Discover the transformative power of love through the lens of scripture in our latest episode. We examine the characteristics God calls us to embody, including being slow to anger, showing mercy, and offering forgiveness. Listen in as our host reflects on biblical teachings and personal insights to illuminate how these attributes can bring healing, resolve conflicts, and strengthen relationships. This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of love’s true essence.
If you are slow to anger, if you truly are long-suffering, it means you overlook the transgressions that are against you. You don’t keep bringing them up or keep them in the back of your mind to bring it out at some later time when you need it. If somebody has offended you, they’ve offended you. And if you’ve told them how they’ve offended you, that’s all you can do. Long-suffering love. overlooks the transgressions and doesn’t keep harboring it and using it as a club or a bat over somebody because you want to get revenge or get your pound of flesh or straighten matters out later. It’s very important. We need to understand that when we say love is long suffering, it does mean slow to anger.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, it’s a blessing to have you with us for this midweek edition of Hope for Today. Love is not proven by words alone. It shows up in attitude, in action, in patience, in humility, and in whether or not Christ is really ruling our hearts. 1 Corinthians 13 doesn’t give us a polished religious idea of love. It gives us God’s standard, the kind of love that doesn’t push itself to the front. It doesn’t burn with selfishness. It doesn’t treat others as if they exist to serve us. We’ll get back into 1 Corinthians 13 in just a moment. First, when you visit us online at davidhawking.org, you’ll find free books, booklets, and gospel tracks right on our homepage. We put these there to help get the truth of God’s Word into as many people’s hands as possible. And your support helps make that part of our ministry possible. So take advantage of those free resources. And if God moves your heart to help us continue that part of this ministry, make a donation and help us continue providing those free resources. For more information, call 800-75-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S. In Canada, call 888-75-BIBLE. Bible by the numbers 24253. Or make a contribution online at davidhawking.org. Well, right now, let’s turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, and here’s David with day two of How Love Really Works.
SPEAKER 01 :
When we came to chapter 13, we’re talking about the power of love in the use of spiritual gifts. And we learned first that God’s love is essential. From the opening three verses, we found out that without it, our communication is ineffective. We found out that without it, our understanding is incomplete. We found out that without it, our giving is insufficient. Without God’s love, we are become sounding brass and clanging cymbals. We are nothing. It profits us nothing. And we are ready now for chapter 13, verse 4, down to verse 7, which is the greatest description on God’s love you will ever find written anywhere. Most all of these statements, if you translate them from Greek back into Hebrew, you will find nestled in the Jewish Bible, the Tanakh, the Old Testament, you will find they are characteristics of God himself, what he is and what he is not. Go over to chapter 15 of Proverbs and look at verse 18. A wrathful man stirreth up strife, but he that is slow to anger, there’s our word again, appeaseth strife. So it not only means you have great understanding, it means you avoid hostile arguments. In the Bible and Proverbs, it is pride that leads to anger that leads to argumentativeness. How interesting to see that when God’s love is operating, even when you are faced with hostility, you avoid hostile arguments because you are long-suffering with people. Go to chapter 16, verse 32. In chapter 16, verse 32, it says, “‘He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.'” You might have accomplished a number of wonderful things in your life, but if you are slow to anger, it means you control your own spirit. In 1 Corinthians 14, we will learn that the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. And a lot of us try to excuse our uncontrolled temper and anger on something else. We blame it on the circumstances or on somebody who’s offending us. But according to God, it’s your problem and your problem alone. That’s hard to face. Go over to chapter 19 of Proverbs, verse 11. In chapter 19, verse 11, we learn something else about being slow to anger. It says, Turn to Psalm 103. There’s a second thing that it means, however. In Psalm 103, it says, We learn it’s not only slow to anger, but if you’re long-suffering, you are merciful and compassionate. Merciful and compassionate. Aren’t you glad the Lord is merciful toward you? It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. His mercies are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3, 22 and 23. In Psalm 103, verse 8. Again, the character of our Lord. The Lord is merciful and gracious. Slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. In chapter 145 of Psalms, verse 8, very similar words. It says, the Lord is gracious and full of compassion. Slow to anger and of great mercy. