The Daily Fountain Devotional Thursday, February 3, 2022
Thursday, February 3, 2022
TOPIC: LOVETEXT: 1 Corinthians 13
BIBLE READING:
13 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,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 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.
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 completeness comes, what is in part 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 the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a 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.
The Daily Fountain Devotional Thursday, February 3, 2022
INTRODUCTION
Love is an intense feeling of deep
affection for a person or thing (Merriam-Webster).
Paul used the ancient Greek word 'Agape' in this passage. The ancient Greek had four different words we could translate as love. They
are (i) Eros: This describes erotic, sexual, or romantic
love, (ii) Storge: This refers to family love, the kind of
love between a parent and child or between family
members in general, (iii) Philia: This refers to brotherly friendship and affection. It can be described as the highest love of
which man, without God's help, is capable of. (iv)
Agape: This is the love that loves without changing. It
is a self-giving love that gives with chi
demanding or expecting repayment. It can be
given to the unlovable or unappealing. It does not demand or expect repayment
for the love given. Agape love can be defined as sacrificial, selfless giving, absorbing
kind love. It has much to do with self-denial for
the sake of another.
True
love is always demonstrated by action. Love is strong
believing, hopeful and enduring. Spurgeon calls these
four virtues, “Love’s four sweet companions." We should replace the word love with the
name Jesus and the description in our text would make
perfect sense. Jesus' long-suffering, kind and
gentle. He is not envious, proud, rude, arrogant, does
not have cliques, and is not happy with evil. Be like Jesus.
Prayer: Lave is kind, Love is meek and thinks no wrong. God is
love. Therefore
Lord, help us to love.
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The Daily Fountain Devotional Thursday, February 3, 2022
