Your Best Love, 4
1 Corinthians 13
Preaching notes
I. Quick Review
A. 1st 2 Weeks – The Spirit of Marriage – Ephesians 5 and Philippians 2
Relate to spouse/love as
Christ to you – die, serve, to present us without blemish
You to Christ – submit, serve, think of them, one mind, Christ’s mind
B. 5 Tasks of Marriage – Genesis 2
- Help Mate
- Soul Mate – emotional and spiritually
- Team Mate
- Mating Mate
- Life Mate
Not Lifetime Achievement
Daily Tasks
- Help Mate – always find at least one thing to do for spouse => Thank You
- Soul Mate – emotional and spiritually – requires time 20 minutes minimum
- Team Mate – support and encouragement
- Mating Mate – 1 significant physical touch every day
- Life Mate – affirmed and confirmed
Accomplishing these tasks
Not dutifully
With affection and love
=> last two sermons
C. This Week and Next – The Emotion of Marriage
II. Love – The Bonding Agent of Marriage
A. Love defined
Love is the sovereign preference of one person for another – Oswald Chambers
Love is a naturally spontaneous rather than a reactive emotion
God loved us while we were still sinners
God loved us before we loved Him
Love must be cultivated and nourished by discipline
B. 1 Corinthians 13
Setting for this chapter
The Corinthians did not love each other, they loved themselves
=> fighting amongst themselves
C. Vs 1-3 – Without love I am nothing
Love is the purpose for all you
Completion of 5 tasks or anything else in relationship
Not to prove or to boast,
but to express heart’s affection
D. Vs 4-7 – Paul lists specific characteristics, but not an exhaustive list
These were the characteristics lacking in 1st Church of Corinth
- Is patient and kind;
- Does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude;
- It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
- Does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth;
- Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things;
This is Tough Love
Does not easily break
Bends under winds and in stress
Willing to do hard things
Does not enable destructive behavior
To these I add these from marriage counseling experience
Gracious – all sin and fall short
Faithful – Keep your 1st Love
Rev 2:4 – Ephesus
E. Vs 8-10 – Never Ends
Every other activity and/or blessing of marriage is seasonal
From just you, to you and kids, to just you
F. Vs 11-12 – Grows and matures
Best love is not puppy love – the sweetest
Best love is not early years – hopeful and ambitious
Best love is matured love – proven through difficulty, yields best fruit
G. Vs 13 – The greatest attribute of relationship
If it ends … The relationship dies
=> back to earlier affirmation
To cultivate and nourish
through the discipline of completing
the 5 Tasks of Marriage everyday
Make more daily deposits into your love bank, than withdrawals
III. Closing Summary
Love is not
a warm fuzzy feeling or emotion
sweaty palms and body heat
Love is a covenant commitment to a relationship
which takes time, energy, focus, work
Seeding, weeding, and feeding
which requires
Cultivation if there is to be a harvest
Bread Crumbs - Devotions for Life 
Wonderful sermon!