good of others rather than to promote a “feeding frenzy” around someone else’s embarrassment and pain.
Our society confuses love and lust. Unlike lust, God’s kind of love is directed outward toward others, not inward toward ourselves. It is utterly unselfish. This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations. It is possible to practice this love only if God helps us set aside our own desires and instincts, so that we can give love while expecting nothing in return. Thus the more we become like Christ, the more love we will show to others.
Would the text still read true if you replaced your name for the word love? This definition is God’s yardstick for measuring our progress in love, similar to the height marks we placed on the wall as our children were growing? Are you growing in agape love?

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