Thursday, August 17, 2006
"Love bears all things" (1 Corinthians 13:7).
IDEA: Love bears and protects.
PURPOSE: To help listeners see what that looks like in life.
Behind many words there’s a picture. For example, the word unique comes from two Latin words meaning “one horse.”
How do you think the idea of one horse got to what we think of as unique?
I. The word translated “bears all things” or “protects” is used in three different circumstances with three different pictures.
It’s used of soldiers defending a city.
It’s used of a ship sailing and staying afloat in the midst of a storm.
It’s used of a roof that doesn’t leak when pounded by rain.
II. The same Greek word can mean two things in the light of these pictures.
Love bears all things.
Looking at the picture, where does the translation “bears all things” come from?
It stands up under attack. It doesn’t sink in the storm. It resists the savage rain.
Love weathers all sorts of poundings.
Paul did that for the Corinthians. They were a fickle church, but Paul didn’t quit on them.
Why do parents put up with children who are sick or hurt or on drugs?
How would love bearing all things show up in a church where there is love?
Love also protects.
Looking at the pictures, how would you come up with “love also protects”?
The soldiers protected the city. The ship protected the crew and cargo. The roof protected the house and its inhabitants.
Love protects other people.
Paul protected the churches from false teaching. He knew what it would do to them. If we love people, we can often make them uncomfortable to protect them from dangers.
If we love people, we will protect their reputations. The Greek word is used in secular literature to throw a cloak of silence over what is displeasing in another person.
Is there a limit to the protecting of other people’s reputations?