pride

Paul is showing us what love is NOT. Let’s look at the rest of his description.

1 Cor. 13:1-7 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. [3] And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. [4] Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, [5] does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, [6] does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; [7] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

“Unbecomingly” - ἀσχημονέω aschēmonéō; To behave in an ugly, indecent, unseemly or unbecoming manner

Love never...

Have you ever felt so anxious that you could describe your stomach as “being tied in Knots”? I want to talk about our heart and how it can be tied in “NOTS”.

Being that it is Valentines, let’s spend some time meditating on love. Let’s look at the opposite first, and then we will contemplate the positive.

1 Cor. 13:1-7 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. [3] And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. [4] Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, [5] does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, [6] does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; [7] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love has many looks...

Application: It is amazing how we humans...like water...seem to always sink to the lowest level. We deceive ourselves into believing that our ideas and ways are more correct and wiser than God’s. One of the dangers that happens when we read passages like this is...

Philippians 3:3-14 

I grew up with 3 brothers, the youngest was 10 years behind me. So my real life experience was with two older brothers. One of them was one of the most gifted guitarist in the land and was known by everyone in high school. The other was part of a high school gang that was known for drinking and fighting. For quite a few years I lived off the reputation of my brothers. All my friends would come asking me questions about music equipment and I would give them advice, even though I didn't know what I was talking about. They just assumed because my brother knew everything and played so well that I also would know. Because of my other brother, a lot of the older boys that normally would've smacked me because of my smart mouth did not, partly because they did not know if I was as tough as my brother…I was not, or they did not want my brother’s wrath down on them.

I was living off of something that was not mine. When it comes to this kind of nonsense, at best, it will turn out to be embarrassing when people find out that “you're not all that”. However, in other matters, like the one we will now discuss, the end will be...

Philippians 3:3-14

When I was younger…at one time I was younger!  I spent all my life basically landlocked, but now I had moved to Hawaii. One of the things that 

I learned to do that I loved was to body surf. The learning curve was difficult and often painful. Having only encountered very small waves and almost nonexistent undertow of the East Coast, Waimea Bay and Sandy Beach were rude awakenings! The key is to “KNOW” what you’re doing. This does not mean to have the knowledge of how to swim and what is water. It means to understand the fullness of what body surfing is…Becoming one with the water, conforming to its movement and speed. If you under shoot the wave you will miss it. If you out swim the wave…Depending where you are; if at Waimea the wave can hold on the bottom of the sea for quite some time; if at Sandy Beach you can literally freefall and face plant in the sand…And even break your neck.  Before we can really appreciate something we need to “know” it.

I love good comedy, and one of my favorites is a very proud inspector working for the French. He has great confidence in himself, in spite of how often he is humiliated. One of my favorite scenes is when he enters a hotel and sees a dog. He asks the man behind the front desk “does your dog bite?” The man replies “no.” He then bends over to pet the dog, and the dog viciously bites his hand. He stands up with a surprised look on his face, and states, “I thought you said your dog does not bite!” The man behind the desk looks at him and says “that is not my dog!”

Scripture Read: Judges 8:13-17 Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. And he captured a youth from Succoth and questioned him. Then the youth wrote down for him the princes of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men. He came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’ ” He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and he disciplined the men of Succoth with them. He tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

Application: The unmeasured words we speak can come back to haunt us! When Gideon was in pursuit of the enemy he asked his brethren to simply help with food. He did not ask for more fighting men. Yet...

Scripture Read: Judges 8:1-3 Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him vigorously. But he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? “God has given the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb into your hands; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger toward him subsided when he said that.

Application: Jealousy is an interesting emotion. Here instead of being delighted that their kindred had been used by God to begin the breaking of Midian’s power over Israel and celebrate that God privileged the men of Ephraim to be the ones that captured the two kings and slay them, they are jealous of the fact that God chose Gideon to lead this effort. Gideon certainly did not volunteer for this task! Why do we become jealous? What drives that emotion? There are many reasons, but they all have their roots in...

 ☛Probing Proverbs 6:1-3 My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger— if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said— follow my advice and save yourself, for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy. Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased.☚ It's one thing to make foolish choices; it is a very different matter…

Scripture Read: Judges 6:6-10 So Israel was brought very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried to the Lord. Now it came about when the sons of Israel cried to the LORD on account of Midian, that the LORD sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of slavery. ‘I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before you and gave you their land, and I said to you, “I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not obeyed Me.” ’ ”

Application: Several issues we should consider in this passage. First, the incredible inexhaustible patience of our Lord! How many of us would love...