Love Never Fails

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:13

In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul shows us how beautifully Christ’s selfless “agape” love behaves. And in verse 8, Paul tells us in no uncertain terms that “agape” love NEVER fails.

 

To understand what Paul means, it’s important to look at this verse in several other good English translations: “Love never ends” (CSB, ESV & HCSB); and “Love will last forever” (NLT). It turns out that Paul is not saying that “agape” love is always successful. He’s saying that “agape” love never dies. Agape love is eternal.

 

In other words, agape love is not a magic key or spiritual formula that guarantees success. Like Jesus, if you love the people around you with an “agape” love, they may STILL spit in your face; they may STILL slander you; they may STILL crucify you and think they’re doing everybody a favor. But if you love those around you with an “agape” love, your love will outlast all of the world’s shenanigans.

 

Verse 13 puts a final bow on this beautiful chapter: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” In eternity, faith will become sight. So faith—at least in the sense of trusting in One who we cannot see—will become a thing of the past. And in eternity, all hope will be realized. In heaven, there will be nothing left to hope for. So, even faith and hope have an expiration date. But “agape” love doesn’t. Agape love is an integral part of the character of God. So, just like God Himself, agape love will last forever. Faith, hope and love will remain until this world passes away, but in eternity, only agape love will remain. Therefore, “the greatest of these is love.”

 

Pastor Chuck Swindoll suggests asking ourselves these 3 questions after studying this life-changing chapter:

 

Question 1: “Do you consider ‘agape’ love essential in your ministry? Is ‘agape’ love the single most important aspect in your relationship with others?” It’s easy for our love to grow cold when it’s not “agape” love. We start going through the motions. We put on a smiling face. We perform the tasks we’re supposed to do, but there’s very little love in it. You could be the most gifted and talented Christian in the church, but if you don’t have “agape” love, God’s Word says … it’s nothing. Why? Because EVERYTHING – LOVE = NOTHING.

 

Question 2: “Does your love fade in and out? Is it fickle—hot and cold? Even though ‘agape’ loving isn’t safe or easy, it must be unconditional and consistent.” We might THINK we’re loving others with an agape love, but if your love fluctuates based on how other people respond to it, that’s not “agape” love. “Agape” love isn’t based on your feelings. Agape love is a verb, an action rooted in a conscious decision to love those around you. Our love must be like Christ’s love: selfless, unconditional and consistent. 

 

Question 3: “Does ‘agape’ love come to the surface of your life more than any other virtue? In Paul’s description of the fruit of the Spirit, love comes first (Gal. 5:22)…. If those around you were to identify one virtue to describe you, would it be LOVE?” Honestly, I don’t know the answer to this question. People who know me tend to describe me as dedicated and hard-working. But would “loving” be on the tip of their tongues? I’m not sure it would. So, the Holy Spirit and I have some work to do on me. And you and the Holy Spirit have some work to do on you.

 

It’s easy to talk to people about how much Jesus loves them. But we must roll up our sleeves and start showing them Jesus’ selfless, sacrificial, unconditional “agape” love.   

 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services at 9am: at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville, or at 9 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

5 More Ways to Show God’s Love

“[Love] is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”

– 1 Corinthians 13:5-6 

God’s kind of love – “agape” – isn’t easy. It’s hard … REALLY hard.

 

But Jesus Christ has called us to love as He loves: with an unconditional, others-centered, agape love. It’s far and away the best kind of love. So, as Christians, we must stay determined to love God and people with agape.

 

Picking up from last week’s article, I’d like to share five more ways that God’s love behaves:

 

Love is not self-seeking (v. 5). It’s impossible for agape love to be self-absorbed and self-seeking, because agape is all about putting the needs of others above itself. The online BibleRef.com commentary on 1 Corinthians 13:5 makes this excellent point: “Much of the Corinthian church’s problems would have disappeared if they focused on looking for ways to meet each other’s needs before satisfying their own.” If you want to squander your life and be quickly forgotten after you die, here’s the secret: Just live for yourself.

 

Love is not easily angered (v. 5). The CSB and ESV translate Paul’s words this way: Love “is not irritable.” Love does not lose its cool over small irritants. We all know that Jesus got angry at times. When his 12 disciples were chasing off the children who were coming to Jesus, Jesus got angry. When Jesus drove out the money changers and venders from the temple courts, He was really angry. But Jesus never got angry for selfish reasons. He got angry for righteous reasons. He got angry for the glory of God and the good of those around Him.

