Introduction: Everyone wants to be loved. The songs we sing show us how the desire to be loved dominates our hearts: Doris Day sang "Love Makes the World Go Round," Frank Sinatra sang, "Love and Marriage." The Beatles sang "All You Need is Love," Elvis sang "Love Me Tender, Love Me True," todays popular singers continue to sing about love. We want to be cherished, we want to be respected, we want to be desired, we want to be loved. As Christians, we want to be loved, but we realize that we also have a responsibility to love one another. But sometimes we need to be reminded about HOW to love. Paul deeply loved the Christians in Corinth, and in this passage we see six clues from Paul about how WE can love each other:

I. We show love by spending time with people.

A. Paul was on his way to visit the Corinthians for the third time (vs. 14).
B. Do we schedule time for our spouse, children, parents, friends and God Himself?

II. We show love by not being a burden (vs. 14, 16).

A. Paul never was a financial burden to the Corinthians, or to the other churches. He sewed tents to support himself as he did his missionary work. We now call part-time pastors "tent-makers."
B. Our parents are determined NOT to be a burden to us.
C. Are we ordering our lives in such a way that we are not burdensome to the people we love? Every young Christian should be taught to work and invest and save for his/her old age.

III. We show love by spending our money (vs. 15).

A. This is the other side of the coin. We don't look to our loved one to support us, but we delight to spend our money on the needs of the people we love.
B. Don't be stingy with your money. Spend it to benefit others. If you love God, give your money to support God's work in the world.

IV. We show love by giving our very selves (vs. 15).

A. Jesus gave Himself to us. He gave us His whole life, and His death. Paul gave his all to love the Corinthians.
B. The bride and groom at the altar, are giving themselves to one another, body and soul, 'til death us do part.
C. The man or woman who loves God, dedicates his/her life to God.
D. The loving parent willing gives his/her life to save the child.

V. We show love by speaking to build up, never to tear down (vs. 19).

A. There are three ways to destroy a relationship: 1) Physical Abuse; 2) Unfaithfulness and 3) Verbal abuse. The bond between husband and wife, or parent and child, can withstand almost any other kind of trouble.
B. The tongue is awesomely powerful for good or evil. By preaching the Word of God, Jesus established the Church, and now a third of the world at least claims to follow Jesus. By making incindiary speeches, Adolph Hitler established the Third Reich, and brought about the murder of six million Jews. The tongue is powerful!
C. If we want to show love, we must guard our lips from speaking evil, and we must exercise our lips to speak that which blesses.

VI. We show love by giving thought to the future (vs. 20).

A. Paul had been giving thought to what might happen when he finally came to Corinth. He had been rehearsing possible scenarios.
B. We need to give thought to future consequences in all we do to those we love, and in all we say to those we love.

Conclusion: We all want to be loved by others. But to stop there, is to be selfish. We must reach out and show others that WE love THEM. We can show love by spending time, by not being burdensome, by spending our money, by giving our very selves, by speaking in love to edify, and by giving thought to the future of the relationship. May God help each of us to learn to show love to one another. Amen.