4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
-1 Corinthians 13:4-7, NRSV
When I asked that question, “What do you remember learning in Sunday School?”, one friend from high school responded by saying that she learned “that Jesus wanted us to love everyone regardless of who they were, where they came from, what they looked like, if they were a sinner or not.” She must have had a pretty good Sunday School teacher, don’t you think?
Love one another. Love others. Love… everyone. That simple lesson, the hallmark of any good Sunday School lesson, has been a focus of our faith from the very beginning. Love is a common and enduring theme throughout the scriptures. In fact, in the New Testament, the word “love” appears in various forms over two hundred fifty times. Only four other words– the words “God,” “Jesus,” “Lord,” and “faith” — appear more often. Our Christian faith is built upon the teaching of love.
In the well-known “love” passage of 1 Corinthians 13, the apostle Paul takes the time to tell some first-century followers of Christ what love is, and what love is not. Real love — the full, unconditional, godly love that Paul urges the Corinthians to embrace — is marked by patience and kindness. It is selfless rather than selfish, humble rather than arrogant, forgiving rather than resentful, unfailing rather than fickle. This is the kind of love with which Paul encourages the Corinthian community to treat one another. This is the kind of love that reflects God’s very nature. As the church, as God’s people and the followers of Christ in Corinth, they should demonstrate this kind of steadfast, unconditional, unrestricted love. They should become known for this kind of love.
For Paul, “love” should be the very first word that comes to mind when describing the Corinthian community. “Love” should be the very first word that comes to mind when describing any Christian community, whether in Paul’s day or in our own. “Love” should be the very first word that comes to mind when describing us here at Wesley Church.
I hope it is! I hope it will continue to be! But God’s church will be known by its love only when God’s people are known by their love.
So, friends… what’s one thing you can do this week to help Wesley Church continue to be a place where we are known by our love?
Blessings,
Pastor Candy
Get into the Sunday School spirit by joining us for our “Rally in the Gallery” — a virtual Rally Day pancake breakfast — on Saturday October 17 at 10:00 AM.. It’ll be a great way to connect with your church family!
RSVP here: https://forms.gle/gTbiVqtmfj2FJs7o7
Be people of love, especially in this season of covid-tide, and remember:
Our God is bigger than coronavirus.
Our vision is bigger than coronavirus, too.
We are people blessing people.
We are Wesley Church.
Want to know more?
- Learn about our church and its ministries: https://wesleychurch.com/
- Make a gift to support our mission: https://wesleychurch.com/giving-2/
- View our recent messages: https://wesleychurch.com/sermon-message-on-video/
- View previous devotionals: https://wesleychurch.com/pastor-candys-devotionals-2/
