WHEN PERFECTION COMES

Introduction

Over the past three weeks we have looked at chapter 13 of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Our main conclusion from verses 1-3 was that everything we do should be motivated by love for God and for others. In verses 4-7, we looked at a definition for love. Jesus (God) fulfills this definition perfectly, but when we examine ourselves in the light of this Scripture, it's easy to see that we fall short. As we discussed last week, the solution to our “love problem” is to draw closer to God.

ccc This week we will have a quick look at the last part of 1 Corinthians chapter 13. The goal for this devotion will be to extract the basic meaning of these verses. Then, over the next two weeks, we will look at (1) a brief history of how God has interacted with His people throughout time and (2) how the certainty of Jesus' Return should affect the way we live our lives.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13: (8) Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. (9) For we know in part and we prophesy in part, (10) but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. (11) When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. (12) Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (13) And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Verse 8: Spiritual Gifts vs. Love

Recall, from our previous discussions, that the chapter we are investigating (13) is nestled between two chapters (12 and 14) about spiritual gifts. In this chapter, Paul compares spiritual gifts to love. His basic message is that love is superior to spiritual gifts. In verse 8, Paul points out a fundamental difference between spiritual gifts and love. The difference is this: while spiritual gifts are temporary, love is eternal... Or—to put it another way—in contrast to spiritual gifts, love is not something that we will ever outgrow. It will never become obsolete.

Verses 9-12: Why Spiritual Gifts are Temporary

Verse 10 of this week's text says, “when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.” In other words, spiritual gifts are imperfect. How are they imperfect? Paul answers this question by saying that “we know in part and we prophesy in part.” Right now, in spite of the spiritual gifts that God gives us, we cannot completely know Him. Our ability to use the spiritual gifts that God gives us is imperfect. Remember that the reason God has given us spiritual gifts is so we can build up the church. At the present time, those of us in the church must “live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). So we encourage and help one another as we wait for the day of Jesus' return—when our faith will be sight. Spiritual gifts are useful only as long as we are on this earth, waiting for Christ's return. Then, “when perfection comes,” the imperfect spiritual gifts will no longer be needed.

ccc Verse 11 is an analogy in which Paul relates our earthly lives to childhood. During our earthly lives we are like children. We talk like children; We think like children; We reason like children. But when Jesus returns (or whenever we finally get to see Him), we will be like adults, putting childish ways—like spiritual gifts—behind us. Spiritual gifts bring us closer to God and help us to bring others closer to God. When we finally meet God, spiritual gifts will be unnecessary. They will become obsolete.

ccc In verse 12 Paul uses another analogy. He says, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” What Paul is saying is that there is a limit to how well we can “see” and “know” God during our earthly lives. When we read the Bible, we get a glimpse of who God is and what He has done for us. From the Bible we get the information we need to know that God is good, that He loves us, and that He offers eternal life to all those who turn to Him in faith. For now, we must be satisfied with a glimpse of God. But God doesn't have to wait to know us. Already He knows everything there is to know about each one of us. And when we finally see Him face-to-face, we will know Him fully in the same way that He knows each one of us right now. This is how the apostle John puts it (1 John 3:2): “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he [Jesus] appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is...”

Homework

This week, I encourage you to read the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 13 and meditate on some of the things we've discussed over the past several weeks. Or—better yet—read chapters 12-14 so you can get the full context. I would also encourage you to use these three chapters as a starting point for prayer. For example, you can pray that God would help you to be motivated by love and to love Him and others more. In 1 Corinthians 12:31 and 14:1, Paul says that we should “eagerly desire spiritual gifts.” Why not take this opportunity to seek spiritual gifts from God through prayer? After all, in Luke 11:13, Jesus says, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

THE "LOVE PROBLEM"

(Written April 20, 2010)

Introduction

Last week we looked at 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and saw that Jesus' life provides the perfect example of the kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. This week, we are going to shine the light of God's word on our lives. First, I will invite you to take a test. Then we will investigate the root of the problem and its solution.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7: (4) Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (5) It is not rude, 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.

The Test

First we are going to examine our lives against the standard of love described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. To do this, try the following exercise: In this week's Scripture, insert your name in place of the word “love.” For me this would read: “Lara is patient, Lara is kind. Lara does not envy... Lara is not rude...” (...And now, Lara is a liar...)

ccc How did you do? If we are honest with ourselves, I think we can all admit that we do not live up to the standard of love described in this passage of Scripture. The discrepancy between the way we live our lives and the description of love in this passage can be striking. So, why don't we love others as we ought? In the next section of this devotion, we will investigate the answer to this question in order to find the root of the problem.

