Love Never Fails

Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:8

In the New Testament, Jesus teaches us through His words and actions how to live, how to follow God and how to love. The Bible mentions the word love hundreds of times.  How many verses and songs can you think of that mention love? 

For the past few weeks we have read about what love is and how to show others God’s love. God’s love is with us every day in all that we do. It is a love we are told to share.  It guides us to be better people and comforts us when life is hard.

We are all sinners, imperfect in so many ways, but God still loves us with a never ending love and promises us eternal life through Jesus.  It is love that will not fail and will not end. 

Say or sing these words:

    I stand amazed in the presence

    Of Jesus the Nazarene,

    And wonder how He could love me,

    A sinner, condemned, unclean.

    O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

    And my song shall ever be:

    O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

    Is my Savior's love for me!

When you pray, thank God for His love that never fails.

Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Love Always Perseveres

It (love) always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  1 Corinthians 13:7

Paul says true love "always perseveres."  In other words, true love never, ever, ever gives up.  It endures.  It persists.  It keeps at it.  It sticks with it.  True love is like the Energizer Bunny - it keeps going, and going and going.  It's like a Timex watch - it takes a licking and keeps on ticking.  It's like a marathon runner or an Iron Man triathlete.

This is the type of love Jesus demonstrated when He died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins.     Do we demonstrate a persistent, persevering type of love as we relate to others?  Or do we get tired and give up?  True love always perseveres.

Sing or say these words from “I Know My Faith is Founded”:  

   In faith, Lord, let me serve Thee;

   Though persecution, grief and pain

   Should seek to overwhelm me,

   Let me a steadfast trust retain;

   And then at my departure

   Take Thou me home to Thee

   And let me there inherit

   All Thou hast promised me.

   In life and death, Lord, keep me

   Until Thy Heav’n I gain.

   Where I by Thy great mercy

   The end of faith attain.

When you pray, ask God to help you demonstrate a love that never gives up.

Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Love Always Hopes

It (love) always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.   1 Corinthians 13:7

Paul says true love "always hopes."  Some other versions of the Bible variously translate this phrase as "never stops hoping", "is always hopeful", and "never looks back".  No matter what the circumstances, a true believer always has hope.  No one knew this better than Paul.

Do we always expect the best from ourselves and others?  Do we always demonstrate confidence in God and optimism to others?  These are ways we can show we have the love that only comes from a relationship with God through Christ.

Sing or say these words from “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less”:  

   My hope is built on nothing less

   than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

   I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

   but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

   On Christ the solid rock I stand,

   all other ground is sinking sand;

   all other ground is sinking sand.

When you pray, thank God that you always have hope, no matter what life brings.

Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Love Always Trusts

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.   1 Corinthians 13:7

The English Standard Version translation uses the phrase “believes anything” in the place of “always trusts.”  We often demand that people earn our trust, but God says real love always trusts, no matter if the other person has already proven to be trustworthy. 

Although we are not supposed to be gullible or to ignore our common sense, we are supposed to believe the best about others and rejoice in their happiness.  Love does not want to believe something bad about other people without proof. 

People who are living out 1 Corinthians 13 do not become cynical and mistrusting of others.  We have all been hurt by people that we trusted.  When that happens, love is able to forgive, just as our loving God has forgiven us. 

Say or sing the words from “Oh How I Love Jesus”:

   It bids my trembling heart rejoice;

   It dries each rising tear;

   It tells me, in a “still small voice,”

   To trust and never fear.

   Oh, how I love Jesus,

   Oh, how I love Jesus,

   Oh, how I love Jesus,

   Because He first loved me!

When you pray, give thanks to God for always placing trust in you.

Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Love Always Protects

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.  1 Corinthians 13:7

I have a 17 month old little boy who just started walking, so the word “protects” immediately brings to mind the recent experience of child-proofing our house.  The idea behind installing cabinet locks and gates is that I love my son and want to limit his mistakes as he learns about boundaries.  He will still make mistakes as he learns what is safe and what is not, and in those instances, I want to limit his pain. 

Love will never intentionally cause hurt and will do everything it can to keep people from experiencing pain, whether caused by their own choices or the actions of others. 

When you pray,  thank God for His protection and ask Him to help you love and protect other people.

Say or sing the following words from “Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us”:  

  We are Thine, Thou dost befriend us, be the guardian of our way;

  Keep Thy flock, from sin defend us, seek us when we go astray.

  Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus!

  Hear, O hear us when we pray.

  Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus!

  Hear, O hear us when we pray.

Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Love Rejoices with the Truth

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

1 Corinthians 13:6

Recently a friend of mine made a really bad choice and ended up with trouble in their life. You see people everyday on TV, in magazines or in your lives making bad decisions that land them in sinful situations. Often they end up sad, hurt, weary or alone.

