The Spirit of Charity

Text: 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13

Focus: Love’s importance

Function: to help us see practical ways the Spirit leads us to love others.

³¹ But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

13:¹ Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. ² And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. ³ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

⁴ Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, ⁵ doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; ⁶ rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; ⁷ beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

⁸ Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. ⁹ For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. ¹⁰ But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. ¹² For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. ¹³ And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Good morning beloved of God!

There is a lot to unpack in this very familiar scripture. It is one we hear read, but not preached on, so today I am continuing the teaching on the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives as it works through and motivates our love.

I started the text from chapter 12:31, because it is the segue between his teaching on the gifts of the Spirit to the power of love.

Remember from the last several weeks, the gifts of the Spirit were powerful in the Corinthian Church and joy of having it turned into pride and was causing division in the church about who was more important.

And in Chapter 13, Paul is reminding them of Jesus’ primary command to the disciples at the end of his instruction when he told them there is a new commandment now to make the Christian life simple: Love one another.

He is reminding them that if they focus on the love that the Spirit is giving them, the pride will diminish and they will get along and honor Christ.

I used the King James today because it translates the Greek word Agape as Charity. It means the kind of love that expresses itself in acts of giving. And it isn’t just physical things we give, more importantly, we give forgiveness and mercy along with the willingness and desire to share because the Spirit is giving us compassion towards others.

Verses 4-7 give us a synopsis of what love, or charity looks like.

So, Charity:

• is longsuffering

• is kind

• is happy, without envy, about the success of others

• is humble and knows its place

• is not selfish

• is patient in the midst of provocation

• is able to see the best in others without being critical

• is not happy when an enemy stumbles

• is happy when truth appears

• is forbearing

• is looking for the best in the other

• is hoping for the best in others

• is forgiving

• is permanent.

And when he mentions permanence by saying it wont fail, he segues again into the point of the passage about the relationship between the gifts and love.

A big problem was happening with them in that some had these showy gifts from the Spirit and others didn’t and they said the more supernatural gifts were the proof of salvation.

Paul steers them back to Jesus’ teaching and the importance of love.

I’m talking about verses 8-11 now. Continuing with the theme of Jesus teaching on love, he sort of explains what he means at the end of chapter 12 when he tells them to seek the higher gifts.

He talks about how we mature in the faith from childish notions to more mature notions.

I see it as going from needing to see signs and wonders to prove the reality of the faith to letting the Spirit lead inside ones own heart and seeing where the love of God takes you.

You remember that Jesus said that we will be known as followers of Christ by our love for others.

Verse 12 is kind of humbling when he speaks of the fact that we barely understand.

I see that.

It seems to me that the more I read, the more I pray, the more I study, the more I prepare, the less and less sure I am of what I know.

And that is because I keep seeing the bigness and wholeness of God in all of creation and in the people I get to meet.

I think it goes back to love not puffing itself up and remaining humble. I realize that I don’t understand it all, but God does, so it makes it simple for me to love and forgive as an act of faith and obedience.

Before we finish, I want to focus a bit on the Spirit’s power to see the good in others.

I wrote that love is seeing the good, the God, in others. There is a touch of the divine in everyone, and the Spirit of God inside of us resonates with that inside of them, God touches them, and perhaps hope is born in the midst of those who are prone to think the evil is good.

Now remember, this section of 1 Corinthians that we are studying is on the Spirit’s power in our lives.

And Paul’s focus on love is consistent with the main emphasis of Jesus’ teaching.

I believe that when we refuse to walk in love, we quench the power of the Spirit in our lives.

Forgiveness is a major part of it.

When I am not forgiving, I simply find that prayer is next to impossible until my prayer is one of forgiveness.

Now, I don’t want to get off the subject here, the problem hindering love in these chapters is pride, not unforgiveness.

But I find pride is the biggest reason I am to stubborn to forgive.

Hopefully we have gained some insights into the power behind letting the Spirit lead us into love.

Let the Spirit lead you into love.

I see that as a defining characteristic of this church. Thank you.