Impatience, Irritation, & Rudeness

Love is patient. Hate is impatient... Consider the following scenario: You are standing in line at the coffee shop and the person in front of you is asking all kinds of questions about the different menu items. From their questions, it is clear to you that they have no idea what they want to order. You begin to think to yourself, “If I had been first I would've been done by now... If they don't know what they want, maybe they should step aside and let someone else order...” These thoughts result from an attitude of impatience and irritation and, if acted upon, would result in a response that was rude rather than kind. The underlying sentiment of impatience is that “My time is more valuable than your time.” Whenever we are impatient, we are more concerned with our own needs & desires than the needs & desires of the other person—and many times our two separate needs & desires are at odds with one another. When we are impatient, unkind, easily-angered, or rude we are self-centered (self-seeking).

Pride, Boasting, & Envy

Love is not proud—it does not envy or boast. What does it mean to be proud? It means having an inflated view of oneself. If you are proud, you view yourself more highly than you ought, and you boast about your great qualities to anyone who will listen. (Humility is the opposite of pride.) If you are proud, you look down upon others... What is envy? Envy (or jealousy) is hatred of others who have qualities or possessions that you desire. Consider the following example of what envy can cause someone to do (Genesis 4:1-8): “Eve... became pregnant and gave birth to Cain... Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.' Now Cain said to his brother Abel, 'Let's go out to the field.' And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him...”

ccc Why did Cain kill Abel? Because he was jealous! Abel's gift to God was motivated by love; Cain's gift was motivated by obligation. Abel's gift to God was whole-hearted, whereas Cain's gift was half-hearted. Cain could have given God a better gift. Instead, because of his envy, he killed his brother Abel for out-giving him... Pride and envy both focus on “self”: I am better than you... I deserve to have what you have. Pride and envy are self-centered emotions.

Selfishness—the Root of the Problem

Hopefully you are beginning to see the thread that ties all of these things (impatience, unkindness, pride, envy, rudeness, etc) together. All of these things are the result of self-centered living. A person cannot love without relating to other people, so it makes sense that a self-centered person cannot truly love others. The opposite of being self-centered is being God- and others-centered—the opposite of self-centered living is being loving.

Conflicting Messages

These days, the world is teaching us to believe in the survival of the fittest, where everyone fends for themselves. If we believe what the world believes, we have no reason to try and overcome our selfishness. To the world, selfishness is natural and normal—a side effect of evolution. But the Bible says that we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and that “God is love” and “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:8, 4:16, and 4:19). C.S. Lewis explains that “our thinking can succeed only because it is a drop out of the ocean of [God's] intelligence.” In the same way, we are only capable of loving others because we are made in the image of a loving God. Even those who do not believe in God are capable of loving others because they too are made in His image.

ccc Let me reiterate the difference between the message of the world and the message from God. The message of the world is that he who puts himself first will be first. The message of Jesus is that he who is last shall be first: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man [Jesus] did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28).

ccc And again, in Luke 17:33, Jesus says, “Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” (See also Matthew 10:38-39, 16:24-25, Mark 8:34-38, Luke 9:23-26, 14:26-27, and John 12:25.) What does it mean to “keep” or “lose” your life? I believe to “keep” your life means to keep it for yourself (see the context of Mark 8:34-38, for example) and to “lose” your life means to give it to God (and therefore to others). “And [Jesus] died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Corinthians 5:15).

ccc Since God created us, our lives are His, whether we know it or not. Even so, God gives us the choice to either live our earthly lives for ourselves or for Him (and others). However, if we live our lives for ourselves—not recognizing the sacrifice that Jesus made for us—then we will forfeit the free gift of eternal life that we might also have had through the grace of God. As the Bible says (Mark 8:36): “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

Solving the “Love Problem”

Therefore, since God is both the source of love and our model to follow, the solution to our “love problem” is to draw closer to Him. If we truly want to know how to love, we must look to God/Jesus. This is not a passive looking, but rather, God says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). In other words, only the true seeker will find God. If we are truly seeking God we will read His word, try to obey His commands, and pray for His help and guidance—we will live our lives for Him.

