ESOCS LENTEN SEASON DAY 3 TOPIC: LOVE FOR GOD AND MAN LESSON: 1 CORINTHIANS 13:1-END Dearly beloved partners in the Lord, we warmly welcome you to the 3rd day of the 2014 Lenten Season of the ESOCS Church, worldwide. We praise God for His sustenance. Our topic for today is LOVE FOR GOD AND MAN; and our lesson is being taken from 1st Corinthians 13:1-end. Firstly, let us consider the meaning of the word LOVE or CHARITY. LOVE is a tender and soft feeling of affection and care that is extended from one person to the other. So, from the above definition, let us take our usual verse-by-verse approach to understanding our topic lesson for the day. SOME NOTES ON LOVE FROM OUR LESSON: * If we have extraordinary talents that we are able to understand and speak the language of both mortals and spiritual heavenly beings, and we dont have LOVE, the we are just noisy instruments and loud people; in other words, empty barrels. (1Corinthians 13:1). That is, our talents and skills without love makes us noisy persons. * If we have supernatural gifts of prophecy and we have much wisdom that we are even able to understand all mysteries and all knowledge; and even if we have very strong faith that could move mountains and we lack LOVE, we are absolutely NOTHING. That is to say, our powers, intelligence and values as well as qualities that we possess, without love they are all of nothingness. (1Corinthians 3:2). * If we are so kind, so benevolent, and so gracious that we give away all our properties to provide good living standards for the poor and the needy; that we put our lives down for others and we lack LOVE, then our kindness and goodness are rendered profitless and without gain. (1Corinthians 13:3). (Aside): Let us ask ourselves that, how can someone show and do all such goodness in the third instance if that person doesnt have LOVE??? Now, from the above instances, let us consider also some characteristics of LOVE from our lesson for the day. SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF LOVE: * LOVE is patient in all things, love is kind. LOVE does not envy, neither does it boast nor proud. (1Corinthians 13:4). * LOVE does not behave itself unseemly by dishonouring others, love does not seek the good of itself alone or is self-centered; it is not easily provoked, quick-tempered or angered, and it keeps no records of wrongs or evil. (1Corinthians 13:5). * LOVE does not have pleasure nor delight in evil or sin, but rather, enjoys, rejoices and finds pleasure in the truth. (1Corinthians 13-6). * LOVE tolerates all things, always protects, always trusts, always hopes in all things and perseveres. (1Corinthians 13:7). * LOVE never fails: in some instances, prophecies will fail; and in other instances, spiritual gifts such as tongues shall also cease and then even when and where there is knowledge, it shall also vanish away someday. (1Corinthians 13:8). This tells us the eternal existence of LOVE as against gifts, knowledge and powers that will go extinct some day. Let us again, consider certain things that is expected of us true Christians as regards LOVE: * We are expected to love one another (with the love of God), because God is love: if we love ourselves truly, that shows that we are born of God and we know God. (1John 4:7). * As Christians, if we claim we are in the light, we are of God and we know God and yet, we hate our brothers and sisters, then we are liars and we are in darkness, neither are we of God nor know we God. (1John 2:9). CONCLUSION: In this world of ours, there are three things that remain and these are: HOPE, FAITH and LOVE. But the greatest among them all is LOVE. Thus signifying to us the SOVEREIGNTY and SUPREMACY of LOVE. Dearly beloved in the Lord, LET US LOVE. Lord Mensahfio SNTi Correspondent ESOCS Ghana.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 16:45:14 +0000
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