714. Scripture Verses that can Guide Your Life (#10) - Love Never Fails - December 26, 2024

[00:00:06] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.

[00:00:22] Let's open in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you give everyone ears to hear and a heart to receive everything you have in store for them through this particular podcast. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

[00:00:40] This is Proverb 26 beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:45] As snow in summer and rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool. Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight.

[00:01:00] A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the fool's back.

[00:01:06] Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

[00:01:20] He who sends a message by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.

[00:01:28] Like the legs of the lame that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

[00:01:35] Like one who binds a stone in a sling is he who gives honor to a fool.

[00:01:41] Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

[00:01:49] The great God who formed everything gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages.

[00:01:57] As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

[00:02:03] Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?

[00:02:08] There is more hope for a fool than for him.

[00:02:12] The lazy man says there is a lion in the road.

[00:02:16] A fierce lion is in the streets.

[00:02:19] As a door turns on its hinges, so does the lazy man on his bed.

[00:02:25] The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl.

[00:02:30] It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.

[00:02:33] The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.

[00:02:41] He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel, not his own, is like one who takes a dog by the ears.

[00:02:49] Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, is the man who deceives his neighbor and says,

[00:02:58] I was only joking.

[00:03:00] Where there is no wood, the fire goes out.

[00:03:04] And where there is no tailbearer, strife ceases.

[00:03:09] As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife.

[00:03:18] The words of a tailbearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body.

[00:03:26] Fervent lips with a wicked heart are like earthenware covered with silver dross.

[00:03:32] He who hates disguises it with his lips, and lays up deceit within himself.

[00:03:39] When he speaks kindly, do not believe him, for there are seven abominations in his heart.

[00:03:47] Though his hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness will be revealed before the assembly.

[00:03:55] Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.

[00:04:04] A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

[00:04:11] Friends, today I'd like to key in on verse 20.

[00:04:16] And Proverb 26, verse 20 says this,

[00:04:20] Where there is no wood, the fire goes out.

[00:04:23] And where there is no tailbearer, strife ceases.

[00:04:28] Friends, we will come back and take a closer look at that verse prior to closing today.

[00:04:34] But what I'd like to do is to continue our study, which I began almost three weeks ago, entitled,

[00:04:42] Scripture Verses That Can Guide Your Life.

[00:04:46] Now friends, I've gone over verses that many of you are familiar with.

[00:04:51] I began with John 3, verse 16, which talks about God's love for us.

[00:04:58] That God loved us so much that he was willing to lay down the life of his son for everyone listening to this podcast today.

[00:05:08] We've also talked about the importance of having faith in your life, and how we can develop more faith.

[00:05:16] We've talked about the fact that God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.

[00:05:24] We've talked about the importance of trusting in God, and how we should put our trust in Jesus, his son.

[00:05:35] Today, I'm going to talk about a passage of scripture that is probably more important than anything we have talked about yet.

[00:05:48] But I cannot have a study without talking about maybe the greatest chapter in the entire Bible.

[00:05:58] It is known as the Great Love Chapter.

[00:06:02] It is found in Paul's letter to the Corinthian church.

[00:06:07] He wrote two letters to that church.

[00:06:09] This is the first letter.

[00:06:12] We know it as 1 Corinthians.

[00:06:14] But chapter 13, one could argue, is the greatest chapter in the Bible.

[00:06:20] What I'm going to do is I'm going to key in on the entire chapter.

[00:06:27] I know a lot of you hear the definition of love, and that is found in verses 4 through 8.

[00:06:36] But it is encircled by verses 1 through 3.

[00:06:41] And what I want to do is begin with that.

[00:06:44] And this entire chapter is entitled, The Greatest Gift.

[00:06:48] I want you to think about that.

[00:06:51] Love is the greatest gift.

[00:06:55] First of all, how much God loves us.

[00:06:59] How much Jesus loved us.

[00:07:01] That He was willing to die on a cross for our sin.

[00:07:05] We deserved to die.

[00:07:08] Jesus never sinned in His entire life.

[00:07:12] And yet, He was willing to lay down His life for us.

[00:07:17] That is true love.

[00:07:19] Now, what I want to do is talk about verses 1, 2, and 3.

[00:07:23] And I'm going to go into a little bit of detail about those.

[00:07:27] So let's just get right into it.

[00:07:30] Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass and a clanging cymbal.

[00:07:44] Now, friends, basically what this verse means is that our words have so much power.

[00:07:54] I've talked about that before, that death and life are in the power of the tongue.

[00:07:59] That is one of the verses that I've gone over.

[00:08:02] That's found in Proverb 18, 21.

[00:08:04] But friends, it doesn't matter what we do in life.

[00:08:10] If we don't do it with love as a motivation, it isn't going to do any good.

[00:08:18] I like that, like a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

[00:08:22] People aren't going to listen to what we have to say if they don't sense love in our presentation.

[00:08:32] Let's go to verse 2.

[00:08:51] Now, friends, what this means is you may have somebody's answer to their problem.

