Life's Greatest Aim
Written by Ed Allen
Saturday, 21 November 1998 19:00
How you answer that questions determines your dominant life principle. Everybody's got one whether you know it or not. Your dominant life principle is what you refer to unconsciously every day when you have multiple choices and you have decisions to make. For instance: If my dominant life principle is fun then when I get two invitations to go out in the evening, I'm going to choose the one I'll have more fun at. If my dominant principle in life is security then I'm always going to make the choice that is the most safe, that's the least risky. If my dominant value in life is comfort then I'm always going to do the thing that's easiest. When I make choices I'm going to choose the things that are easy and the least effort. If my dominant life principle is to be recognized, I'll tend to choose things where people will notice me.
What does God say should be our dominant life principle? our life aim? I Corinthians 13:13 and 14:1 say "And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; and the greatest of these is love. Pursue love." This last phrase in The Living Bible is "Make love your greatest aim."
Why, of all the things God could have said, "Here's what you ought to build your life on", why love?
I Corinthians says we ought to make love our greatest aim in life because of its priority. Notice in the first few verses why it's the most important value.
1. Without love all that I say is ineffective.
"If I speak in the tongues of men and/or angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." (v. 1)
Words without love are empty, just noise. The world is impressed by great communicators. But God isn't impressed. He says words without love are nothing, ineffective. The Greek culture tended to be proud of its orators. Oration was considered to be one of the highest arts. All Greek leaders were great orators. The Apostle Paul was criticized on exactly this account. In a second letter to these Corinthians, Paul had to defend his leadership. Even though he had started the church at Corinth and had led many of them to faith in Christ, he had to defend his leadership because of what they believed to be his lack of eloquence. His critics said, "Paul isn?t much of a speaker, he must not be much of a leader."
The Corinthians were also caught up in another kind of speech. They were experiencing ecstatic speech, which resulted from their times of intimacy with God. They called it the tongues of angels and they believed it was a sign of superior spirituality. God says, "Who cares? You're majoring on the minors." "If I speak in the tongues of men and/or angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal."
b. Forcefulness often wins in our culture.In our culture, what we sometimes lack in eloquence, we make up for in forcefulness. "The squeaky wheel gets the grease," we say. We attend seminars on speaking with confidence. We write books on how to be more aggressive, how to get your point across more forcefully. But God says, without love all that I say is ineffective.A banging gong and clanging cymbal are vivid pictures of what I sound like when I speak without love. Banging gongs and clanging cymbals are good at making noise, but they are ineffective at producing change, or at encouraging, or at lifting the heart, or at inspiring.
How many times have you thought, "We're just not communicating in our home." Maybe you're not communicating because you're not speaking in a loving way?
2. Without love all that I know is incomplete.
"If I have the gift of prophecy, and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge... but have not love I am nothing."3. All that I believe is insufficient.In the 1930?s and 40?s the German church was intoxicated with the new, cutting edge theology of Karl Barth. Barth was answering the old European liberalism with a robust, and thoroughly modern rediscovery of the ancient faith which many were calling neo-orthodoxy. It was once again becoming philosophically acceptable to believe. The German church, it seemed, was primed for explosive growth and ripe with brilliant minds poised to further Barth?s constructive work. But the movement faultered. The church grew weak. Today Germany is the second-most unchurched nation in Europe. Why?
Because the leading voices of this church did not speak in the face of the unimaginable attrocities of Hitler?s regime. When her new-found voice was most needed, she grew quiet. When there was no loving answer to the voice of hate, then hate won the day. Certainly not all of the church was quiet. But the leaders were quiet enough that they lost the right to be heard when they finally did speak. If I have not love, then all of my theology is nothing.
Knowledge is completed by loving action. I was giving pre-marital counsel to a couple several years ago when I discovered that there was violence in the relationship. In front of the guy I asked the girl why she stayed with him. "Because I know he loves me," she said. "Love doesn?t hit, love doesn?t dominate, love doesn?t oppress," I said. She grew silent and I knew then that she would rather take a chance on this perversion of love that was a known rather than face the unknown of lonliness. The marriage did not last.
You can have a Phi Beta Kappa key, be a MENSA member, and have a wall full of diplomas and degrees, but without love you're nothing.
"Knowledge puffs up, but loves builds up." It's better to have a right heart than it is to have a right head. We're in a knowledge explosion. It is said that we have only 5% of the knowledge that is going to be available in the year 2010. The world is exploding with information and knowledge. You can't keep up with it. Yet are any of man's basic problems being solved? No. The world is not looking for more knowledge; the world is looking for love. Without love all that I say is ineffective and all that I know is incomplete.
"If I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love I am nothing."
4. All that I give is insignificant.
"If I give all I possess to the poor but have not love, I gain nothing."
