02/02/2025

The gift that challenges and changes everything

Theme: The gift that challenges and changes everything.

Reading: I Corinthians 13:1-13

Warm up:
In pairs or groups of three, discuss: “When I think of love, I picture…”
As a group, come up with as many definitions of the word ‘love’ as you can in five minutes. Write them down or find some other way to display the definitions for all participants to see.
Questions for discussion:

When do we usually hear 1 Corinthians 13 recited? (Weddings).

Is 1 Corinthians 13 fitting for weddings? (See note below on love.)

Compare and contrast love as often romanticized in movies and novels versus how love is displayed by God and written about in 1 Corinthians 13.

How has God demonstrated love? (Most specifically, tangibly and sacrificially giving of the Son for the benefit of others.)

What makes love a “better way” (12:31)?

Which attribute of love comes most easy for you?

Which attribute of love is most difficult for you?
Are there any specific Scripture passages that come to mind where God has demonstrated these attributes?

What might it look like for you “put an end to childish ways” (13:11)?

How can this group help you to be more loving towards others?

Note on Love

There are countless songs, movies, novels, and poems that exalt love’s virtue. Perhaps, biblically, none are as famous as 1 Corinthians 13. It is often referred to as the love chapter and is regularly read at weddings. It is this latter practice that can bring confusion, as Paul’s poem seemingly has little to do with romance or marriage nuptials. Paul inserts this poem in the middle of his argument over the confusion that some spiritual gifts are more important than others. For Paul, love is the solution to the infighting in the church about who was more religiously superior. Instead of looking to prop up one's self over another, look to the benefits of the other is Paul’s advice. Don’t be envious or arrogant. Rather, be patient and kind. Put away childish ways. Seek the more excellent way. John Wesley, commenting on this passage in his sermon “On Zeal,” wrote, “But of all holy tempers [dispositions], and above all others, see that you be most zealous for love . . . O let this be deep engraven upon your heart: ‘All is nothing without love!’ . . . be most zealous of all for love, the queen of all graces, the highest perfection in heaven or earth, the very image of the invisible God, as in men below, so
in angels above” (Sermon 92 “On Zeal,” The Works of John Wesley. Baker Books, 2007 Reprint. pp. 66-67).

Prayer (10 minutes). Share prayer requests and respond appropriately.

End by praying the following together:
God of all Love and all Grace, you have embodied and displayed love. Beyond a fuzzy notion or a warm feeling, your love is sacrificial, tangible, compassionate, and committed to us. As your witnesses, help us to embody love through our words and actions to the seemingly great and to the seemingly weak. Amen.

God bless
Tim