Love is a Heavenly Gift

The Lord God is the Source of Genuine Love and is quick to liberally pour it out upon His children. Every thought that He has for us, every blessing that He bestows is because of His love, a love that we can never earn.

The description of genuine love in 1 Corinthians 13 reveals to us the importance of this virtue in our lives. As we learn more about the Greek agape kind of love, we will begin to understand that love is not complete without giving.

Defining genuine love is difficult, so Paul resorts to describing how it should look in the life of a Christian. He explains that this love is even more than action alone: it is the attitude behind the action. We must always ask ourselves, "Are my motives pure?"

We will recognize genuine love in our lives when we seek to serve with no expectations. In fact, our reward will be that the Lord gets the glory for any good accomplished. Genuine love is not an impulse of feeling, but it is a desire to help others see the Giver.

The Lord is the Giver of all good things according to James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."

Lord Jesus, the desire of my heart is that others would look at me and know that I belong to You. Help me to be a witness of Your love, that others will turn to You for their salvation. Thank you for saving me. Amen

The Sum of All Virtues

1 Corinthians 13

In our text, Paul uses vivid language to address the important subject of genuine love. It is as if He takes a pause in the middle of working out the problems of the church in order to define the basic behavior of Christlike character. Within the pages of Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians we find an almost-poetic description of how it should appear in our lives.

Why is this prominent place given to the subject of genuine love? It is because love is the sum of all other virtues. Scripture makes that clear by saying that the whole law is fulfilled in this one word. Jesus said that all the law and the prophets hang on two commandments about love: love God, and love your neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40).

1 Corinthinans 13:4, "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up."

Longsuffering is from a Greek word that literally means "long-tempered." So, think of what it means to be short-tempered, and then imagine the exact opposite. This may also describe someone who is wronged and who has the power to avenge himself -- but never does it.

Kindness, on the other hand, is an action of goodwill. It is an act of giving unselfishly. The recipient of a kind gesture smiles because it is refreshing and because nothing is expected in return.

Genuine love also can be identified by what it is not. The first of the not list in the verse is that love does not envy. Envy is a selfish, sinful desire and we must not make room for it. God's love is always giving, never taking.

James 3:16, "Where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there."

The rest of 1 Corinthians 13:4 speaks of boasting and arrogance. If envy is resentment over the blessings of others, boasting is the sin of trying to make others envious of us. Boasting is an attempt to elevate self.

When we look for the one perfect example of genuine love, our eyes will always rest upon Jesus Christ, for He alone embodies it. When we long for genuine love in our own lives, again, our eyes will always rest expectantly upon Jesus, for He alone is the Source...

...and He imparts it to us through the Holy Spirit.

Lord, may your love rest upon me. Amen

Genuine Love is From God

In our daily Bible reading, we have no doubt discovered once again that references to God's love or Christ's love occur often. Love is the theme and purpose behind all of God’s Word. We cannot escape it, nor do we want to. The world's idea of love is in reality lust. As Christians, we have come to understand that love gives, but lust takes. God's love is genuine, pure, and unselfish.

In I Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul wrote that we can have eloquent speech, prophetic powers, a mind full of understanding and knowledge, and faith to move mountains, and we can even give all of our possessions to feed the poor and give our bodies to be burned, but without love “it profits nothing” (see I Corinthians 13:1–3).

Genuine love is powerful because it produces action. John 3:16 says that God loved the world so much that He gave. The Scripture cautions us to let genuine love motivate us to good works, not the other way around. It is impossible to find this kind of love within ourselves; it is His love and He produces it in each of us as we surrender to Him.

When Christ perfects His love in us through His Word, our lives will demonstrate the power of Christ’s love.

Lord, perfect Your love in us. Amen.

Love, Karen

Welcome to a New Bible Study!

I can always tell when it's time to re-organize my life and to weed out the activities that have made me so busy. How do I know? Well, it is when the air grows colder, the leaves turn color, and the sunlight fades sooner in the day. This season is also a great time to begin a new Women's Bible Study!

This year, there is no book to purchase and there is no homework to complete. Instead, let's do something a little different. Let's find a daily Bible reading shedule that fits each of our needs, and then let's read our Bibles every day.

These websites offer a variety of options: http://www.wholesomewords.org/family/bibleread/biblerea.html,
http://www.thebible.net/read/sched.html, http://www.studythebible.com/daily.htm.

A daily dose of the Word of God will be the nourishment that each of us needs. If you and I take the time to ingest a portion of the Scriptures on a regular basis, God promises not only to cleanse us, and keep us from sin, but also to equip us for the work He wants us to do.

Ephesians 5:26, "that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word..."

Psalm 119:11, "Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You."

2 Timothy 4:16, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."

I invite you to join me as we delve into the pages of the Bible, God's Holy Word. If you are already reading daily, maybe the Psalms and Proverbs of the day, please continue to do so. If you would like to begin a schedule today, choose one that you like, and then jump right in!

Lord Jesus, as we re-organize and reprioritize our schedules, guide us as we go. Help us to read in our Bibles everyday, even if it's five minutes at a time. We accept Your grace as we purpose to give Your Word a prominent position in our lives. Lord, give us a new desire to know Your Word. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Love, Karen