Monday, August 28, 2006

"Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy" (1 Corinthians 13:13-14:1).

IDEA: Love is given to us and we must act on it.

PURPOSE: To help listeners understand how love comes out of a relationship with God and must be cultivated in a relationship with other people.

If I were to ask you, what is the evidence of whether or not you are a genuine Christian, what would you say?

I. If the evidence of God’s love is that we are loving people, how do you explain the fact that following 1 Corinthians 13 there is the statement, “Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts”?

What is the relationship between the Spirit working in our lives and our being responsible to follow the way of love?

Does your definition of love have anything to do with how you would answer that question?

Is friendship a given or something that you have to express?

II. How do the phrases “pursue love” and “desire spiritual gifts” relate to one another?

Would it be any different if Paul had simply said “pursue spiritual gifts and desire love”?