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Bible Study Love..the greatest gift

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Chris

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we were talking about supernatural gifts a bit in other threads but last night I was reading this when I was thinking about it and read the Corinthians verses about how love is the greatest gift, and the greatest thing we should attain as a gift. I felt led to share it. It's a fav passage of mine.

1 Corinthians 13

1 If I speak in the tongues[a] 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.

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.

Footnotes:
 
I do not have the time right now to look it up, which is the reason for me asking this. Please do not take it as a 'debating' question. But you mention love as a gift. I cannot seem to place it in my mind where it is a gift. I mean, in a way I can see it as such, but in essence it is not like the other gifts, which he contrasts love with, because those are only 'given' to some.

Love is something that all have to have. It seems like to me, he is making the point that a believer in Christ that does not have love.....well....is pretty much fooling themselves that they are real. Its almost like he uses the explanation of what love is as a 'ruler' by which one can measure themselves.

But, like I said, not trying to knock what you said AT ALL. So please do not take it that way. I dearly love this passage and find it absolutely awesome that God gave us a definition like this in complete view for all to see. It is one of those passages that I never forget.
 
I agree with Nathaniel, that love is a fruit not a "gift". But the fruit of the spirit are love, joy, peace.... (Galatians 5:22-23)

I do agree that Love is the greatest fruit that we should work on having.

I always find it interesting that Paul places 1 Corinthians 13 in between 12 & 14 (chapters on gifts of the spirit, particularly tongues), yet I can count on one hand the number of times I have heard pastors speak or read things on that point. :) When 1 Corinthians begins we read "though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels...." right away we see a continuity with chapters 12 & 14. The gifts are important, but without love they are nothing. More specifically to tongues, without love, your tongues are only noise.
 
As I was reading those Passages around them paul was talking about prophecy and tongues and Thier use in the congregation but to me he seemed to emphasize Love as something to be attained first. You guys are very correct about it being a fruit and good point thanks for saying that.

I guess a few times when the holy spirit come on me love seemed to be an irresistible by product. There seemed to be a greater capacity to love than personally I was ever able to do on my own. As it was fresh in my mind about supernatural giftings/equippings the lord gives us, I felt the lord speak to me to always pray for the ability to love above all other things first.

Maany times i have heard utterances of tongues, and some prophecies . I have forgotten them all, But the gift of someones love I can never forget, It spoke louder than anything.
 
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@Chris said:
As I was reading those Passages around them paul was talking about prophecy and tongues and Thier use in the congregation but to me he seemed to emphasize Love as something to be attained first. You guys are very correct about it being a fruit and good point thanks for saying that.

I guess a few times when the holy spirit come on me love seemed to be an irresistible by product. There seemed to be a greater capacity to love than personally I was ever able to do on my own. As it was fresh in my mind about supernatural giftings/equippings the lord gives us, I felt the lord speak to me to always pray for the ability to love above all other things first.

Maany times i have heard utterances of tongues, and some prophecies . I have forgotten them all, But the gift of someones love I can never forget, It spoke louder than anything.
Click to expand...

Well said. And you are very correct in that sometimes it seems to be more so than it was even 10 minutes prior. But I think that it can be said it is just that overflow of love He gives us.

Look at it this way. It is said that we love Him because He first loved us. And so we do love one another, and Him, for that reason. But there are still times when we experience His love in a new and fresh way that it just spills out almost irresistibly. That is fruit at its finest. Fruit occurs naturally, a tree never can force itself to bear it.

All in all good topic.
 
nathanielhooper said:
Well said. And you are very correct in that sometimes it seems to be more so than it was even 10 minutes prior. But I think that it can be said it is just that overflow of love He gives us.

Look at it this way. It is said that we love Him because He first loved us. And so we do love one another, and Him, for that reason. But there are still times when we experience His love in a new and fresh way that it just spills out almost irresistibly. That is fruit at its finest. Fruit occurs naturally, a tree never can force itself to bear it.

All in all good topic.
Click to expand...
Once I was baptized in the spirit, and i think off memory that's what it felt like being full of alove/ joy feeling, being filled until you could take no more :) I would love to have that every day. How good would that be
 
@Chris said:
Once I was baptized in the spirit, and i think off memory that's what it felt like being full of alove/ joy feeling, being filled until you could take no more :) I would love to have that every day. How good would that be
Click to expand...

Just some food for thought..... Many authors have written about the continuous re-filling that is needed.
 
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