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1. When we want to be loving God, We often feel that it’s more of a feeling than it is an action towards somebody. According to the Bible, long-suffering is love. It is being slow to get mad, and it is very merciful and compassionate. You will find yourself saying, there go I, but for the grace of God. Hello? The opposite of this is very judgmental, where you begin to think, you know, I’m not as bad as they are. You have it within your system that I’m better than some people I know. And instead of seeing your depravity as God sees it, who calls you nothing but a clot of dirt, yet he is compassionate toward you. Psalm 103, 12, and 13, and 14 tells us that clearly. The fact is that a lot of us are very proud and very arrogant of who we are and what we’ve accomplished. And we wonder why love doesn’t flow out of us. The love that builds up instead of tear people down. That love is merciful and compassionate. You know, Paul was brilliant. There’s no doubt about it. Shaul is Hebrew name. He was very brilliant. And he excelled everyone in Judaism in his day. The Bible’s clear on that. He studied the feet of Gamaliel. He was well-educated. He was a force to be reckoned with. That’s for sure. But this man writes his own testimony in 1 Timothy 1. Pick it up in verse 12 and listen to this. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. How be it for this cause I obtain mercy. Watch these words. That in me first. Jesus Christ might show forth all what? Long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Yes, the mercy and compassion of God. Paul knew he had received it. Grace gives us what we don’t deserve and mercy holds back from us what we do deserve. All of that connected with long-suffering. And he became a pattern of the long-suffering of God. He who was so hostile to the early Messianic believers became one of them and experienced the same kind of hostility from others. Yet he learned that you have to be merciful, compassionate. You need God’s love for all people. There’s a third thing that it means when we say love suffers long. And that is that it’s willing to forgive. In Exodus 34, when God described his own name, a part of that name was long-suffering, abundant in goodness, and forgiving iniquity. In the great story in Matthew 18, when Peter came to Jesus and asked him, how often should I forgive if my brother sins against me? Seven times? And Jesus said, 70 times seven. And then gave him a story. And in the story, it speaks about long-suffering. It’s in the Greek text, the same thing, of having compassion towards somebody because you were willing to forgive them what they owed you. You see, long suffering means you’re willing to forgive. There’s a fourth thing about it that is interesting. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4. When you speak about being long suffering, you’re not only slow to anger, merciful and compassionate, you’re not only willing to forgive, but you’re willing to endure the faults of others. The people around you have many faults. The people around you have many transgression and every time you point one out, that big thumb is pointing back to you. We all have faults. But Ephesians 4 verse 2 says, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love. Forbearance literally means to put up with. I want to ask you, are you able to put up with people you really can’t stand? How about people who offend you, you don’t like? Can you put up with them in love? Interestingly, if we are really long-suffering in our love, we’re willing to endure the faults of others. The same thing is said in Colossians 3, 12 to 13. Turn to Acts 26 for a minute. Acts 26. There’s a fifth thing about long-suffering that I think is kind of obvious, but it’s used in the Bible. I like to look up the actual words and find out where they’re used. In Acts 26, interesting story, Paul is in front of Agrippa. And it’s very interesting how he approaches him. In verse 3 of Acts 26, he says, And in the Greek, it’s our word long-suffering. Isn’t that interesting? In other words, it’s a willingness to listen. He is speaking to a pagan ruler and says, I’m really happy to be here today because I know about your knowledge. And most of all, because you are willing to listen to me, to hear me with long suffering. I know you could kill me on the spot, but you are known to be long suffering. You are willing to listen. All of these are the characteristics of love that suffers long. In 1 Corinthians 13, 4, we had two positives, however. The love suffers long, and number two, the love is kind. I like to put it this way. Love suffers long with people, but love serves the needs of people. Did you know that the word kind primarily is that which is serviceable, that which is useful, that which is beneficial to somebody else? Greek forms of the word appear 19 times in the New Testament. It serves other people. In the Old Testament, very interesting, the word kind in our text, 1 Corinthians 13, 