Relationship Goals Week 2: Love is… Love is not…

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 

1 Corinthians 13: 4

Before tackling the first verse of the most classic Christian wedding reading, in this sermon Ian takes a few minutes to define love and identify the nuances of love as it was written about in the Ancient Greek in which 1 Corinthians was written. He establishes that the love referred to here is not exclusively, or even primarily, romantic love but is agape love, which expresses “the unconditional love of God for his children,” or as Thomas Aquinas wrote, is “to will the good of another.” Knowing this, he then teaches on the expression of kindness and patience inherent in love as well as the lack of envy, boasting, or pride that marks actions of true love. To follow through with living like this today, he teaches, is a counter cultural act. The question, are we really loving

Our next steps for this week:

1. Read and slowly meditate on each of the five attributes of love in verse 4
2. As you do that for each one, slowly in turn, apply Tom Wright’s suggestion and think about the following questions:
   1. How do we see this quality in Jesus?
   2. How do I see, or not see, this quality in myself?
   3. How can I change in my life to achieve this quality?
   4. What changes do I need to make to live in a loving and counter cultural way?

Ian heavily referenced Tom Wright (or N.T. Wright) in this sermon. If you’re interested in reading more of N.T. Wright’s Bible Study commentary on 1 Corinthians as we continue in this series, you can find and purchase the commentary here.

Catch up on earlier Relationship Goals sermons: Week 1