This says you can give everything you've got and still not have love. Why? Because you can give for selfish motives. People often give for different motives. Some people give for prestige, to get their name on a plaque. Some people give for power, to control people -- a lot of times adults give to their adult kids in order to control them. You can give out of obligation, out of guilt. Just because you give doesn't mean you're doing it in love. Giving is no proof of real love.
It is important to note that you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.
5. All I accomplish in inadequate.
v. 3 "If I ? surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."I can rack up a list of impressive achievements, I can succeed in all kinds of great accomplishments, I can even sacrifice my life for the greatest cause in the world -- the kingdom of God -- but without love it won't matter zip! It's wasted effort.
When God audits a life, what is He looking for? What receipts does He tally?
The point in these first few verses is relationships are more important than accomplishments in life. Jesus said the entire law could be summarized by this: love God and love your neighbor. Success without love is empty.
- Peter do you love me?
- Lord, Lord? Away from me I never knew you.
God is saying I can have the eloquence of an orator, the knowledge of a genius, the faith of a miracle worker, the generosity of a philanthropist, the dedication of a martyr, but if I don't love it doesn't count.
All I say... All I know ? All i believe ? All I give ... All I do ? All these different things are worthless. My ultimate goal in life is to love others. There is nothing more important in life. Life minus love equals zero.
This is very, very important. There is no more important topic than the one we're talking about this morning.
After hammering in this point about the priority of love Paul then talks about the practice of love.
How do I practice love? The Bible is very practical.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. Love is not rude. It is not self seeking. Love is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love rejoices in the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." What kind of lover are you? If this is what love is, I'm not a very good lover. I need some lessons. I need to learn how to love the people in my life.
After Christmas we're going to look at each of these words in depth. This morning I just want to make three observations concerning the practice of love.
1. Love is an action.
Love which is not acted on is no love at all. Paul?s description of the practice of love is full of action words. Love is not just something you feel, something you say. Love is something you do. Love is a demonstration, not an inclination.One of the greatest preachers in America today is Dr. E.V. Hill. He's the pastor of the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist church in Los Angeles. He is well-known for his powerful and uncompromising explanation of the gospel. Many times in his ministry in inner city Los Angeles he's called things the way he saw them and pointed out injustice and pointed out things that were wrong and as a result many times his life has been threatened -- death threats constantly on his life. One time, after something he said on Sunday morning, there was a threat that he was going to be bombed during the next week. He took that very seriously. One day coming home he noticed his car was not at home. He immediately thought either somebody has stolen it or they're tampering with it, putting a bomb in it. He sat down on his front steps very worried. About thirty minutes later, his wife drove up in his car. He said, "What are you doing!" She was well aware of the threat. She said, "I got to thinking, this community needs you more than it needs me. If they were going to rig that car to be bombed I wanted me to be in it not you." Hill said "I always knew that my wife loved me but now I understood what love was all about." Love is an action.
In his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote, "Do not waste your time bothering whether you ?love? your neighbor, act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn you will find yourself disliking him less."
Jesus? best friend John said this about love: "This is how we know what love is; Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another."
2. Love is a choice.
You choose to love. Jesus Christ chose to serve his followers. He chose to lay down his life for us. He called his followers to the same choice. In 1 Corinthians 14:1, God tells us to pursue love. John told his readers to love one another. And then he repeated that phrase six more times to make sure they got it.
- Love is a choice. You can fall into infatuation. You can fall into admiration. Sometimes those emotions are the foundation for real, lasting love. But you do not fall into love. Not real love. You choose to love. The woman or man who says to their spouse, "I just don?t love you anymore," simply does not understand the nature of true love. You do not fall out of love. You choose your way out of love.
Love is being patient with your friend when they're acting like a jerk and they're irritable. Love is giving a person what they need not what they deserve. Love is being kind. Love is forgetting about wrongs done in the past. Love is believing in someone until they believe in themselves. That's love. It's an action and it's a choice.
When you love in spite of your feelings, when you love even when you don't feel like it, then you are doing what Jesus did. It's easier to act your way into a feeling than feel your way into an action. If you act in a loving way eventually the feelings will come back.
3. Love comes from God
The word translated "love" here is the Greek word agape. This literally means, "divine love," or "the love which comes from God." We do not find it on a summer holiday or at a seminar or out of a how to book. Love comes from God. And if we trace it back all the way to its source, we will find God behind every loving action.
That?s why the Bible says we love because we have been loved. Literally, we have been set free from the penalty that should have come to us because of the love that has come from Him.During the 17th Century, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, sentenced a soldier to be shot for his crimes. The execution was to take place at the ringing of the evening curfew bell. However, the bell did not sound. The soldier?s fiance had climbed into the belfry and clung to the great clapper of the bell to prevent it from striking. When she was summoned by Cromwell to account for her actions, she wept as she showed him her bruised and bleeding hands. Cromwell?s heart was touched and he said, "Your lover shall live because of your sacrifice. Curfew shall not ring tonight!"