[00:08:58] You may have all of the answers for them that they want to hear, that they need to hear.

[00:09:06] But if we don't do it with an attitude of love, if we are not gracious, if we are not kind, if we are not loving in our presentation, they will sense it.

[00:09:24] And it doesn't matter if we have the answer to their problem.

[00:09:29] It doesn't matter.

[00:09:31] It's not going to be well received as it would be had it been delivered with love in mind.

[00:09:40] Let's go to verse 3.

[00:09:54] Now, friends, a lot of people do good things.

[00:09:57] A lot of people give to the poor, especially this time of year, the Salvation Army.

[00:10:03] A lot of times outside Walmart and some of these larger stores, they'll have a Santa Claus.

[00:10:10] And they'll have a little box that you can contribute to.

[00:10:14] That's a great cause.

[00:10:16] But if you don't do it with love, it is not going to benefit anyone.

[00:10:24] Now, let's go to verses 4 through 8.

[00:10:28] This is the definition of love.

[00:10:30] This is what most people remember about the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians.

[00:10:37] Verse 4.

[00:10:38] Love suffers long and is kind.

[00:10:42] Love does not envy.

[00:10:45] Love does not parade itself.

[00:10:47] Is not puffed up.

[00:10:50] Does not behave rudely.

[00:10:52] Does not seek its own.

[00:10:55] Is not provoked.

[00:10:58] I'm going to stop right there.

[00:11:00] And that is my first point of the day.

[00:11:03] I've combined a couple of these together.

[00:11:07] Love suffers long and is kind.

[00:11:11] Does not behave rudely.

[00:11:15] And is not provoked.

[00:11:18] Now, friends, I'm going to talk a little bit about each of those three things.

[00:11:23] I want you to think about that.

[00:11:25] And the reason why I picked these three things are things that in the past I have had an issue with.

[00:11:34] Suffers long and is kind.

[00:11:37] Friends, a lot of us today, we don't like to suffer.

[00:11:40] We don't like having to listen to the details of what someone is going on in their life.

[00:11:47] And we sometimes are not patient with them.

[00:11:51] People sometimes just need to be listened to.

[00:11:56] They want someone who can just listen to what their story is.

[00:12:02] And sometimes we can be impatient with them.

[00:12:07] Does not behave rudely.

[00:12:11] Friends, this time of year, especially,

[00:12:14] sometimes if you go to a toy store and people are in a hustle bustle mood.

[00:12:20] They want to get things done.

[00:12:21] They have things to do.

[00:12:22] You want to get all your gifts, blah, blah, blah.

[00:12:25] This is the time of season where people can be the most rude.

[00:12:29] And it shouldn't be that way.

[00:12:31] It's Christmas time.

[00:12:32] We're celebrating Christmas.

[00:12:34] Jesus and what he did and how he miraculously came on earth.

[00:12:40] He was born of a virgin.

[00:12:43] It is a miracle that Jesus actually ever came into existence.

[00:12:50] But friends, we cannot be rude.

[00:12:54] We cannot bustle in to lie.

[00:12:57] We cannot try to force ourselves on people.

[00:13:01] And is not provoked.

[00:13:05] And I have to talk about this because so many of us do this.

[00:13:09] Especially in traffic.

[00:13:12] And somebody cuts right in front of you.

[00:13:15] Oh my gosh.

[00:13:18] Do you get upset when people cut in front of you in traffic?

[00:13:26] I want you to think about that.

[00:13:29] Now, let's continue.

[00:13:32] Love thinks no evil.

[00:13:35] Boy, I could talk about that for a while.

[00:13:38] Does not rejoice in iniquity.

[00:13:42] But rejoices in the truth.

[00:13:46] Friends, sometimes we don't like the truth.

[00:13:50] Sometimes the truth can hurt if people tell us things we may not want to hear.

[00:14:00] Now, the truth is the most important thing.

[00:14:04] And we should live our lives with integrity.

[00:14:08] And integrity is telling people the truth.

[00:14:11] Sometimes even if they don't want to hear it.

[00:14:14] But I like this next one.

[00:14:16] Bears all things.

[00:14:19] Believes all things.

[00:14:23] Hopes all things.

[00:14:25] And the key one.

[00:14:27] Endures all things.

[00:14:30] I want to read those again.

[00:14:33] Rejoices in the truth.

[00:14:35] Bears all things.

[00:14:38] Believes all things.

[00:14:40] Hopes all things.

[00:14:42] Endures all things.

[00:14:44] And we get to verse 8.

[00:14:46] And maybe the three most important words of the entire Bible.

[00:14:52] Love never fails.

[00:14:56] Friends, and that is my second point of the day.

[00:15:00] Love never fails.

[00:15:03] If you do anything in love, it is going to be successful.

[00:15:12] It may not turn out the way that you maybe wanted it to turn out.

[00:15:17] But it's not going to have a negative ending.

[00:15:21] It simply won't.

[00:15:22] It's not possible.

[00:15:23] It's a promise of God.