 

Love keeps no record of wrongs (v. 5). Paul uses an interesting Greek word here: “logizesthai.” In Paul’s day, this was a word accountants used to describe writing down a transaction on a ledger and reckoning it to someone. So, Paul is saying that agape doesn’t keep a mental note of everything someone did that was mean or hurtful. Agape doesn’t hold grudges, and it “keeps no record of wrongs.”

 

Love does not delight in evil (v. 6). Sadly, our culture finds sin entertaining. Horror movies make hundreds of millions of dollars every year, and we have a $15 billion pornography industry in America. Why? Because we find bloody murder and illicit sex entertaining. Now, many Christians would say, “That doesn’t apply to ME!” But what about gossip? One of the most common ways that Christians delight in evil is by listening to gossip. Do you realize that gossips wouldn’t do much harm if you weren’t so eagerly listening to them? Agape love never delights in evil. Agape love never rejoices in wrongdoing or in gossip.

Love rejoices with the truth (v. 5). Remember that in John 14:6, Jesus told His disciples, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Therefore, agape love rejoices in Jesus. Jesus Christ IS love’s delight. 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us for Good Friday tomorrow night at 6pm, and for our Easter service this Sunday at 9 a.m. with an Easter Egg Hunt afterward for the kids. Impact meets at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 9 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

What God’s Love Looks Like

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”
– 1 Corinthians 13:4

How does God love? And how can we love the way Jesus loves?

As I mentioned last week, there are very clear differences between God’s kind of love – “Agape” in Greek – and all other kinds of love.

 

First is “Eros” love: the romantic, sensual love we hear so much about in our songs and movies. But “Eros” is a love that tends to be selfish. “Eros” love says, “I love you because you have something desirable that I want.”

 

Second is “Phileo” love: a mutual love between family members or friends. “Phileo” love says, “I love you, knowing that you also love me.”

 

Third is “Agape” – God’s kind of love. It’s a selfless, unconditional love that has no strings attached. Agape love says, “I love you so much that I will put your needs above my needs – even if you spit in my face and put me through hell.”

 

In 1 Corinthians 13, The Apostle Paul describes how agape behaves. In verse 4, he lays out the first five qualities of God’s love: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”

 

You and I desperately need to behave more like Jesus. We need to be more patient—taking anything from others—and more kind—giving generously to others, even to our enemies. When Jesus commanded us to love one another, He wasn’t just commanding us to THINK kind thoughts and FEEL kind feelings about one another. He was commanding us to actually BE kind one to another.

 

Not to envy means that agape love always wants the very BEST for the other person – even if it’s at your own expense. And boasting – bragging about the things we have, or our accomplishments – is the total opposite of God’s love. Pastor John MacArthur writes: “Jesus, who had everything to boast of, never boasted. In total contrast, we who have nothing to boast of are prone to boast. Only the love that comes from Jesus Christ can save us from flaunting our knowledge, our abilities, our gifts, or our accomplishments.”

 

And just as envy and boasting can’t coexist with agape love, neither can arrogance. You can either have a big arrogant head, or you can have a big loving heart. You can’t have both. Which will it be for you?

 

Here are 3 Life Lessons we can take from this verse:

 

Lesson #1: If you’re going to love, don’t love the way our culture loves – love the way Christ loves.

 

Lesson #2: In our culture, where impatience and unkindness are all around us, Christ’s followers must swim against the tide. Our patience with impatient people and our kindness to unkind people should be unmatched.

 

Lesson #3: If we truly love God and people, we will work with the Holy Spirit to root out pride, jealousy and bragging from our lives. We must, in humility, value others above ourselves (Philippians 2:3).

 

Christians, since most people around us have no clue what “agape” love looks like in the real world, let’s show them. Let’s show them real patience and kindness, without even a hint of jealousy, bragging or arrogance.

 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person or online at 9 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

What the Church Needs Now

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” – 1 Corinthians 13:1

In the spring of 1965, Jackie DeShannon released a song that rocketed into Billboard’s Top 10 hits. The song was titled, “What the World Needs Now Is Love.”

Those words are just as true today as they were 61 years ago: “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” And in the first three verses of 1 Corinthians 13, we can almost hear the Apostle Paul saying, “What the church needs now is love, sweet love.”

 

Many Christians, if they were asked to name their favorite chapter in the Bible, would answer: “1 Corinthians 13 … the love chapter.” This beautiful chapter is often read at weddings. But Paul didn’t write this chapter with weddings in mind. He wrote it as a vital part of his teaching about spiritual gifts.

