Clearing this Whole Love Thing Up.

1 Corinthians 13:1-8
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not 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 have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not 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 is not rude, 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.

Continuing on the love spiel, love can be presented to you in lies. This includes things like, "Love means having ownership rights," "Love is mostly about ME," "Love is about feeling good," and "I say I'm a Christian but I don't love." These are all lies about love, my friend. And that's just a few examples!

Now here's a little bit more about what was just briefly covered. The numbers correspond to the quotes.
1. Love isn't about owning anybody. When you love somebody, it's God's creation and therefore he owns that person, NOT you.
2. In a relationship, love can't be all about you. Think about it... You ask for Jesus to remind you of the love he has for you because you feel alone one day. He says, one moment please. I have to go to the barber shop to get my hair cut. How would you feel if Jesus really put his image before his love toward you? It wouldn't feel good. That's exactly why he loves you all the time and he is always there for you. He expects us to do the same in our relationships.
3. We all know that truth hurts right, but love? In order to keep a relationship honest, some things are going to hurt when they're said. It's going to be tough. It's not going to always be easy. There are some people that you may find a hard time loving. Remember, "real love--God's love through us--pours out to those we find difficult to love."
4. This is biggie! How can you be a Christian and not love? You can't because the greatest commandment is to love one another! Jesus reminds us that "people will know that we are his disciples by our LOVE. That means if people can't say that you're loving - they can't say you're a disciple."

We learned at our conference that "Love is a part of a Christian's DNA."

Listen to the song "Hallelujah (Your Love is Amazing)."


P.S. If you have trouble with the video stopping and starting, keep the video paused, and let it "buffer" (load) as it's called for a while. You will see the red bar along the bottom advance (speed depends on your Internet connection). Wait until that bar gets pretty far along (I'd say more than halfway) before you play the video and it shouldn't pause.