Like many churches, the church at Corinth had some troubling problems; we looked at them last week. They didn’t appreciate Paul for who he was or what he was doing, they didn’t defend him against false accusations, they falsely accused him over financial issues, and they lacked love for him in spite of his abundant love for them.

Paul, of course, endured this mistreatment. He was not willing to give up on these unloving, disloyal, unappreciative people. In spite of all of the problems, Paul expressed his love for this troubled church in various ways—that’s what we’ll be looking at today.

Paul shows us here how we can continue to express our love toward people even when they are unloving and unappreciative, even when they are disloyal and critical.

Anyone who serves in the church has to endure difficult people. I can just about guarantee that if you serve in the church, you may at some point feel unloved and unappreciated. Maybe someone will make false accusations against you. They may complain about you and even be verbally abusive.

Why does that kind of thing happen in a church, of all places? It’s because we are all sinners; we all fall short of perfection. We all still struggle with sin. So we should not be surprised if people disappoint us and treat us unkindly.

Do we just quit when those we serve are unkind and unappreciative? Or do we keep on loving and serving people in spite of their failures?

Paul shows us here what it looks like to persevere in ministry even when you don’t feel loved or appreciated.