 

The Corinthian Christians were very gifted Christians. In 1 Corinthians 1:7 Paul wrote, “You do not lack any spiritual gift.” The problem was, they were carrying out their gifts in a self-centered, competitive way. In other words, they were using their gifts without “agape” – God’s kind of love. And as a result, the exercise of their spiritual gifts did more harm than good.

 

Agape love is the highest and hardest kind of love, because it’s a love that continues no matter how badly it’s treated. It’s a selfless, unconditional love that perseveres even when it’s not reciprocated. Agape love says, “I love you so much that I will lay down my life for you even if you spit in my face and put me through hell.”

 

Jesus Christ wants us to understand that THIS the kind of love is the secret sauce that makes our gifts truly effective. Our serving MUST be fueled by a Christlike love that is humble, selfless and doesn’t expect anything in return – a love that puts your needs above my needs.

 

As you serve the Lord, remember these 3 lessons:

 

Lesson #1: Instead of desiring spiritual gifts you haven’t been given, desire to lovingly use the spiritual gifts you HAVE been given. When the Holy Spirit handed out spiritual gifts, He gave you just what you needed to do just what He’s called you to do. So, accept your gift. Thank God for your gift. And use your spiritual gift to serve others in love.  

 

Lesson #2: Don’t cheapen your spiritual gifts by using them without agape love. It’s much easier to be religious than it is to be loving. It’s much easier to condemn sinners than it is to love them. But God in heaven, and your church family here on earth, deserve nothing less than your very best love: agape love.

 

Lesson #3: Never forget: Everything Minus Love = NOTHING. In 1 Cor. 13:1-3, Paul is saying, “I don’t CARE how great your spiritual gift is, it’s ‘nothing’ without agape love! You could be the world’s best Bible teacher. It doesn’t matter! You could be a better prophet than Daniel. Who cares? It’s all useless if agape love isn’t flowing through your service to God’s children.”

 

If you REALLY love God and REALLY love your church family, whatever spiritual gift you have, it’s that love that will REALLY fuel your ministry.

 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person or online at 9 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

How Could God Love ME?

 “I pray that you … may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” - Ephesians 3:17-18

 Two weeks ago, my oldest daughter Kayla graduated from high school. Because of COVID, her graduation ceremony was delayed a month and a half. But my wife Christine and I were so proud to finally see her don her cap and gown and receive her diploma. And knowing that soon she will be leaving for college, in recent months I’ve been thinking of Bible verses that I want to pass on to her and pray for her.

One passage that’s been on my mind a lot is Ephesians 3:17-19. Starting halfway through verse 17, it reads: “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” This is one of my prayers for Kayla. I want her to be firmly rooted in God’s love, and I want her to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. But I don’t want her to simply “grasp” God’s amazing love; I want her to know His love personally.

Most people would agree that the most popular verse in the Bible is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Over the years that I’ve been in ministry, I have had more than a few conversations with people who believe that God so loved the world. But they weren’t so sure that God loved THEM.

Sometimes we doubt God’s love for us because of our own insecurities. At other times we doubt His love because our sin seems too big to forgive. And honestly, at times we just have a hard time wrapping our minds around the notion that the Creator of this huge universe would care about us. I’ll bet that at some point in your life you have wondered: “How could the Creator of the universe love ME?”

Well, to be honest, it’s completely illogical for the Creator of the universe to love you. After all, you’re NOT a big, important person. Your influence in this world is rather puny. Your natural resources are few and far between. And, just like the children of Israel, you’re stubborn—you do your fair share of obnoxious complaining and grumbling. In many ways, you and I are both unlovable. So, how could God love me? How could God love you?

Here’s the answer: God loves you, not because of who YOU are or what YOU’VE done. God loves you because of who HE is. When we doubt God’s love for us, it’s inevitably because we’re taking our eyes off Him and focusing on ourselves—on our own insecurities and shortcomings, our own sins and our insignificance. But that’s the wrong place to focus. God’s love for me has NEVER been primarily about me. It’s always been primarily about Him. 1 John 4:8 says point blank: “God is love.” And because God is love, He is going to love me no matter how obnoxious, unlovable and undeserving I am of His love. How could God love us? Because God IS love, and loving undeserving sinners like you and me is what He does best.