Final Thoughts

If the world and life came about by natural forces, and there is no God, why on earth do we love one another at all? To me, the presence of love in the world proves the existence of God. Love—especially the completely self-sacrificing love displayed by Jesus—is anything but “natural.” Instead, it is divine.

ccc This week I hope you will join me in seeking God and looking to Jesus as an example of how to love. Like Paul, I pray “that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19).

DEFINING LOVE

(Written on April 15, 2010)

Introduction
Last week we read between the lines of 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 and looked at some related passages. We concluded that God does not merely look at what a person does, but also what's in their heart. Paul has introduced love in these first three verses as "the most excellent way," and now, in the next four verses (1 Corinthians 13:4-7), he seeks to define love. This is the portion of Scripture that we will examine today:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7: (4) Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (5) It is not rude, 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.

This is a beautiful passage. It is especially beautiful when we realize that it describes God's perfect love for us. But when we look at ourselves in this part of the mirror of God's Word (James 1:23-24), we probably won't like what we see. In today's study, we will look at how God fits this description of love. Then, next week, we will have a look at ourselves in light of Paul's definition of love.

God's Perfect Love - a love of choice

John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” We need look no farther than the cross to see how great God's love for us is. And if the cross does not impress you (or if you have become overly familiarized with it to the point that it has lost its meaning) then perhaps you should read an account (1, 2, 3, 4) of what Jesus suffered for you and me. There are few ways of dying that are worse than what Jesus suffered, especially when we consider that He carried the weight of the whole world's sins.

ccc As human beings, we can endure quite a lot... indeed, sometimes we have no choice. Although we may think we want to know what's going to happen in our lives in the future, there is a great blessing in not knowing. But the difference here is that Jesus knew what He was about to suffer, and still He chose to go through with it (John 12:27-28).

ccc To illustrate this further, let me quote from “The Perfect Penitent,” a chapter from C.S. Lewis' book, Mere Christianity: “But supposing God became a man—suppose our human nature which can suffer and die was amalgamated with God's nature in one person—then that person could help us. He could surrender His will, and suffer and die, because He was man; and He could do it perfectly because He was God. You and I can go through this process only if God does it in us; but God can do it only if He becomes man. Our attempts at this dying will succeed only if we men share in God's dying, just as our thinking can succeed only because it is a drop out of the ocean of His intelligence: but we cannot share God's dying unless God dies; and He cannot die except by being a man. That is the sense in which He pays our debt, and suffers for us what He Himself need not suffer at all.”

God's Perfect Love - loving His enemies

In Matthew 5:43-45, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”

ccc I presume that I am not the only one who has a hard time with some of Jesus' teachings. These words of Jesus are no different. If you're like me, you might initially hear these words and be inspired by them--imagining how noble it would be to live them out... And yet, when someone wrongs me, my first instinct is to point out their fault and indignantly fume over what they've done rather than to love them and pray for them. So, when it comes to living these words out, we tend to look at this command of Jesus' and, like some of His earlier disciples, say, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it ” (John 6:60)?

ccc But before you read these words of Jesus' and conclude that they are too harsh, consider this: We are all enemies of God. Without God's amazing, outrageous love, we would be doomed to destruction because of our sin and rebellion against Him. This is the essence of Romans 5:7-8, which says, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Do you understand the significance of this passage? Jesus (God incarnate) came down to earth and gave His life for us, His enemies, so that we might have peace with God: “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Him [Jesus], and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation” (Colossians 1:19-22)... Do you still think Jesus' words are too harsh? If He had not loved His enemies, we would still be dead in our sins!

God's Perfect Love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Therefore, when we read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, we can understand that this is a description of God's love for us—a love revealed most clearly through the life and death of Jesus Christ, who did not envy the worldly possessions and prestige of others, but sought the approval of God the Father... He was not rude or easily angered, but rather was patient and kind, even to the people who persecuted and insulted Him as He suffered on the cross (1 Peter 2:22-24, Isaiah 53:7). Jesus' response to His enemies was this: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). And although He himself was God, He did not take pride in His glory (John 17:5), boast about it, or even consider Himself equal to God the Father, but rather humbled himself to the point of death (Philippians 2:6-8)—the ultimate in self-sacrifice.

ccc Indeed, “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). But God is also holy and just. He couldn't forsake His perfect love just as He couldn't forsake His perfect justice—this is who He is, and God doesn't change (Malachi 3:6). Therefore, let me finish with a passage of Scripture that illustrates how perfect love (grace) and perfect justice are reconciled: Romans 3:21-26: “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” This week, I hope you'll join with me in meditating on God's perfect love for humanity.

