If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love 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; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.
Romans 8:35a & 38-39 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? .... For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
1 There are a couple of ways that this sentence is translated, 'Love never ends' or 'Love never fails'. If you were to talk about the power and permanence of love which would you choose and why?
2 Read and spend time considering Psalm 136.
a How did this Psalm make you feel?
b Did anything stand out to you?
c Do you have a favourite part?
d How would you summarize this psalm in a sentence or two?
e How is this psalm applicable today? (remember that Israel were God's chosen people just as we, His church, are God's chosen people)
3 John writes in 1 John 5: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.How does John describe the interplay between our love for God and our love for our fellow believers?
4 Paul's words are "Love never fails." How does it make you feel when thinking of it as describing God's love for us? How does it make you feel when you think that Paul is talking about our love for other believers? How might remembering God's love for us (see Romans 8:31-39) help you with your love for other people?