Love takes no pleasure when this happens. It does not want sin or evil to triumph over good, nor does it want us to find joy in talking about those who are in trouble. Love would rather rejoice when they find their way back to God.

Jesus’ parable taught us that a shepherd rejoices when he finds that one sheep that was lost. I believe that God truly rejoices when one person turns away from sin and evil and chooses His truth and His love.

Sing or say these words from “Have Thine Own Way Lord”:  

  Have Thine own way, Lord!

  Have Thine own way!  

  Wounded and weary, help me, I pray!  

  Power, all power, surely is Thine!  

  Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.

When you pray, ask God to help you find joy in truth and love.

Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs

It (love) does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  1 Corinthians 13:5

Sometimes it is just hard to forgive someone when you have been hurt. Unfortunately, everyone but God will let you down at some point in life. It can be very difficult to move forward. Wanting to keep score and focus on the bad is also tempting. God teaches us to do the opposite.

God’s Word says that to love, we should keep no record of wrongs. God wants us to love one another as He loves us. Letting go of anger and forgiving others is challenging.

Jesus tells his disciple Peter when he is sinned against, he should forgive not seven times, but seventy times seven times.  What powerful words! I am so thankful that God loves me and forgives me time and time again. He keeps no records of wrongs.

Say or sing these words:

  Our Father, Who art in heaven,

  Hallowed be Thy Name.

  Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done

  On earth as it is in heaven.

  Give us this day our daily bread,

  And forgive us our debts,

  As we forgive our debtors.

  And lead us not into temptation,

  But deliver us from evil,

  For Thine is the kingdom

  And the power, and the glory, forever.

  Amen.

When you pray, ask God to help you show love by forgiving others.

Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Love is not Easily Angered

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  1 Corinthians 13:4-5

Proverbs tells us that angry people do foolish things. Paul tells us in Corinthians that love will calm our anger and keep us from doing foolish things. It is so easy for anger to well up and express itself in hurtful ways, often to those that we care about the most. 

As God’s people and disciples of Jesus, we can rely on the Holy Spirit to strengthen the love that is ours through Jesus. 

Say or sing these words:

  Souls in danger, look above,

  Jesus completely saves,  

  He will lift you by His love,

  Out of the angry waves.  

  He’s the Master of the sea,

  Billows His will obey,  

  He your Savior wants to be,

  Be saved today.

  Love lifted me!  

  Love lifted me!   

  When nothing else could help,  

  Love lifted me!

Pray that God will allow His love to shine through you the next time you are angry.

Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Love is not Self-Seeking

It (love) does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  I Corinthians 13:5  

Last week in GA’s we talked about bullying. The girls hear about this at school. We have seen terrible pain inflicted by bullies in the news. Bullies are basically selfish (self-seeking).

Bullies think only of themselves. They make themselves feel powerful by putting others down. They do not have good manners.

Like the Golden Rule, it should be easy to treat others the way we would like to be treated, but sometimes that is hard to do.  When we seek the best for others rather than ourselves, we follow the example of Jesus. And that is  real love.

Say or sing the words to the hymn “Love Each Other”:

  Kind and loving to each other,  

  Gentle words to all we meet;  

  Thus we follow Christ our Savior,  

  Proving all His service sweet.

When you pray, ask God to help you grow in showing your love for others by your actions.

 Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Love is not Rude

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil… 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 NKJV

When we hear  “1st Corinthians 13”, some automatically think of the passages of scripture quoted at wedding ceremonies for its beautiful affirmations of love.

But in these verses, we learn about spiritual gifts.  We learn of the Christian’s process of maturity unto holiness and obedience through the Holy Spirit.  

Today’s focus is that love is not rude.  Some believe that rudeness is too common in society today—given the nature of our focus on electronic devices and the lack of attention to people.  If we love someone, rudeness should not be part of our relationship.   Being rude shows lack of respect for others.

Real love never fails, it is the true expression of God’s spirit.   

Say or sing these words from the hymn “Oh Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High”:

  All glory to our Lord and God  

  For love so deep, so high, so broad,  

  The Trinity whom we adore  

  Forever and forevermore.

When you pray, ask God to give you love and respect to all you meet today.

Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Love Is Not Proud

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  1 Corinthians 13:4

In our world today, there are many sayings about being proud.   There is a song that says, “I am proud to be an American…”  We hear about taking pride in our work.  Parents and grandparents are proud of their children or grandchildren.  Coaches say that they are proud of their teams.  How can these be good things to say if the Bible says that love is not proud? 

Maybe when we say these kinds of things we are pointing to others and not ourselves, and God is talking about something different.  Perhaps, by telling us that love is not proud, God is saying that we should not think so much of ourselves that we let pride keep us from doing things for Him.

One way of thinking about pride is when we care more about ourselves, and what other people think of us, than we do about people we should be loving.  I would like to be perfect, wouldn’t you?  I don’t really like to make mistakes, particularly in front of other people, but I do it all the time.  I have to be careful that I don’t let my attempts to avoid messing up keep me from doing the things I should.  If I do that, I am letting pride take over.

