F H2H: Baby Don't Hurt Me. Don't Hurt Me. No More.

Intro

one last would you rather

everyone define love as best you can

tell me something in your life that you love

why is it so common to hear that people love so many things? why is love so readily used?

do you think that’s maybe why so many people treat relationships the way that they do

The way the world loves

the world loves with the same mindest that it does everything else with

its the root of all of the problems that come up in the circumstances we have been talking about all week

my own selfishness says I should only love so long as the other person is reciprocating that

or maybe even worse, so long as there is something for me to get out of loving this person, I will love them

this self serving mindset, the greed that comes so naturally that it even can affect our relationships is what Jesus is trying to combat here

he says this is the way that the gentiles and the tax collectors operate

what do you think he means by that?- the nations and the most hated group of people amongst the Jews

John1331-35

Jesus wants us to love differently and as we have talked about already this week, to be known for the different kind of love that we have

the truth is what the world does is the easy thing

with following most of the commands of Jesus, what he calls you to do is the thing that seems unnatural

like learning how to play tennis for the first time

we are called not just to do the easy thing, to love when I have something to get out of it, but to love even when I might gain nothing

being perfect

the ending of the passage in Mat548 might be the most difficult

are any of you perfect? do you think that any of us are perfect?

the root of the word “telos” is used to speak about the end or the completion of something

he is speaking about the way in which we love being the way that God the Father loves

not like the world loves

not like the love for so many things that you might talk about in casual conversation

what do you think that means?

God loves all of his creation with all of himself, such that he would die a cruel death for the sake of us having a chance and a hope of salvation

Jesus says you likewise have that kind of complete love

the kind of love that is compassionate despite whatever circumstance you find yourself in

even if that person has wronged you or you could consider them your enemy

even if you have never had an interaction with them

God loves them completely and so should you

Application

so what way can we love people like that?

start the way that Jesus tells us to start

to pray for those who persecute us

why do you think he says this?

its hard to hold on to negative feelings for someone you are praying for

you begin to start thinking of their circumstance and what led them to the place where they might have wronged you

this is a good beginning for compassion

more difficult, go out of your way to be kind to someone expecting nothing in return

this is the noticeable kind of love that Jesus talks about in John

this is the thing we want people to think about and talk about when they talk about Christians

the lack of this in our world is part of what turns people away from Christianity

love completely and keep that on your mind as the foremost command and I am sure that you will do well