"Love does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth" (1 Corinthians 13:6).
IDEA: Love is the opposite of selfishness.
PURPOSE: To help listeners see how love and truth are related to each other.
What do you mean when you say that someone is a “loving” person?
What do you think Paul means in 1 Corinthians 13 when he talks about love?
Given that definition of love, how does it relate to what Paul says when he stated that love does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth?
How are love and truth related?
I. Love is the opposite of selfishness.
We often resist the truth because it affects us. In order to protect ourselves, we would rather believe a lie.
Why is it hard to confess “I’ve been wrong, completely wrong about that?” Whatever it is that causes us to be reluctant to say that helps us see why we don’t welcome the truth.
II. Can you think of cases in which love does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth?
For example, when grandparents or parents who love their children are delighted at what the children accomplish.
If they talk about how their youngsters have gone astray, how do they talk about it?
Why don’t we delight in the failures of our children as much as we do in their successes?
Are there ways in which we find ourselves rejoicing in iniquity and not rejoicing in the truth?