Because of his sacrifice, Christ has stayed our execution. He has loved us. The evidence is in his bruised body and bloody hands. Because of this love we live. Because of this love we are enabled to love others.
Permanence of Love
Paul says you need to make love your number one aim because without it our lives are a zero. We should also make it our number one priority because it's the only thing that's going to last. v. 7-8 (Phillips) "Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. Love never fails."
It's durable. It's going to last longer than an Everready battery. It's eternal. It stays with you. Every other life principle is temporary except love. "I live for fun" -- how long does fun last? "I live for money" -- how long is your money going to last? "I live for pleasure" -- how long does that last? "I live for security", "I live for approval of others" ... No other life principle that you choose to base your life on will last. Love is permanent. Love is going to last for eternity.
v. 13 "In this life we have three lasting qualities -- faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them is love."
Think about it. In heaven each of these three qualities will be consummated. Faith will become sight. Hope will be realized. And the greatest of these, love, will meet its source. And then forever we will live in an unending atmosphere of love. It's going to be a love extravaganza. Why? Because God is love. It doesn't say He has it; it says He is it. In His presence you will feel loved. It's the only thing that's going to last. It's the only life principle that's going to take you from this life into the next one and still keep going.
Michael Kelly Blanchard
"Love Lives On"
We sing about love, talk about love, pray about love, study about love, but do we do it? To develop love as your life principle, making it your greatest aim, means you're going to have to take some action as soon as you walk out this door! If you're serious about making love your lifestyle, it may require some radical changes. You're going to have to take the initiative. Love acts!
First start acting loving in the relationships you already have. Think through all the relationships you already have and see if you need to seek some reconciliation to some people you've been unloving to. Kids, husbands, wife, parents, someone at school, at work. Start trying to make things right with the relationships you do have. But that's not all.
If you make love your lifestyle, you'll start enhancing and enlarging the number of relationships you do have. Do it to share God's love with other people. How can I know the love of God and not want to share it? That's what God is going to look at when He evaluates my life. I cannot live the loving lifestyle as a hermit. I cannot live out the life to which God calls me if I am alone. One way to spell love is T-I-M-E. It takes time. To love your friends you?ve got to spend time with them. To love your family , you?ve got to spend time with them. To love Jesus, you've got to spend time with Him. It takes time, involvement, effort, energy. But it's worth it.
I am excited about this series. It really can make the difference in our families and marriages if we commit ourselves to learning how to love. It can make a difference in our friendships and in our work if we learn how to practice a loving lifestyle. It can make a difference in our church. People are attracted to the church that loves. People are attracted to Christ, they're not persuaded to Christ. They're not argued into the kingdom. They're attracted by the love of God. The more our family here loves, the more this church will be able to meet people?s real needs. People don't care what we know until first they know that we care. They want to know we care. What people need is not more theology, not more oratory. They need the love of Jesus Christ. It is my prayer that our church will be known as the place where people love. You go there and they don't know any better than to love you. Everybody is so friendly and loving." That's the kind of church that pleases God.
I challenge you to join me in a love movement. Think through your week. Who in your sphere of influence needs God?s love this week? You are his instrument, his hands, his feet, his eyes and ears. God writes notes through you, He cooks and cleans through you. He babysits through you. He sets up chairs through you. He offers a kind words or asks questions through you. He invites through you.
Next week, we will begin the season of Advent. Maybe the most loving thing you could do for someone is to invite them to church. Bring somebody with you that needs to hear about the love of Jesus. Let?s make this Christmas season a very special season. Let?s make it a season of love. And after that, let?s launch a brand new year of love. Remember, life minus love equals zero, but a life filled with love is filled with meaning. Every act of love is seasoned with eternity, because love lives on.
Prayer:
Building Great Relationships
1 Corinthians 13:1 ? 14:1
Outline
My aim in life is ______________________________________________.
The Priority of Love
1. All ______________________________ is ineffective.
3. All ______________________________ is insufficient.
"... and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love I am nothing." (vs.2b)
"... The only thing that counts is faith
expressing itself through love." Gal.
5:6
4. All ______________________________ in insignificant.
"If I give all I possess to the
poor... but have not love, I gain nothing."
(vs. 3a)
5. All ______________________________ is inadequate.
Description of a Loving Lifestyle (vs. 4-7)
Insights ___________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
The Permanence of Love
"In this life we have three lasting qualities -- faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them is love." (vs.13 Ph)
Jesus said, "A new commandment I give you: Love one another! As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know you are my disciples if you love one another." John 13:34-35