4, translates the Hebrew word keseth. The Greek word translates keseth, a word sometimes meaning mercy and often translated in English Bibles as loving kindness. Doing that which is useful and beneficial and of service to people. True love serves the needs of others. Go to Jeremiah, please, chapter 52. Jeremiah, chapter 52. At the end of that great prophecy, there’s a very fascinating usage of the term kindness. Jeremiah 52 says, And interestingly again, it comes from a pagan ruler. Jeremiah 52, beginning at verse 31. We read these words. It came to pass in the seventh and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that evil Merodot, king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, or Jehoiachin, people say it different ways in English, king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison, now watch this, and spake kindly unto him. set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon, changed his prison garments, and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life. And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life. Imagine ending that great prophecy with this simple little story of how a pagan ruler did kind things to Judas King, who was in captivity in prison to him. You see, kindness, for one thing, shows compassion toward the needs of others. Another thing is that kindness, like long-suffering, desires to forgive. Ephesians 4.32, you can quote it. Be ye what? Kind. Tenderhearted. Again, quoted. Be ye kind. Tenderhearted. What’s the next words? Forgiving one another. Gracing to one another, the Greek says. Even as God in Christ has graced you. What is love? It is kindness. It is showing compassion for the needs of others. It’s a desire to forgive somebody. It’s not waiting until they deserve it because grace gives people what they don’t deserve. And a lot of us, frankly, are not kind. And we would say, as James says and 1 John says, how does the love of God dwell in us? It’s a question we all have to ask. Turn to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. Another interesting thing about kindness, and maybe you’ve not seen it in this way, is mentioned in verse 35. Luke 6, verse 35. Jesus said these words. Rabbis before him also said these words. It was very common. But love ye your enemies. And do good and lend, hoping for nothing again. And your reward shall be great. And you shall be the children of the highest. For he is kind unto the unthankful and unto the evil. You see, my friends, if we have the love of God, we will do good to those who are unthankful, to those who are evil persons. And we don’t like to hear that. The Bible says overcome evil with good. The Bible says don’t return evil for evil and repay. Don’t take vengeance into your own hands. The Bible taught us vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. Love that’s kind serves the needs of people. It shows compassion. It desires to forgive. It does good to the unthankful and evil person. But perhaps one of the classic illustrations of kindness of all time is in Matthew 11. Will you turn there please? Matthew 11, 28 to 30. And the simple point here is that when you say love is kind, kindness seeks to relieve the burdens of others. If you are kind to somebody, you try to relieve the burden they are carrying. You don’t add more trouble to them. You try to help them. You try to serve them. You relieve their burdens. In Matthew 11. Verse 28, Yeshua said this, Jesus said these words, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. I say to you, are you burdened down? Are you stressed out, bombed out, copped out, dropped out? I don’t know what’s happened to you, but you really are hurting? Jesus says, What? What does it say? Easy and my burden is light. The word easy, believe it or not, is the same word kind in 1 Corinthians 13, 4. Now stop and think about it.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s Bible teacher and author David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David will be back in a moment or so to put the finishing touches on today’s study, so do stay with us. First, Matt’s here, and we have a resource. This is going to help you better see God’s definition of love and how to put that into action.
SPEAKER 02 :
Matt? The world cries out for love, is rather confused about it, and wrestles with the consequences of accepting Satan’s lies about it. Matt, you know the popular song asks the question, what’s love got to do with it, got to do with it? Right? Yeah. Contemporary culture confuses self-centered lust with love. Yeah, love for a lifetime is deemed by most people to be impossible. Yeah, right. The Greek language of the New Testament uses four or five terms for love. And many of us are familiar with the great love chapter, right? 1 Corinthians 13. I love that chapter, Matt.
SPEAKER 03 :
1 Corinthians 13 defines and describes love. The love of God himself, which we desperately need in our lives.
SPEAKER 02 :
And we need to live it out through our lives. Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, let’s cut through the confusion and consternation on the topic of love and enjoy the refreshing of love as God defines it and empowers it.
