WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON

An international Sunday school lesson commentary

For Sunday October 25, 2020

 

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LOVE NEVER FAILS

(Love is the greatest)

(1 Corinthians 13)

 

   Faith, Hope, and Love are “the three great enduring things”. They are the spiritual elements that must be embodied in every person who desires to be a true follower of CHRIST JESUS, and, who wishes to worship GOD, in spirit, and in truth. However, out of those three elements, “Love” is the greatest.

    The word “love” in this chapter is “charity” or, in the Greek, “agape” and it is “benevolence and affection toward people”, and “adoration and obedience to GOD”. JESUS says that, we show love for HIM by obeying HIM, and by obeying HIM we remain in HIS love, just as HE obeys the FATHER and remains in HIS love (John 15:10). And then HE tells us in Matthew 25:31-46 that HE will “judge” us, when HE returns, and that judgment will be based on how we reacted to “human need”, or, how we showed or didn’t show “agape love” towards one another.

    In the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, the segment we now know as chapter 13, is the best-known passage. In fact, with the exception of Psalm 23, it may be the most well-known chapter in all of Scripture. Over time, it has come to be known the world over, as the “Love Chapter”.

    In this, now famous passage, Paul, moves from explaining how to recognize “spiritual gifts” that come from GOD, in the previous chapter, to how one can measure and express, his or her own spirituality, in the “most excellent way”. Here Paul insists that we succeed in exercising our gifts, only by showing “Love”, an element of quality so vital, that without it, not even the greatest of man’s GOD-given abilities can enrich and enhance the lives of those who possess them, nor, the lives of the people that they seek to help with those abilities (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

    Paul clearly understood that “Love” is not just an abstract, philosophical idea, but rather, it is practical, and must be expressed in the everyday actions and attitudes of the believer (verses 4-7). Even the greatest of spiritual gifts are limited and distorted, by their own mortalities and imperfections. In other words, no spiritual gift lasts forever, but rather, they fade and deteriorate in conjunction with the aging process of the human body (verses 8-12). 

    However, through it all, we can rely on our Faith, Hope, and Love, which is, “GOD personified”, to sustain us. And “Love” is the greatest quality because it, quite literally, is the foundation of the Christian Faith, and, of life itself. Understanding that, we can see, quite vividly, why “Love” is the true measure a person’s spirituality, and it also exemplifies the closeness of one’s relationship with GOD.

    Paul sought to make sure that we realize, quite readily, who, among us is truly spiritual. And the only way to do that was, by first, making sure that we understood the true nature of love, and then, by presenting to us, the criteria, by which we can evaluate the spirituality of others. This is so we will not be duped into following the leadership and advice of false teachers.

    Paul, quite simply, shows us in his own brilliant sort of way, the true “behavioral definition” of “Love”. In this passage, Paul is saying that, any person, who is a spiritual representative of GOD, “acts like it”, not just “talks like it”. “GOD is love”, and when JESUS came to earth, HE clearly demonstrated that Love to us, and for us, time and time again. As a result, HE became “LOVE” personified, in the eyes of men, for all times. HE served to show us what “Love” is supposed to look like as an integral part of the human, earthly experience, or, in other words, how we are to incorporate this “Love” into our everyday actions, attitudes, and indeed, into our existence.

    And while it is true that perfection won’t come to the Church until GOD’s   program for it is consummated with the “second coming” of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, and until then, a church is only perfect when no human being is in it, we as Christians can still all reach a high level of maturity, by learning and becoming accustomed to practicing the immortal acts of Love, already exhibited to us, by CHRIST JESUS, during HIS first advent. 

    As for “Faith” and “Hope”, they are merely manifestations of “Love”, but because of it, they too, will endure forever. All, that we know now, is partial and incomplete, because we are yet, mere children in CHRIST. And when we are children, we are expected to act like children, just as when we grow up, we are expected to put away childish things and behavior.

    Before we come to know CHRIST, we have already long become accustomed to looking at ourselves, through an unclean mirror, and, as a result, we do not see ourselves, as we really are. The blood of CHRIST gives us something, by which we can use, to clean that mirror off, and begin seeing ourselves clearly, for the very first time. We are then able to walk into the store of GOD and pick us up “a free bottle of “faith”. And we can take that faith home with us, and use it, to spray some “hope” on that unclean mirror. And with “Love”, we can wipe away the old life, and begin to usher the new. In fact, it is then, and only then, that we will be able to turn ourselves around, and begin heading in the right direction, in the newness of life, that is found, only in CHRIST JESUS, our LORD.

 

A Sunday school lesson by,

Larry D. Alexander

 

 

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