Love Does Not Seek Its Own

_Warm-up_

• Have you ever been more or less minding your own business and when all of a sudden you found yourself in the middle of turmoil? If so, what happened?

• In what ways do you feel coaxed (by culture, family, church, etc) into creating and maintaining divisions and factions? How do these factions occur and how are they fostered?

_Word_

//BIG IDEA

• Love acts empathetically towards others in social situations that give them honor.

• Paul worked hard to understand Greek custom, early church custom, and Jewish custom. Doing this honored people in these different groups in that it created an environment where REAL love could thrive and divisions could be healed.

• If Christians are going to be people who show LOVE, they must resist the temptation to discount others or their backgrounds. Instead, they will work hard to understand them and show honor to them in a way they can get.

• The gospel empowers a distinctly Jesus-love that dethrones the self for the good of others.

//READ

1 Corinthians 13:5a

…or rude. It does not insist on its own way…

//WATCH / LISTEN

//DISCUSS

_Old Self_

• When we love each other, we tend to be self-oriented. This is “eros” love, which is a love that seeks to personally gain from someone else.

• Why is self-focused love so easy to give? What is so threatening about self-giving love?

_New Self_

• The self-giving love of Jesus empowers a radical other-oriented love in his followers. How does this kind of love enable us to show honor to each other? How does this kind of love create an environment that heals fractions and divides?

_World_

• This week, look at ways we tend to dishonor others by discarding good custom. Look for ways you can honor others in a way that others would understand and receive. Notice how this changes the dynamics of your community.