Preacher: Jeremy Herbert
Theme: Love is not irritable or resentful
Text: 1 Corinthians 13:5
Notes:
The descriptions of love in 1 Corinthians describe the character of Christ.
Proverbs 22:1, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches”
Irritable

* Paul’s primary concern in this verse is that love is not irritable with people
* However, when we are irritated with circumstances, we are often irritated with God himself
* Love chooses not to be angered, annoyed, or exasperated with others
* Paul himself was not immune to this temptation, nor was his partner in ministry, Barnabas:

* Acts 15, “the contention was so sharp that they parted from one another”


* Why do we get irritated?

* Our values are distorted by sin
* We value our time and energy more than we value people
* We would love to get our way more than we love others
* We view others as obstacles to happiness rather than agents to push us toward holiness
* Those who irritate us help us to see our own weaknesses



Resentful

* Irritation(s) over a period of time fester into resentment
* The biblical language is rooted in accounting/recording wrongs in a ledger
* “Love keeps no record of wrongs”
* Love does not ‘forgive and forget’–it remembers, and still forgives
* Chrysostom, love quenches wrongs rather than recording them

 
How do we respond when we get irritated or resentful?

* Angry looks
* Angry words
* Poisoned courtesy
* Silent treatment
* Sulking
* Withdrawing

 
God uses people and circumstances to grow us into Christlikeness
Real joy is circumstance-independent
How do we address this in our own heart?

* What do I really want?
* Philippians 2:1-4
* Galatians 5:26
* 1 Corinthians 13:7-8
* No matter how difficult circumstances and people are, love persists
* People are not obstacles
* 1 Corinthians 13:13-14:1, “the greatest of these is love…pursue love”
* We are most like our Savior when we love