Week 4
Day 1
Love: Practice Courtesy
The Corinthian
Christians were behaving badly. They
compared themselves to one another blatantly.
They rallied around favorite leaders and boasted about it. Those who thought themselves knowledgeable were
puffed up, full of themselves. When they
came together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper they were self-centered and
offensive. During worship services they
tried to outtalk and outdo one another, to be the most dramatic and most
prominent. They were not doing well at
practicing courtesy.
This first
phrase for this week is translated in several ways: does not act improperly (HCSB), does not dishonor others (NIV), Is
not rude (ESV), does not act
unbecomingly (NASB). The original
word at its core has to do with fitting a schematic…this words roots indicate
that love does not act in a way that is not properly shaped for the
occasion. The word has come down to us
to mean not behaving rudely, to act without common courtesy, to be
inappropriate…in other words, behaving badly.
The second phrase we are considering this week is that love
is not self-seeking (NIV), does not seek its own (NASB), is not selfish, (HCSB),
does not insist on its own way (ESV). This phrase is addressed to the
Corinthian church where self-seeking was very prominent. They did not share their food at love
feasts. They protected their rights to
the point of suing one another in court, jeopardizing their testimony for
Christ to get what they wanted. They
were trying to out-do one another on spiritual gifts, creating a ranking system
of who was most significant based on their particular giftedness. They argued about tongues and interpretations
and talked out of order, so that Paul had to remind them, God does everything
decently and in order. He had to remind
them that they needed to exercise their giftedness in a way that edifies the
church, not just builds their personal status.
This is why Paul focused so strongly on the image of the body of Christ,
all body parts needing the others, right before the portion on love we are
considering. They needed this challenge,
that love is God’s greatest vision for our lives, and love does not seek its
own.
Together, these
two characteristics of love, does not dishonor others and is
not self-seeking give us our theme for this week: practice
courtesy. This is how love is.
Questions for reflection
How is it
helpful to learn that the qualities of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 were
addressed to the real-life struggles of the Corinthians? Where do you see yourself in some of these
challenges to love’s courtesy?
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