INTRODUCTION:  A pediatric nurse had the difficult assignment of giving immunization shots to children.  One day she entered the examining room to give 4-year-old Lizzie her needle.  Lizzie screamed “No, no, no!”  “Lizzie,” scolded her mother, “That’s not polite behavior.”  With that, the girl yelled even louder, “No thank you! No thank you! No thank you!”

EXAMPLE:  The policy think tank “Public Agenda” recently conducted a nationwide survey about what Americans think of rude behavior, whether on the road, in restaurants, or in the workplace.  Here are the findings:

- 79 % think lack of respect and courtesy is a serious national problem.

- 73% believe Americans treated one another with greater respect in the past.

- 49% have been subjected to loud and annoying cell phone conversations.

- 44% Hear foul language and said it bothers them a lot.

- 41% confess to having acted rudely or disrespectfully themselves.

I Corinthians 13:5 “Love is not rude.”

We’ve been in a sermon series entitled “Love as a way of life.” Today our focus is going to be love as it is expressed in courtesy, which is the opposite of being rude.  Love is not rude it is courteous.  I want to proceed today by asking and answering three questions about loving courtesy.