SPEAKER 03 :
In our book, Love is the Greatest, your dad shares an in-depth analysis of the whole subject of love. and he bases the study on the authority of God’s word. And what a powerful and crucial study this is for our day and time, right? Yeah, Love is the Greatest by David Hawking, an outstanding study for every relationship of life. An engaged couple, a marriage of many years, parents, best friends. How about anyone who struggles with a difficult relationship? A cranky coworker? Cranky coworkers, not us, but other people, right? Annoying neighbors, maybe a rebellious child, somebody that is really difficult to love.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Help and encouragement. Inspiration are inside. Love is the greatest. It’s by my dad, Dr. David Hocking. It’s a study of 1 Corinthians 13, and it’s just $15. Get a copy for yourself or someone in your circle who needs it.
SPEAKER 03 :
And consider adding a donation with your order or becoming a regular monthly contributor. In fact, Matt, many folks simply send a gift all by itself.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
As long as God directs and supplies. Amen. And please pray for hope for today. Well, Matt, we also want to let folks know about a special bundle package we have for the month of March. Folks, this is a set, a complete set of all of David’s sermon notes and outlines for 35 message series that he’s taught in the Old Testament. And the complete pack, just $75. Now, that works out to about $2 for each of 35 series that he’s taught in the Old Testament. This is a tremendous resource if you’d like to dig deeper into God’s Word or pass along a strong Bible study tool to somebody else. You can use these sermon notes as we share Old Testament teaching series by David here on radio, or you can take these notes and have your own study, your personal Bible study or group Bible study in 35 book studies by David in the Old Testament. To order the Old Testament sermon notes bundle, or any resources, call 875-BIBLE. In Canada, call 888-75-BIBLE. Bible is 24253. Or visit us online at davidhawking.org. Again, that’s davidhawking.org. This is a central place to stay connected with this ministry and to take advantage of the many resources available to you on the site. As we mentioned at the top of the broadcast, you’ll find free books and booklets and tracks on the homepage, along with access to David’s radio messages. We keep our radio programs there for a limited time. We also have teaching materials in the media center that you can watch. And of course, special offers, resources you can purchase, and the ability to make a contribution to help this ministry. And you can learn more about Hope for Today. DavidHawking.org. And if you’d like to get in touch with us by mail, share a prayer note, or maybe make a contribution by mail, in the U.S., write to HOPE4TODAY, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to HOPE4TODAY, Box 15011, RPO7OAKS, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S 8P1. And here’s David.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, we’re studying chapter 13, and my, what a marvelous, marvelous portion of God’s Word we have. We learned in the opening three verses that even though you have all these talents and gifts from God, but if it’s not backed up with God’s love in your life, it’s hard to listen. It’s hard to hear it. The fact of the matter is God says you’re nothing without love. It doesn’t profit anything. You see, love builds up, says 1 Corinthians 8.1, but knowledge simply puffs up. It makes you proud. And we need to have that beautiful combination of knowledge of God and His Word combined with the wonderful love of God produced by the Holy Spirit. Romans says in chapter 5 and verse 5 that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Well, you can imagine what stops that when we grieve the Holy Spirit by the way we talk. Ephesians 4, 29 to 31 tells you a lot about that. But the attitudes of anger and malice and wickedness that often flow out of our mouths toward people, that certainly isn’t love. It grieves the Holy Spirit and stops the beautiful flow of the Spirit’s love in our life. We need to be careful about that, friends. The Bible tells us also in 1 Thessalonians 5 to quench not the Spirit. The Spirit’s like a fire burning in our bones, and we don’t want to pour water on it by our wrong attitudes or actions. We all need love. The world is desperate for love. And I hope you’ve appreciated our description of the different Greek words for love. Of course, eros, erotic love, sexual love. We also have a storge, a family love, love even between animals. Phile is a friendship love, but agape is that spiritual love that comes from the Holy Spirit. Well, God bless you. Plan to stay with us for our entire study.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, thank you, David. Next time on the program, we continue in 1 Corinthians 13 with day three of David’s message, How Love Really Works. The world talks about love as if it’s a feeling you fall into and out of. And that’s not the case. God’s Word shows us something far deeper, far stronger, and far more demanding. We’ll see the kind of love that really doesn’t exalt itself, doesn’t keep score, and doesn’t turn away from the truth. That’s tomorrow, right here on Hope for Today.
