Sunday School Lesson July 31, 2022
Subject: What Does Love Look Like?
The Point: We are to love others as God loves us.
The Passages: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Study The Bible: 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
1). Love must undergird everything we do.
- If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
- If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.
- And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Lasting truths from: 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
* Love is more important than any gift.
* The us of gifts without love is meaningless.
2). Love reflects the character of Christ.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
- Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant,
- is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs.
- Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.
- It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Lasting truths from: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
* Paul’s description of love reflects the character of Christ, the Son of God.
* The life of Christ demonstrates love to perfection.
3). Love does not diminish, fade, or go away.
1 Corinthians 13:8-13
- Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.
- For we know in part, and we prophesy in part,
- but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.
- When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things.
- For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.
- Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love.
Lasting truth from: 1 Corinthians 13:8-13
* Love is one of God’s attributes and works in harmony with His other attributes.
* The greatest act of love we can know was the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
* God seeks to empower us and love through us as we allow Him control of our lives.
Live It Out
As you reflect on this session, respond to the following questions:
- How important is it to love others as God loves us?
- How did the love of the missionaries charge the lives of the Woodani tribe?
- What must a believer do to learn to love others with God’s perfect love?
Closing Prayer:
“Dear God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died on the cross to forgive me of my sins and rose from the dead to give me new life. I’m sorry for all the wrong I’ve done and ask You to forgive me. I now accept Your gift of eternal life. Thank You for Your love, forgiveness, and a new life in Jesus Christ. From this day forward, I choose to follow You. In Jesus’ name Amen.”