12/7/21: Love Always Perseveres - 'Love Always...' Series
Hello everyone! I hope you've been staying warm in this chilly winter weather.
Please open with a word of prayer.
1 Corinthians 13:7 (NIV) - "[Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
We're finally at the end of the four-part 'Love Always' series. As expected, we're going to go over what 'love always perseveres' means, but we're also going to explore how each of these are interconnected and culminate to what 'love' really looks like.
The original word in Greek for 'perseveres' is hypomenĹ (á˝ĎοΟένĎ), which suggests the idea of 'remaining' and 'enduring'. Love does not fall short, it is not fleeting or temporary, nor does it have any limits. This love remains until the end, and as God Himself is the Beginning and End (Revelations 22:13), His love is everlasting (Jeremiah 31:3). This sort of enduring love has been evident since the Old Testament â the entirety of Psalm 136 repeats the refrain, 'His love endures forever'. In this case, the Hebrew word for 'love' is chesed (×ץ×), which is often more directly translated to 'lovingkindness'. This chesed reflects the covenant faithfulness and love that God has continually shown His people throughout the entire Old Testament, starting with Him making the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12.
In the New Testament, Jesus set a beautiful example of this enduring love throughout His entire life, but especially on the day that He died. He loved his disciples by washing their feet, sharing a meal with them, and praying over them up to the final hours before His arrest (John 13:2-17). He continued to love them and took on their burden of sin even after they abandoned and denied Him (Mark 14:50, Luke 22:54-62). His love and forgiveness for all mankind endured when He was on the cross (Luke 23:34, Romans 5:8, Hebrews 12:2), and His love for us remained until the very end (John 13:1).
If you haven't noticed already, all of these verbs (protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres) are very similar in the way that they emphasize a love that lasts. It stands firm and shields against any trial, eagerly embraces those who are close and far, trusts one another and God in joyous anticipation, and endures through all storms of life. To sum it all up, Paul strategically places the word 'always' (which in Greek is panta, ĎΏνĎÎą, which also translates to 'all things') before each verb. This repeated emphasis on the word panta shows how this beautiful agape love, founded in Jesus and now displayed through His Church by the power of the Spirit, is not bound by time. God's agape love is inexhaustible, unlimited, and can never be shaken.
Romans 8:35-39: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
'For your sake we face death all day long; Â Â we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
But we aren't just to receive God's love and do nothing with it. The whole point of Paul writing these words in this letter is to point out how the Corinthians were not showing this love to one another. Paul starts off chapter 13 by pointing to how the greatest spiritual gift we possess through the Spirit is the gift of this agape love; any other gift we may be blessed with, whether it be prophecy, teaching, or material possessions (discussed in chapter 12), serve no use or purpose if there is no love (verses 1-4). Paul is reminding us that, in all we do, we are to love one another with the same agape love that Christ has shown us.
This past Sunday, our speaker FeiLung spoke on how we can holistically love one another, drawing from the example set by the church in Antioch in Acts 11:19-30. Holistical love is not simply a ministry defined by the words preached or specific actions done (although that is not to draw away from the effectiveness of the organization of church ministry groups), but rather, holistical love is fulfilled through a lifestyle. The early believers lived in constant fellowship with one another, caring for each other's physical and spiritual needs, and encouraged one another even in the midst of persecution (Acts 2:42-47, 11:22-24). They cared for the entire wellbeing of others (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually), and shared all areas of their lives as one body. They loved fearlessly and boldly, holding no reservations or limitations, just as Jesus has done for us.
When was the last time we have loved one another in this way? If I had to be honest, I recently haven't  been loving the people around me in the ways that I should. I'm quick to get frustrated and impatient, I haven't treated those around me in a very gentle manner (especially to my family members), and because I get so caught up in what I need to do, I fail to recognize the greater needs of the people around me that God is calling me to take care of first. Last week, I was so caught up in finishing an assignment that I nearly forgot to bring medicine for a friend who wasn't feeling well, and I neglected to pray for and with her as she is struggling mentally and emotionally. I'm still learning how to see loving those around me not as a chore that I can check off my to-do list, but rather as an expression of my enduring, sacrificial love for them. And I'm still learning to love not just through individual actions, but for love to be the very purpose and reason I live.
As you pray to close, rest in God's amazing, powerful, and unconditional love for you, and reflect on how you can live out this protective, trusting, hopeful, and persevering love as an active lifestyle this week.
Love for all of you,
Joyce
How Great is Your Love - Phil Wickham