God’s love even transcends life and death. And that’s great news for you and me, because according to God’s word, our sins have made us all dead to God. Ephesians 2:1-3 says, “You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world…gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.” Colossians 2:13 says, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.” So, there’s no doubt about it. Our rebellious sins have made us spiritually dead to God. But Jesus is ready and willing to raise us back to life.

But why would he do that? Because in spite of ourselves, God loves us. In spite of ourselves, Jesus loves us. Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” What a glorious verse! While we were still being selfish jerks, Jesus loved us and died for us anyway. While we were still breaking God’s laws and doing whatever we felt like doing, while we were still rebellious and stubborn and complaining and arguing, while we were completely undeserving and unappreciative and unlovable—Jesus loved us and died for us anyway. No wonder the Apostle John writes in 1 John 3:1, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

My prayer for my daughter is one of my prayers for you as well. I want you to be firmly rooted in God’s love, and I want you to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. But I don’t want you to simply “grasp” God’s amazing love; I want you to know His love personally—“that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our live outdoor worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook.

Don’t Be a Cold Christian

 “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.”

– Revelation 2:4

We’ve all met them. At some time or another you may have even been one. I’m talking about cold Christians: Christ followers who do all the “right” things without a bit of love. Many a marriage has fallen apart—not because there was an affair, abuse or abandonment—but because there was no love in the marriage. And just as a marriage can’t survive for very long without love, a church can’t survive very long without love. As Bible scholar Leon Morris puts it, “A church can continue only for so long on a loveless course... If they repent they may yet be saved. But if not, there is no hope.”

In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Jesus delivers seven brief letters to seven different churches in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Christ praises six of these seven churches for doing certain things very well. And his longest list of praises is delivered to the Christian Church in Ephesus. In Revelation 2:2-6, Jesus identifies seven different practices of the Ephesian Christians that are worthy of praise. In short, they practiced good deeds, worked hard, persevered amidst difficulties, refused to tolerate wickedness in the church, discerned false teaching, endured hardship, and hated the practices of those who tried to peddle heresy among their members.

By any estimation, this is an impressive list. Most churches would be ecstatic to have Christ shower them with these compliments. On a scale of 1-10, the Ephesian Church looked like a “10.” But even though it appeared to be a picture-perfect church on the outside, the church had something seriously wrong on the inside. Jesus bluntly tells the Ephesian Christians in verse 4: “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.”

What does Jesus mean by this rebuke? Well, there are a couple possibilities. According to Jesus, the greatest command in the Bible is: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30-31). So, “you have forsaken your first love” could indicate that the Ephesian Christians were going through the motions of a Christian who truly loved God, but deep down …they really didn’t. They may have had some admirable motives for living out their religion so well, but love for God wasn’t one of them.

Or possibly “you have forsaken your first love” indicates that the Ephesian Christians had forsaken love for people as a top priority. Years earlier Jesus had told his disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35). The Christians in Ephesus had been taught well to embrace God’s love and know God’s love and reflect God’s love in their personal relationships. But somewhere along the line, their love for people had grown cold. Although they looked good on the outside, their perseverance, doctrine, and ministries were loveless. They didn’t do the good things they did out of a deep love for Christ and others. So, despite how good their deeds may have looked to outsiders, the truth was: The Christian Church in Ephesus was dying. And only repentance and a re-prioritizing of love could bring it back to life.

I am reminded of the powerful words written by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” And Paul concludes the chapter with this short but powerful insight: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

As I consider the Ephesian Christians’ lack of love, a few words come to mind: unfeeling, robotic, mechanical, impersonal, loveless, lifeless and cold. Perhaps you could think of a few other words to describe a church that does the right things but does them without love. Regardless of the words that come to mind, I hope and pray that my Christianity will never be these things: unfeeling, mechanical and impersonal. I hope and pray that your Christianity will never be these things: loveless, lifeless and cold.

Friends, just as a husband and wife must guard themselves against a loveless marriage, Christians must guard themselves against a loveless church. We must be very careful. As we persevere through trials and endure hardship and faithfully teach God’s word and carry out some great ministries, we must make sure that we do it all in love. Cold, loveless Christianity is a dying Christianity. And a cold, loveless church is a dying church. The Apostle Paul was right: When it comes to living out our faith, “the greatest of these is love.” So, let’s make sure that we love Christ and others with everything we’ve got. If we don’t, our Christianity is nothing.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information,

visit www.fccvv.com  and join us for our worship celebration Sundays at 10 am.