DR. GORDON HUGENBERGER
STUDY QUESTIONS FOR SUNDAY, JUNE 22, 2003
1 Corinthians 13
Love Never Gives Up


MAIN POINT:
For convenience, many of the 15 attributes of true love in verses 4-7 can be summarized under four headings: Love gives, love gives in, love forgives, and love never gives up. Over the past weeks we have considered these attributes of genuine love. This morning we will focus on the last of them: how true love "never gives up" ("it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.").

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. Proverbs 20:6 says, "Man a man claims to have unfailing love, but an faithful man who can find?" Why do so many love songs promise "I will love you forever"? What is it that drives friends and especially lovers to make such a claim?
   
   
2. The painful reality is, of course, all too often the promise to love proves to be vacuous. Although we are tempted to imagine that this is just a modern phenomenon (divorce rates, parents who abandon children, etc.), Proverbs 20:6 shows that the problem goes much deeper. Other biblical texts stress the prevalence of "fair weather" friends (Proverbs 19:4-7), but it seems that true friends have always been a rare exception (Proverbs 18:24). Why is this so? What keeps you from being a better friend?
   
   
3. In 1 Corinthians 13:7 Paul concludes his list of 15 characteristics of love with four resounding positive affirmations about what love "always" does. These underscore the permanence of love: true love lasts. The first affirmation is translated in the NIV, "It [love] always protects." The Greek verb [=stego] which appears here has a surprising range of meaning. Besides meaning "protects" or "covers," this verb can also mean "bears up [under]." Although the NIV translation of "protects" is possible in 1 Corinthians 13:7, virtually every other major English version offers something like the ESV: "Love bears all things," or "It always bears up." In favor of the NIV "protects," rather than "endures," is the observation that this translation avoids any redundancy with the fourth affirmation in verse 7, "it always perseveres [= hypomeno]," which is also frequently translated, "it always endures." Whether or not the NIV translation is preferable, however, it is certainly a comforting and convicting truth that genuine love does, in fact "protect." What might be an example where the Corinthians were failing to love each other with a love that "always protects"?
   
   
4. Despite the advantages of the NIV translation, "[love] always protects," three considerations favor the majority view that "[love] always bears up."
   
   a) The meaning "bears up," "puts up with," or "endures," rather than "protects" or "covers," is clearly what Paul intends in each of the other three places in his letters where he uses this same Greek word [= stego] (1 Corinthians 9:12; 1 Thessalonians 3:1, 5).
   
   b) If the first affirmation is translated "[love] always bears up," or even "always endures," this is not redundant with the fourth affirmation, even though some Bibles also translate it "always endures." This is so because the endurance [= stego] in the first affirmation tends to emphasize the unlimited weight under which love can bear up, while the endurance [= hypomeno] in the last affirmation tends to emphasize the unlimited time through which love perseveres. This ability of love to endure through time is captured by the NIV translation, "[love] always perseveres."
   
   c) Accordingly the four affirmations in verse 7 exhibit an artful A-B-B-A pattern. Most interpreters recognize that the middle two affirmations involve closely related concepts ("always trusts" and "always hopes"). If the first affirmation is "always bears up," then the first and last affirmations are likewise closely related concepts ("always bears up" and "always perseveres").

   Hence, "love always bears up," or as the New English Bible translates this, "There is nothing that love cannot face." Long after infatuation has evaporated, true love continues. It does not wallow in self-pity or take a perverse delight in evil (verse 6). nevertheless it bears up under an otherwise crushing load of pressure, trouble, worry, difficulty, pain and adversity. What is it about love that gives it this kind of inner strength? Describe a situation when you have been supported by this kind of love from another?

5. The second affirmation in verse 7 is that "[love] always trusts." Think of a situation in your life when anyone without love might not have trusted you, but when someone who did love you did, in fact, trust you. How did this affect you?
   
   
6. Some people may object that it is a dangerous thing to encourage people to cultivate a love that "always trusts." According to them, this will only set you up to be a gullible fool who will be easily misled and used by others. Respond to this objection.
   
   
7. The third affirmation in verse 7 is that "[love] always hopes." Explain what this means. If love is supposed to hope always, how is this consistent with an example such as 1 Corinthians 7:15-16, where Paul allows a believing husband or wife who, against his or her will, has been deserted by a spouse to acquiesce to that unfaithful spouse's desire for a divorce? Without using names, describe a difficult relationship in your life where there seems to be little basis for hope. What would a love that "always hopes" look like in that situation? How is that hope different from wishful thinking?
   
   
8. The fourth affirmation in verse 7 is that "[love] always perseveres." Real love exhibits a tough-minded fortitude that allows it to stands it ground to the end against all attacks (compare Mark 13:13, where the same Greek word is translated "stands firm"). One scholar, Anthony Thistleton, translates this last affirmation, "[love] never gives up." Not surprisingly, the verb here ("perseveres," "endures," "never gives up") is sometimes used in military contexts to describe the courageous endurance of soldiers who stand firm against the attacks of wave after wave of an invading army. How would you counsel a friend who wants a love that "always perseveres," but who is being abused by someone else, perhaps a boss or a boyfriend whose anger is out of control?
   
   
9. Finally, Paul sums it up in verse 8, "Love never fails." In other words, the proof of real love is that it lasts. This ideal of the durability of love is expressed, of course, in the traditional wedding vows, "... until death do us part." Although this is an important application of these principles, Paul's concern in 1 Corinthians 13 is hardly limited to weddings. Based on its context, the primary application of these compelling affirmations is to normal Christian friendship within the body of Christ. This conclusion, of course, could not be more radical and counter-cultural. Most of our contemporaries view "friendship" as perhaps highly desirable, but nevertheless as eminently disposable as soon as it becomes inconvenient. Although they might read self-help book on marriage, it would hardly occur to them to find a book on how to become a better friend. They might go to a counselor to help repair a relationship with an estranged parent, but if a friendship becomes too problematic, they assume that the best course is just to drop it and move on. Describe some possible radical applications of 1 Corinthians 13:7-8 to your Christian friendships. What do you do to maintain friendships even after your friends move?
   

May the Lord use this meditation on His Holy Word to increase our love for Him and for each another, as we put it into practice with the Spirit's help.

Gordon