A really important area where pride can get in the way is when it keeps us from sharing the story of God’s love, grace and forgiveness with others.   If we have real love, we will surely want to tell others about Jesus.  If we really love others, we will care more about them than what they think of us.

Say or sing these words:

  When I survey the wondrous cross  

  On which the Prince of glory died,  

  My richest gain I count but loss,  

  And pour contempt on all my pride.

When you pray, ask God to help you love others and tell them about Jesus.

Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Love Does not Boast

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  1 Corinthians 13:4

The Love Chapter, I Corinthians 13, tells us that love does not boast.  Why is not boasting an important characteristic of love?  Is it easy to listen to someone talk about themselves all the time?  Do you know people who always seem to turn the conversation toward themselves and what they like or what they have done?  Do you know people who constantly brag on their accomplishments, are better at everything, or have more money, a faster computer or a smarter dog? 

Does this boasting make us want to avoid that kind of person?  We certainly don’t want to act in a way that will make people want to stay away from us.  We are God’s representatives to our friends, our families, and wherever we go in the world.  When people see us, we want them to see Jesus--to see and know the love that He has for all of us.   

One way to show love is to be interested in other people and not just in ourselves.  God’s love can speak to others through the way we treat them.  We can show real love to people by putting them first.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9

When you pray, ask God to help you show others that you care by being interested in their lives.

Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Love Does not Envy

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  I Corinthians 13:4       

We want to know what real love is, but we also need to know what it is not.  We need to know what to avoid in the way we treat others, if we want to show God’s love to them.  The Bible tells us that love does not envy.  Jesus said that envy is evil (Mark 7:22-23). 

What is envy?  When we want something that somebody else has so much that it makes us unhappy, we are experiencing envy.  Maybe we want it so much that we would take it away from the other person if we could.  Envy is one of those things we do inside our heads – something we don’t have to show to people.  Maybe we think it is a secret from everyone, if we don’t act on our feelings, but God knows how we are feeling inside.  Jesus says that if we think things, like being envious of someone, it is still a sin--even if we don’t say or do anything about it through our actions.

When we love others, we should be happy when good things happen to them, even if we wish it had happened to us too.  God wants us to care more about loving Him and loving other people than we do about our possessions, or the job we have, or where we live. 

Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.  Galatians 5:26

When you pray, ask God to help you keep your eyes focused on Him and not on things of the world.

Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Love is Kind

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  I Cor. 13:4

A once popular song by the group Foreigner says “I want to know what love is…”  Don’t we all want to know that?  Not according to the songwriter, but according to someone who really knows what He is talking about: the author and finisher of our faith, the One who loves us more than we will ever be able to understand, our Father in heaven.  God’s word says that part of the answer to what real love is can be found in I Corinthians 13.  Some people call this the Love Chapter, because it tells us much about love--one of those things is that love is kind.

It is easy to be kind to people who are being kind to us, but what about when they are being mean, or selfish, or uncooperative?  If we are supposed to love others all the time, does that mean we have to be kind even when people are not kind to us?  Yes, I think that is what God wants us to do.  Jesus answered a similar question similar when Peter asked Him how often we are to forgive someone who does something bad to us.  Peter asked if forgiving seven times was enough.  Jesus said that seven is not enough, but that we are to forgive 77 times (some translations say 70 times 7).    We are to forgive over and over and over.  God does that for us when we ask Him.  Forgiving is a part of being kind, and being kind is a part of real love.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  Ephesians 4:32

When you pray, thank God for being kind to you and ask for His help in being kind to others.

Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Love is Patient

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  I Cor. 13:4

Love is important.  The Bible tells us that God is love.  Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves.   We know that God loved us so much that He sent his son, Jesus, to die for our sins and to show us how to live.

It is clear that love is important to God and to us.  We all want to love and to be loved, don’t we?

How can we know what real love is and how we should act to show love to others?   If we observe what we see on television, in the movies, or in magazines, will we know anything about real love?  I don’t think so.  But we know the meaning of real love because God’s Word tells us.  Our verse for today says that, among other things, love is patient.  What does that mean?

Have you ever tried to teach someone how to do something that is really easy for you--like how to ride a bike, play a game, or do math?  Is it sometimes frustrating to repeat something that seems so easy for you in order to help a friend figure it out?  When you keep on helping, you are being patient. 

When we are patient, we put others before ourselves.  Think how patient God is with us!  He waits for us to talk with Him through prayer and reading His word.  He forgives us over and over, even when we make the same mistake again and again.  He waits for us to learn lessons that seem so simple to Him.

God is patient with us and we can show His love to others by being patient too.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Colossians 3:12

When you pray, remember to thank God for showing His love by being patient.

Click here to send a prayer request to the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.