[00:15:25] That love never fails.

[00:15:27] Friends, this is how Jesus lived his life while he was on earth.

[00:15:32] He went around doing good and loving people.

[00:15:37] But whether there are prophecies, they will fail.

[00:15:42] Whether there are tongues, they will cease.

[00:15:46] Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

[00:15:49] For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

[00:16:04] And here we're basically talking about Jesus.

[00:16:07] Jesus was perfect.

[00:16:09] So we actually could be talking about the return of Jesus.

[00:16:14] And I really like this last portion of chapter 13.

[00:16:18] When I was a child, I spoke as a child.

[00:16:23] I understood as a child.

[00:16:26] I thought as a child.

[00:16:29] But when I became a man, I put away childish things.

[00:16:36] Friends, I'm going to read that verse over again because it bears repeating.

[00:16:42] This is 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 11.

[00:16:48] When I was a child, I spoke as a child.

[00:16:52] I understood as a child.

[00:16:55] I thought as a child.

[00:16:58] But when I became a man, I put away childish things.

[00:17:04] Friends, some of you listening today may never have grown up.

[00:17:07] And you never have put away childish things.

[00:17:12] Childish things, it reminds me of two-year-old temper tantrums.

[00:17:18] If something happens in your life and you don't like it, you go off the deep end.

[00:17:24] In James chapter 1, it tells us that we need to be patient.

[00:17:27] We need to learn to just accept things in life as they come to us.

[00:17:34] And we need to put away our childish way of how sometimes we act to things.

[00:17:43] For now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.

[00:17:50] Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

[00:17:59] And friends, verse 13 is so key.

[00:18:03] Listen to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 13.

[00:18:10] And now abide faith, hope, love.

[00:18:16] These three, but the greatest of these is love.

[00:18:33] Friends, today, before we close, I'd like to go back to Proverb 26, our proverb of the day, and look at verse 20.

[00:18:43] And it says,

[00:18:52] Now friends, our lesson today has been on love.

[00:18:58] And if you are loving people, then verse 20 is not something that you will do.

[00:19:07] Let's listen to it again.

[00:19:09] Where there is no wood, the fire goes out.

[00:19:12] If you guys have ever been camping, you can envision this.

[00:19:15] The fire going out, you know, and you want to put some more wood on it.

[00:19:19] And where there is no tail bearer, strife ceases.

[00:19:23] Friends, this verse is all about gossip.

[00:19:28] And how gossip is never good.

[00:19:32] Friends, this is the time of year.

[00:19:34] Now, we just celebrated Christmas yesterday.

[00:19:37] And Judy and I had our annual Christmas podcast.

[00:19:42] If you did not get a chance to listen to that, I invite you to look inside the archives and to listen to that.

[00:19:50] But we are in the time of year where we need to be gracious.

[00:19:53] We need to be kind.

[00:19:55] We need to be loving to everyone.

[00:19:58] That is how we are going to be known by the way we treat people.

[00:20:03] And friends, we always have the ability to act with love in mind.

[00:20:10] My call to action today is very simple.

[00:20:13] I want you to ask yourself this question.

[00:20:17] Are you, in general, a loving person?

[00:20:21] Do you treat people in a loving manner?

[00:20:25] Now, earlier in this study, I went over the fact that we are to be like Jesus himself.

[00:20:33] That was in the book of 1 John 4, verse 17.

[00:20:38] And it says, as he is, so are we in this world.

[00:20:43] And I know some people just can't fathom the fact that we're supposed to be like Jesus.

[00:20:49] But that verse in detail tells us that we are to be like him.

[00:20:56] We should do our best to love people regardless of the situation.

[00:21:02] And I know that's hard.

[00:21:04] But because of the Holy Spirit living inside of us, even though our flesh yells out and tells us not to love people or not to like that person,

[00:21:16] friends, we can do it.

[00:21:17] We have the power to do it.

[00:21:20] And Jesus, the last thing he said is, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.

[00:21:25] He forgave the very people who had nailed him to the cross.

[00:21:30] Friends, if Jesus can do it, we can do it.

[00:21:35] Friends, I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

[00:21:43] If there is anyone listening today and you've never taken that step, I invite you to repeat a simple prayer after me today.

[00:21:51] Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God and that you came to earth to die on a cross for all the sins of everyone listening to this podcast today.

[00:22:04] I confess that I am a sinner and in need of a Savior.

[00:22:09] Jesus, by dying on that cross, I believe all of my sins have been forgiven.

[00:22:14] Jesus, thank you for forgiving me of my sins.

[00:22:18] I ask that you come into my heart.

[00:22:20] I ask that you lead me and guide me from this point forward in my life.

[00:22:25] I make you my Lord and Savior.

[00:22:29] Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

[00:22:33] The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

[00:22:38] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[00:22:43] Friends, please join me tomorrow as Judy, my lovely wife, will be on and we will be having our monthly ministry update.

[00:22:53] Until then, God bless you all.

[00:22:55] See you tomorrow.