"Love is Not Self Seeking" by Kathryn Kuhlman part 4 of her "1 Corinthians 13 Series"

I don't know whether you have enjoyed our last heart to heart talks or not, but I'm telling you something, I sure have. There's something about the practicalness of the Word of God. See, to me, the Word of God is so practical. This thing of living a Christian life is not something that's ethereal, it's plain, everyday living. Now, when I say to you that I come into your home and giving you old fashioned Missouri cornbread, will you see there are parts of the Word of God that remind me of good old fashioned Missouri cornbread. It's good for you, you'll grow on it. I did. And besides that, it tastes good. I enjoy it. You know, just like that. Now, if you do not enjoy the Word of God, if you are not having the time of your life, living a Christian life, then there's something wrong with you and not the Christian experience and not God's plan for you. Know that. Maybe you have just enough of an experience to make you miserable. Could be that, had you ever thought of it? Oh, have you ever seen these youngsters who are just beginning to learn to swim, you know? And there have been occasions when I've watched them, probably from a hotel window and the pools outside, and these little old kids that just go to the swimming pool and stick one little toe in the pool. It's so cold, they yell, they scream, and oh, it's cold, it's cold. And then they'll go back and then maybe they'll stick two toes in or a half of the foot. Oh, it's cold, it's cold, it's too cold. They aren't enjoying it a bit. But you take that brave little kid that stands up there on the diving board, you know, and I watch him, I say, oh dear Jesus, give an angel charge over that youngster who's going to kill himself, as sure as can be. And before I finish my prayer, off he goes and into the water and he comes up splashing the water in every direction and he yelled to the other kids, come on in, the water is fine, the water is wonderful. He's not cold, he's loving it. Because he has given it everything that he has and he has been completely immersed in those waters and he is enjoying it. Now you are not enjoying your relationship with the Lord. You're not enjoying being a Christian. You are not enjoying these things that we're giving you from the word of God. Maybe it's because you've just gotten enough to make you miserable. Maybe you're only sticking one toe into this thing of living for the Lord. Maybe you haven't really gotten wet yet. Maybe you're not completely immersed in the things of the Spirit. Oh, it's the most wonderful life in the world if you'll only give Him all there is of you. It's just like that. And if this thing of living a Christian life is worth anything, it's worth everything. It's worth giving everything that you have. Well, we've been talking about the 13th chapter, 1 Corinthians, and the subject of course is love. And I feel that I have every right to preach on this sermon of love. I know that it's vitally important because Paul says in the word that we're to follow after love. It's something that's vitally important. And everybody who's talking about love these days need go to the word of God and really see what the Bible says about love and what love really is. I suppose if I would have a thousand people and ask their definition of love, I would get a thousand different answers. But the Bible holds the real answer. The word of God gives the real answer, a real definition as to what love really is. And from the standpoint of literature, it is my firm conviction that this 13th chapter, 1 Corinthians, is without doubt one of the most remarkable passages that ever came from the pen of man. And we need to get back to the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians. All right. Now we've been talking about what love really is. What does love do to the individual? What is the real outward manifestation of love? I still contend that love is something you do. You cannot help loving without having it love express itself in something that's very definite, something outward. There will be the outward fruit of the love that's on the inside. The next door neighbor will know it. The person with whom you work will know it. The man on the street will know it. The one who comes and collects the garbage from your back door will know it. The man who parks your car in the garage will know it. It's something that's workable. There's an outward manifestation if you have real love. Let me read it again very quickly. Love suffereth long and is kind. We discussed that the other day. Love suffereth long and is kind. Love envieth not. We talked about that too. Love vaunteth not itself. That's where I left you in our last little heart to heart talk. The whole emphasis there is on the word itself. If you really love, you're not going to be talking about it all the time. It'll be something that you will express through your actions. Love that talks of loving is not love. If anyone is constantly protesting to me that they love me, I begin to have doubts in my own mind. It does not boast about itself. It is a great quality. A great quality. Love is not puffed up. And that's exactly where we're going to begin today. That's the sweet reasonableness of love. It's not greedy. Love is never greedy. Love gives and it gives and it gives and it keeps giving and it continues to give because you cannot out give love. And the more that you give of love, the more it comes back to you. It's something that's workable. It's reasonable. It is not greedy. That's why it does not vaunt itself. The vaunting of itself is the direct outcome of pride. Love is not puffed up. Love is never conceited. Never. When you find a conceited person, when you find somebody who is humble and proud of it, you'll not find love in that heart or the fruit of love from that life. It's never greedy. It's never puffed up. Then here's something that's so beautiful and we need to take note of it. And