LOVE LABORS
BREAD
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Romans 12:9-16 (NIV)
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58 (NIV)
2 We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 (NIV)
14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16 as you hold out the word of life–in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. Philippians 2:14-18 (NIV)
2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2 (NIV)
13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 14 Do everything in love. 1 Corinthians16:13-14 (NIV)
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5:6 (NIV)
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Authentic Christian love is exhibited through labor. What kind of labor? The labor of sacrificing. The labor of forgiving. The labor of persevering. The labor of stretching oneself out to the very limits of endurance in service to God and others. Any so-called ‘love’ that does not labor is mere sentimentality.” Michael Youssef
“To love God, to serve Him because we love Him, is…our highest happiness…Love makes all labor light. We serve with enthusiasm where we love with sincerity.” Hannah More
“Tarry not for a convenient time. The movings of the Spirit are never convenient to the interests of the flesh, and I shall engineer your circumstances to conform to My plan and My will. You will glorify Me; for My plan for you excels all other ways, and in the center of My will is a perpetual fountain of glory.” Frances J. Roberts
“Love is never a trite feeling. Love is a wildfire in the bones, a burning flame willing to serve — willing to say yes.” Ann Voskamp
“Any thought or activity is to be eschewed or cut down if it does not bring the Christian towards their goal of heaven but serves rather to retard and impede them on their good course. For this simple reason, every action, thought or word – that is not one of piety and goodness – one must lift up their axe against.” BHY
“The Gospel is God’s explosive power that changes everything. The Gospel makes us Christians…God forgives your sin, declares you righteous in Christ, gives you eternal life, adopts you as His child, and ushers you into an intimate relationship with Himself, through the Holy Spirit. Secondly, the Gospel grows us. The Gospel is not merely the way we enter, it is the way we make all progress…it is the ‘way of righteousness from first to last.’…Since the Gospel not only makes us Christians, but also grows us as Christians, the most desperate need of both unbelievers and believers…is to hear and appropriate the Gospel to their lives. Thirdly, the Gospel empowers us to serve…with a whole new motivational structure…setting us free to love and serve unconditionally in response to God’s grace in Christ.” Rev. Dick Kaufmann
“The person who serves selflessly, lovingly, without complaint, and without seeking recognition is highly regarded in the kingdom of God. The world will estimate your importance by the number of people serving you. God is more concerned with the number of people you are serving.” Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby
“But the truth is you get to either serve others with grace, or serve others with a grudge — or you can simply serve yourself, and that means you will serve yourself grief. The question is never will you serve. The answer is you will serve — but who will you serve and how?” Ann Voskamp
“Every act of self-discipline by a Christian is also a service to the community. Conversely, there is no sin in thought, word, or deed, no matter how personal or secret, that does not harm the whole community. When the cause of an illness gets into one’s body, whether or not anyone knows where it comes from, or in what member it has lodged, the body is made ill. This is the appropriate metaphor for the Christian community. Every member serves the whole body, contributing either to its health or to its ruin, for we are members of one body not only when we want to be, but in our whole existence. This is not a theory, but a spiritual reality that is often experienced in the Christian community with shocking clarity, sometimes destructively and sometimes beneficially.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.” Hudson Taylor
“Who is on the Lord’s side? Who will serve the King? Who will be His helpers, Other lives to bring? Who will leave the world’s side? Who will face the foe? Who is on the Lord’s side? Who for Him will go? By Thy call of mercy, By Thy grace divine, We are on the Lord’s side – Savior, we are Thine. Not for weight of glory, Not for crown and palm, Enter we the army, Raise the warrior psalm; But for love that claimeth Lives for whom He died; He whom Jesus nameth Must be on His side. By Thy love constraining, By Thy grace divine, We are on the Lord’s side – Savior we are Thine. Fierce may be the conflict, Strong may be the foe, But the King’s own army None can overthrow. Round His standard ranging, Victory to secure, For His truth unchanging Makes the triumph sure. Joyfully enlisting By Thy grace divine, We are on the Lord’s side – Savior, we are Thine.” Frances R. Havergal
“Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve.” Oswald Chambers
“Faith is active toward God. Love is active toward other people. Hope is active toward our expectation of the Lord’s return. Faith must work. Love must labor. Hope must endure.” Michael Youssef
HEART SAVOR
• Biblical love serves selflessly through His power for His glory. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV)
• Love does what is best for the beloved.
• Selfless love is unfleshly pointing to the Creator rather than the created.
Beth Yoe's Sharing Bread 