1 Corinthians 13:1-13
We are fighting habits that try to control us.
"I do not practice what I want to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate" (Rom. 7:15)
We were not made to live disconnected, isolated lives.
We were created to love and to be loved.
"Love is indeed essential; it's impossible to be happy alone."
Love is the medicine for the sickness of the world.
• The absence of love negates a great deal of good.
People need to know they're loved if they're ever going to get better.
"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."
• Love ill-defined leads to a great deal of misery.
"I love you, therefore I need you" as opposed to,
"I need you, therefore I love you."
You'll just see that person as a supplier.
You're not obliged to set yourself on fire in order to keep somebody else warm.
1. Treat others as equals.
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Among equals, the relationship is one of give and take, of mutual respect.
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"This relationship is built on level ground and always will be."
2. Bend without breaking.
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You'll need to come to grips with the fact that you will have to forgive them more than once.
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The key to a mature, loving relationship is having the wisdom to know how far to bend, without making yourself snap in two.
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Don't set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm, but do share your coat with them.
3. Let go of the past.
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If you keep such records, the past will continue to haunt you.
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"No, I distinctly remember forgetting it."
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Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Colossians 3:13)
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"Let it go."
4. Celebrate all that is good.
5. Never give up.
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Love cannot endure forever when the boundaries of a relationship are off kilter.
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And you must make it work, because love never fails and it never quits.
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Loving others with this kind of love will empower you to move straight ahead.
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Love is an action, not an emotion.