This morning, we

continue our message series helping us to better understand and live out

unconditional love.

This series is

entitled, “Love Is” and it is based on that familiar passage found in

1 Corinthians chapter 13. 

We were created by

God with the need for love that can only be expressed through relationships.

As there are

different types of relationships, there are different types of love.  There is, however, a type of love that we are

to express toward anyone and everyone. 

In fact, the Bible teaches that if we learn how to express this type of

love toward God and others, that we will entirely fulfill all that God’s law

requires of us. 

This distinct type

of love is the love that God has for us. 

In the Greek language, it is the word agape.  It is this type of unconditional love that

we’ll be covering through this message series.

To be able to

possess and express this unconditional love, we’re going to break it down into

parts as Paul chose to do in his letter to the Corinthians.  He taught all about spiritual gifts and said

that it is not using these gifts that truly matters, but how we choose to use

them, our motive, that matters to God. 

We can do all sorts of good things for God, but if we do not do them as

an expression of God’s love, then they are pointless, useless, and meaningless.

1 Corinthians 13:1-7

1 If I speak in the

tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong

or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all

mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but

do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give

over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain

nothing.  14 Love is patient, love is

kind.   It does not envy, it does not

boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,

it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight

in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts,

always hopes, always perseveres.

Some other

translations state that love believes all things or that love never loses

faith.  Some translations say that love

never gives up or endures all things.  I

actually like the way that this is translated in The Message translation of the

Bible best stating that love “Trusts God always, Always looks for the

best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.”

Now the way in which

these acts are phrased in some popular translations can easily lead us to

misunderstand what the Bible is actually teaching.  It isn’t teaching that in order to love

someone, that we need to believe everything that they say nor to trust them

always.  When your translation reads that

love “believes all things”, however, it is easy to think that this is

what is being taught.

To do these things

isn’t loving others at all.  To do these

things would be better defined as foolishness. 

We know full well

that not everything that everyone says can be believed and that people are not

trustworthy always.  If we were to

believe all things, then why would the scriptures call us to watch our lives

and doctrines closely as to not be lead astray or deceived?  Why would God’s absolute truth even

matter?  Why would God so carefully

protect and distribute His word if we were simply to believe all things?

No, rather God’s

word is teaching that in all things, we have belief.  We do not believe all things, we believe God

in all things. 

We are being taught

to trust and hope and persevere through all circumstances.  It means that even when the facts aren’t in

agreement with what God said, that we continually believe His word.  It means that we trust in Him and that our

hope remains anchored in His promises alone persevering until they come to

pass.  The apostle Paul reminds us of

such a real life example of this trusting act of love here:

Romans 4:18-21

18 Against all hope,