if ever we needed it, it's today. Love does not behave itself unseemly. I wish that I could get that across to the thousands and thousands who are talking about love, who are carrying the placards of love, who have thousands of words to say about love, who are having great demonstrations, trying to prove to the world that they love. Do you want to know something? We need to get back to the Bible again and see what love really is. It does not behave itself unseemly. Now this has been translated in many ways. The simple meaning is this. Love is always polite. Love is courteous. Love is never violent. You'll never find love violent. You'll find hate violent. Where there is hatred, you'll find violence. But love is courteous. It is never rough. Love is never brutal. It does not go around saying ugly things. You know, it's a common expression today. They say, call a spade a spade, whatever that means. But love never says that. Love does not do that kind of a thing. It just doesn't. Oh, sure. My Aunt Belle always told something on me. She said, when I was a little girl years and years ago, that I had a cousin, Howard, who was just a little older than myself, and he was such a bully. Oh, he was a boy, such a bully. One day I got up on my poor little tottering legs and looked him right in the face. And I said to him, even before I had much usage of the English language, but I said, you lap me and I'll lap you back. Before I even knew what the word slap meant. You lap me and I'll lap you back. Well you see, we talk about love these days. Everybody's talking about it. But those are only words. In our hearts, we're saying, you slap me and I'll slap you back. And what do we have as a result? Hate. The very atmosphere in which we live is not one of love. The very atmosphere in which we live is hate. It's on all sides of us. Love is only a word. Our actions are hate. And yet God's word says that love does not behave itself unseemly. It's always polite. It's always courteous. It's not violent. It's not brutal. It just isn't. Oh, to get back again to the word of God. What we need is a fresh baptism of the love of God in the hearts of American people. And not only American people, but the people's the world. We need to get back again to the word of God and practice the simple truths of His word. Now mark this, love seeketh not its own. Perhaps that is the profoundest word about the self-emptying capacity of love. It seeketh not its own. It will always think of the other person. Today, of course, everything is based on what do I get out of it? What is there for me? What do I get in return? Sometimes I think that if Papa were living, if after all these years Papa would return in the flesh, I think he'd want to go right back to where he came from because the living today is so different than it was when he was a young man. As a young man, Papa was a farmer. And I remember hearing him tell, you know, how those good Missouri farmers would get together and they didn't have the modern machinery that they have now. But they'd go to Mr. Borksted's house and the women would do all the cooking, bake the pies and make the biscuits and prepare the meat. They didn't go to the store in those days that we tell you to buy the bread. They baked literally dozens and dozens of loaves of bread and they would do the thrashing. All the neighbors would come together. Nobody ever said, well, Joe, how much will you pay me? I want so much, an hour, and I'll only work so many hours. In those days, nobody paid the neighbor to come in and help him harvest his crops. It wasn't a matter of I'll work five hours, I'll work six hours. As soon as there was sunrise, the neighbors would be there. And they worked until it was dark and nobody complained. Nobody said a word. If a neighbor was sick, why, I've known my mother to stop right in the middle of her washing on Monday morning. And that was just about the greatest sacrifice that mama could make because that washing was the most important thing in her life. When Mondays came, mama washed. I've known my mother to stop right in the middle of her washing when somebody would come over and say, Mrs. Crumen, Sophie is sick. Would you come over right away? And I have known my mother to stay with a neighbor all that day, all that night, perhaps all the next day. We got along the best we could without mama for maybe two days, and she'd come home having had very little sleep just because a neighbor was sick. Do we do that anymore? And yet, you know, we think we are such an intelligent generation, and we're constantly talking about love. And there never was a generation or never a time when there was so much hate in the world as today. We're talking about something we know nothing about. We're talking about something that we're not practicing. Love seeketh not its own. Oh, I think it's wonderful. Seeketh not its own. It is absolutely self-emptying. Notice the next is not provoked. Now the authorized version reads is not easily provoked. The revised has omitted the word easily, for it's not there. That word has been an excuse for many a man for getting into a bad temper. No, love is not provoked, is not exasperated. I think maybe I better stop there a little while and preach to myself. You know, how often I say, you know, it isn't the hard work. It's the aggravation. Kind of like that, you know. Oh, sure. I better stop and build a little campfire right here for myself. Love is not provoked, is not exasperated. Those are all descriptions of what love does to the individual. And all the way through, it is the individual in his relationship to other people. Know that. We have to live with other people. If you are a part of humanity, you have to live with other people. And the Word of God is talking about your relationship with your neighbor, your brother, members of your family, with other people. For you to live is Christ. For me to live is Christ. And if I do not manifest His love, then I better stop preaching.