MOTIVATED BY LOVE

(Written on April 8, 2010)

Getting the context

Over the next few weeks, I'd like to look at a passage of scripture that you have probably heard: 1 Corinthians 13. Today we'll just look at the first three verses. But before we look at today's passage, let's get some context. In chapters 12 and 14, Paul talks about spiritual gifts, and in chapter 13, he talks about love. You could say that chapter 13 is a digression, but it's really more of an extension of the discussion of spiritual gifts, which he began in chapter 12. The following is a summary of what Paul says about spiritual gifts.

ccc Spiritual gifts are attributes that God bestows on man by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. Although there are many different kinds of gifts (e.g., wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, prophecy, tongues, etc), they are all given by the same Spirit for the purpose of building up the church (1 Cor 12:4-11). Paul makes it clear that all of these spiritual gifts come from the One Holy Spirit, but that different people are going to have different gifts. The reason we have different gifts is because, together, we make up the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:12). We serve different purposes, but function as a whole. Paul explains it this way (1 Cor 12:17-20): “If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” Paul ends chapter 12 with a series of rhetorical questions (1 Cor 12:29-31): “...Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.” And this leads us to our passage for today, in which Paul begins to show us “the most excellent way.”

1 Corinthians 13:1-3: (1) If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not 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 have not love, I am nothing. (3) If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

What is Paul talking about in these first three verses? He is talking about spiritual gifts and acts of service (tongues, prophecy, faith, giving, martyrdom). But he is also talking about our motivation. And what he is saying is this: no matter how many spiritual gifts we have or how much good deeds we do, if we don't use our gifts and do the good works out of love for God and our neighbor then, to God, it's no good at all... In other words, everything we do as a Christian should be motivated by love.

ccc As we continue, we will first look at our motivation from God's point of view. Then we will examine the importance of love as a motivation in our Christian lives.

What Motive Means to God

Let's examine another passage of Scripture, 1 Chronicles 28:9: “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”

ccc I don't know what your reaction to this verse is, but I can certainly tell you what my reaction is—“Yikes!” Psalm 139:1-4 is another good piece of Scripture to look at. It says, “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.” The bottom line here is that we can't fool God. He knows everything, even our motives. And He is not happy with us, even when we do something “good,” if it is not done for the right reasons.

The Importance of Love

Now let's look at the importance of love. Love is such a major theme of the Bible that it's difficult to pick and choose which passages to discuss--there are so many good ones! So, perhaps the best thing to do is to start with the words of Jesus, our Savior. This is what Jesus said when asked to state the greatest commandment in the Law: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself ” (Matthew 22:36-39).

ccc What is this passage saying? Isn't it saying that, whatever we do in life, it should be motivated by our love for God? Jesus says that these two commandments sum up the law and the prophets. That means that, instead of worrying about the ten commandments, we can just obey these two. In other words, if we obey these two commandments, we will be obeying every commandment that God ever gave, because this (total love) is what He really wants from us.

ccc Now consider another passage, Isaiah 29:13: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” When I read this verse, I think about how I have often gone to church out of obligation. I think of how, at times, I mindlessly sang hymns while thinking about what I was going to do the rest of the day. Sometimes I think, “what is required of me?” rather than “what can I do today for the God I love?” When I do this I am taking my relationship with God and turning it into a set of rules: go to church, give to the poor, help your neighbor, tithe, etc. It's certainly easier to follow a set of rules than it is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” After all, what Jesus is describing here, in this passage, is nothing less than total commitment to God, and that's not easy! ...But no one said it was supposed to be easy.

Summary

What God has spoken to me through these verses is that everything we do as a Christian should be motivated by our love for God. As Paul says it in Galatians 5:6, “...The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." It is not pleasing to God when we do things out of guilt, fear, or obligation rather than out of love. For some reason, in spite of how worthy of our love God is, we have trouble loving Him... (or at least I do). If you find that the same is true for you, then here are two things you can do to follow up this devotion: (1) Meditate on the wonderful things God has done in your life. Consider looking at some inspiring passages of Scripture like these: John 3:16, Isaiah 53:5, John 15:13, Romans 8:38-39. Meditating on what God has done will remind you of why God deserves your love. (2) Pray to God and ask Him to help you to love Him and others more. Pray that He would increase your love for Him so that serving Him would be a delight rather than a dread.

ccc I hope this little study helped and inspired you. The next devotion will continue our exploration of 1 Corinthians 13.