Main Thought
A lot of people are familiar with the famous “Love Chapter” in 1 Corinthians 13. It’s read at weddings and written on greeting cards. Unfortunately, the love we see around us - in the real world - doesn’t measure up to the standard of love portrayed by 1 Corinthians. Is there a problem with love? We, as people, fail to meet the high standard set by this famous text. But God’s love sets the standard! He chose to love us, even when He knew we’d fall short. We can receive God’s love and learn from it, so that our love (for God and others) can continue to grow and mature.
Main Passages
“4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
- 1 John 4:9-10
11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
- 1 Corinthians 13:11-12
Discussion Questions
Look at the qualities of love listed in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Have you failed to exhibit any of those qualities recently? What negative effects might that have had on you, or on those around you?
Has learning more about God’s love for you ever impacted the way you love God, or the way you love other people?
How can you practically demonstrate love for God or others this week?
Family Questions
What is love? How would you describe it?
What does it mean when someone says, “God loves you”?