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Beauty Day 9
For the Beauty of Love: Digging Deeper

September 15, 2016 by Brie Brown Leave a Comment

Curious as to why we Dig Deeper?
Here’s Why! 

The Passage

Looking for yesterday’s Journey Post? Check out For the Beauty of Love!

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 English Standard Version (ESV)

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

My Questions

1) Why does “the love chapter” begin by talking about tongues and prophecy?

2) What exactly does the word “love” mean in this passage?

3) What does it mean to “have not love”?

The Tools

A trip to www.studylight.org is in order here.
We will get super cozy with this site as we study Scripture together!
Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom!
It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse?
Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage?
Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

The Findings for Original Intent

1) Context answers this question! If you look back to Chapter 12, and look ahead to Chapter 14, you see that this “love chapter” comes right in the middle of a discussion about spiritual gifts. It seems that there was division in the Corinthian church, based on certain people thinking their spiritual gifts (prophesying and speaking in tongues) made them better than other people. Paul addresses that division, and takes a moment to teach about the importance of love when dealing with others.

2) The word “love” in English can have a variety of meanings. “I love my husband” and “I love jelly beans” carry two different types of love! When studying the Bible, there are a few Greek words that are translated “love.” The Greek word agápē is used throughout this passage, which refers to the kind of love that God has for us—unconditional, benevolent, affection, good-will. This is the kind of love we are also are to have for one another.

3) Just going by the definition of agape, to “have not love” means to lack affection, to lack good-will, to lack benevolence. It means to lack care or concern for others.

Some Applications for Our Everyday Lives

1) This passage is popular to read at weddings, but we see that the original intent was not to tell us how to love our spouses, but how to love one another (which, of course, also applies to how we love our spouses). Furthermore, Paul is describing how we are to treat one another, even in the midst of disagreement. Think about how you behave toward someone with whom you disagree. Is your behavior truly motivated by love? And does it communicate love to the other person?

2) The point of these verses is to tell us that even the best spiritual gifts gain us nothing when not used in love. Therefore, it is very important to understand how to live out this agape love! Read through the rest of 1 Corinthians 13 to deepen your understanding.

3) Are there any areas of my life (or any people with whom I interact) where I find myself lacking good-will, affection, and benevolence? Lord, give me the power through your Spirit to truly love, and let my actions reflect that love.

We’d love to hear how God challenged you through today’s Journey Study! Share your thoughts, comments, and questions with the GT Community!
Can we pray for you? 
Looking for faith stories?

Want To Try It For Yourself?!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).
3) Write down your questions as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers.
Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes
(click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and
embrace the fullness of God in your everyday!

Share Your Thoughts with the GT Community!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Beauty Week Two! Don’t miss out on the discussion – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Looking for other journeys from this theme? See all past studies in Beauty!

Posted in: Beauty, Clothed, Digging Deeper, Dignity, Love, Relationship Tagged: beauty, Christ, clothing, gentleness, kindness, love, respect

Beauty Day 8
For the Beauty of Love

September 14, 2016 by Kendra Kuntz Leave a Comment

Read His Words Before Ours!

1 Corinthians 13
Galatians 5:13-14
Mark 12:30-31

attachment-1-5Hot, fresh tears stung my eyes as the four walls of the dressing room seemed to close in on me. As quickly as I put the shirt on, I ripped it off of my body, practically throwing it at my mom on the other side of the door. If the shirt wasn’t too tight, it was too short, too low, too sheer, or just plain ugly. I had been here a thousand times before, but the tears still came every time. Trying to dress my uniquely-shaped body left me overwhelmed and exhausted. My grandma always told me that “Pretty is as pretty does”, but I wanted to feel beautiful on the outside.

That was long ago, and while the desire to feel beautiful on the outside hasn’t left, I have learned so much about beauty flowing from the love in our hearts.

Love.

As passionate lovers of Jesus, we are called to love God and love others.
What does this love for others even look like?
This love…
It’s patient.
It’s kind.
It doesn’t envy.
It doesn’t boast.
It isn’t arrogant.
It’s not rude.
It isn’t easily angered.
It isn’t selfish.
It isn’t irritable.
It isn’t resentful.

When we learn to love as Jesus loved (because, after all, He is love), then we strive to be patient and kind, to not envy or boast, to knock out our arrogance and rudeness, we pray away anger and selfishness, and practice not being irritable or resentful.

But unlike the hottest new trend, the cutest skinny jeans, or latest graphic mom t-shirt, we can’t just wake up one morning, decide we want to look beautiful on the inside, and instantly love everyone.

That kind of beauty takes time.

And while we strive to be more like Christ, that inward beauty comes naturally. It shows in everything we do, from the way we approach situations, to the way we react to bad news; from the way we treat the slow cashier, to the way we dress.

Yes, even the way we dress.

Ponder that for a minute.

When we love others,
we become beautiful on the inside,
which flows to the outside,
and comes across even in the way we clothe ourselves.

Think of the ten attributes of love mentioned above.
How many of those attributes do we as women struggle with when we get dressed every morning?
When love fills us to overflowing, there is no room to be envious of the body our friend’s sister has.
With love, there is no room to boastfully dress for others by trying to show off our fleek style. Dressed in love, there is no room to arrogantly show off the features of our body that we love the most or feel the most proud of.

We will never perfectly “wear” these attributes of love.
But because of our love for Jesus,
and our desire to love others because of Jesus,
we should never be content with where we are.

Like finding pleasure in shopping for new threads, our passion to reflect Christ should take up closet space in our hearts. When we lean into His love, we reflect Him clearer, which makes our hearts more beautiful. The more beautiful our hearts become, the more that beauty will overflow into our outward appearance!

Our love for Jesus directly reflects our beauty!
Our love for Jesus directly reflects how we dress!
That is beautiful, and that…that is love.

Share your thoughts from today’s Journey Study!
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Join the GT Community and share your thoughts!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Safe Week One! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Looking for other journeys from this theme? Here’s a link to all past studies in Beauty!

Posted in: Beauty, Broken, Clothed, Design, Enough, Flawless, Fullness, Handiwork, Jesus, Life, Love, Meaning, Peace, Purpose, Shame, Significance, Strength Tagged: beauty, clothing, dress, Jesus, love, others, people, respect, significance

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And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14