The purpose of these pages is to engage in some group study focussing specifically on the mid-week period of Tuesday to Thursday.  We will post some scripture verses, and a few thoughts before throwing the conversation over to you.  This is not a teaching session, use the prompts (and Google) to explore scripture and share relevant verses.  Log in to the conversation as often or as infrequently as you like and if you wish to join in put your thoughts in the comments box at the bottom of the page.

The right frame of mind

Before you start to dive into this week’s bible study, take a few moments to calm your spirit.  Get comfortable with your beverage of choice, your Bible and something to write with. Pray that God would give you the time to study and put to one side the concerns of the day.  Breathe deeply for a few seconds and focus on who Jesus is

8.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9.  This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

1Jn4:8-9

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Love

We are going to look at a few verses that are read at every wedding you have ever been to, so you will know them quite well, but have you ever stopped to consider what they actually mean?

Read 1 Cor 13v1-8  Now read it again slowly pausing to consider each verse separately.

We are going to look at two sections – 1-3 and then 4-8.

Verses 1-3

Verses 1-3 talk about the importance of Love and its position in the scale of things.  1-2 talks about spiritual things and 3 talks about more practical actions. All three verses point out that if we don’t have Love, then all the rest is pointless.  The previous chapter talks about Gifts from the Holy Spirit, and five of them are mentioned here.  Identify them.

Take a moment to process the last few words of verse 3 – I can have these beautiful, Spirit given gifts, but unless I have Love they are worthless to me.

Let’s also put this into perspective.  We marvel when we have the faith to see someone healed, or when a situation works out the way we were praying it would. Faith, Mustard Seed, Mountain, No love, worthless,  ‘I am nothing’ …..!!???!   How important is Love?

Paul then moves from the spiritual to the practical and makes the point again.

Before we go into the second part, let those thoughts simmer for a few minutes.  The Importance of Love.  Whilst you are doing that, this video from the Bible Project puts the chapters on Gifts and Love into a broader context of the church in Corinth.

Verses 4-8

This second section is quite a practical one. Paul tries to define for us what he means by Love.   It is a series of “Love is……” statements – 15 or thereabouts.  Our response should be equally practical – write down the 15 actions or attributes of Love.  Leave some space between each.

Make sure you have enough time for this – if you spent four minutes on each, it will take an hour.  It might be better to do a couple now and schedule one a day: complete it over a fortnight.    Work through the list and spend some time meditating on each – think of how it relates to you – applies to relationships – How you demonstrate Love in day to day situations.

e.g. Love is patient – When am I impatient?  Who do I get impatient with?  What can I do to demonstrate patience (Love) in these situations.

ooo      †††     ooo