The Key to Everything

The Key to Everything
Pastor Terry Wilcox

I Corinthians 13:1-7

Two Facts About Love

1. Love is a matter of choice.
   Colossians 3:14
   Would God tell us to “put on” something we could only feel?
2. Love is a matter of actions.
   I John 3:18

How Love Acts

1. Love is patient.  I Corinthians 13:4
   Ephesians 4:2
2. Love is kind.  I Corinthians 13:4
   Kindness is the ability to care for each other in the practical details of life.
   Ephesians 4:32
   Forgiveness is at the core of relationship.
3. Love thrives on security.  I Corinthians 13:4
   Envy, boasting, and pride are indicative of insecurity.
4. Love is a giving relationship.
   John 3:16
   C.S. Lewis said that to love at all is to be vulnerable. ‘Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to be sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness, but in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken, but it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The only place outside of heaven where you can be safe from all dangers of love is hell.’

   You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving.

5. With love doing trumps feeling.
   I Corinthians 3:7
   Mature people understand that actions determine feelings. Less mature people think feelings determine actions.

Important Things to Know About Love

1. Don’t wait.
2. Love will make you vulnerable.
3. Love is a powerful force.
   The law will tell you what to do, but love will give you the power to do it.
4. Love is unconditional.
   Romans 5:8
5. The spirit of love makes people and experiences special.
   Henry Drummond, the Scottish evangelist, and writer said, “You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you’ve done things in the spirit of love.”

   A reputation for loving is not established by talking.

PERSONAL NOTES