Like a man with only 30 seconds to live in which to speak his departing words; Paul with his finger on the trigger, fires out no less than 32 heart searching commands. Each command is like the bullet of a trained marksman, finding its way to its given target! Every word counting to encourage, reprove, exhort and edify the Body of Jesus Christ. If there was a word to sum up the vast array of words found in the passage before us, it would be the word love! If there was a container in which the whole sum of words could be stored, it would have written across it the word love!!
This sermon is a mighty challenge and a call to earnest examination of the heart and conduct. The single greatest sign of maturity in the life of a Christian is not how much knowledge is contained in one’s head but rather, the degree to which one’s life is conformed to a life of love.