Ain’t Nothing like the Real Thing: Learning to Love Well
Notes
Transcript
Everyone wants the real thing.
When my son Caleb was in 10th grade, he saved up to buy a pair of Beats headphones he found on ebay. They were a great deal so he ordered them. He was expecting to get an actual brand new pair of Beats headphones. When he first opened the box, the box felt flimsy. His excitement quickly turned to concern when he tried to connect them to his phone… His iPhone did not connect.
He knew that they were a fake. They were not genuine Beats Headphones.
We want the real thing, not the fake.
People can spot the fake.
Genuine love is difficult, it takes effort, sacrifice, and a teachable spirit to learn to love well. Life is difficult because people can be difficult.
It’s a double edged sword, we need one another, we are better together but often times people test our patience and make life challenging.
In Romans 12, Paul talks about the marks of a true Christian and as we go through these identifiers, these marks are in context of relationships with real people.
But it all starts with knowing God’s love and loving ourselves correctly so that we can love others genuinely.
Jesus answered the scribes who tried to trip
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
If we don’t know God’s love well, and if we don’t know how to love ourself well, it is impossible for us to love others well.
When we are Loving God and Loving ourselves well we can love others with a genuine love no matter what.
Here is our text:
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
PRAY
Genuine Love begins with a huge challenge.
Genuine Love begins with a huge challenge.
Love begins with a choice.
What are you holding fast too?
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
We have to recognize the difference between the things that are good and evil.
People aren’t our enemy but the devil who tempts us to do evil is the real enemy.
It’s easy to be selfish, prideful, jealous, lazy, angry… the flesh makes it easy to give in to those temptations.
But, we must battle our spirit. If we are going to be able to hold fast to what is good we must be led by the Holy Spirit.
Sincere love requires concentration and effort. It means helping others become better people. It demands our time, money, and personal involvement.
Genuine love is not blind, but able to recognize evil and good.
There is an emotional investment and energy as we cling to the right things.
Proverbs 8:13 (ESV)
13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Turning FROM evil means turning TOWARD what is good and clinging to it. We have to know what God desires by seeking the Lord in prayer and getting in God’s Word.
Being able to detest an evil act while practicing compassion toward the one who has done the act.
10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Our world, our culture is not big on honoring people. Just look at our politics. The reason we are so divided as a nation is because we would rather slander those we disagree with.
Paul gives a challenge to outdo one another in showing honor. The world does a poor job honoring people, we must look to Jesus.
Jesus honored those who were outcasts. Jesus gave them HIS time and HIS presence.
Spend time with people, learn from them and highlight those things that are positive.
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
When serving the Lord never become lazy but be enthusiastic. Paul is not advocating activity for activity’s sake. Rather, we should consistently use our spiritual gifts to serve the body.
We have been called, challenged, and equipped for serving the Lord.
Fatigue may be part of the cycle of service, but apathy (lack of zeal) should not be part of a believer’s life. As Christians, we must fight against discouragement, depression, and negativeness. We must do our best to keep our spiritual temperature high.
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Rejoice in hope means that we should look forward with joyful anticipation to all that God has in store for us. We don’t have to be fearful of our future because we know it is in God’s hands.
Even though we face trials and persecution, endure patiently because we know that God is in control.
2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Life without suffering is impossible but as we put our faith in God’s plan, we can see what our suffering produces. But, that can only happen through the power of the Holy Spirit and through prayer.
The only way we can be patient in affliction is through faithful prayer and joyful hope. When afflictions come our way, the only joy may be our hope for the future where we can see the unveiling of God’s perfect plan.
13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Sharing gifts of love, hope, patience, and prayer are valuable, but they do not take precedence over other believers’ needs.
As members of Christ’s body, we must take care of one another in every way.
When some are in need, others who have the means should share what they have in order to meet that need. This was another trademark of believers in the early church.
Practice Hospitality:
Christian hospitality differs from social entertaining.
Entertaining focuses on the host—the home must be spotless; the food must be well prepared and abundant; the host must appear relaxed and good-natured.
Hospitality, focuses on the guests. Their needs—whether for a place to stay, nourishing food, a listening ear, or acceptance—are the primary concern.
Hospitality can happen in a messy home. It can happen around a dinner table where the main dish is canned soup. It can even happen while the host and the guest are doing chores together.
Don’t avoid practicing hospitality because we are too tired, too busy, or not wealthy enough to entertain.
The word practice is instructive, that means that hospitality improves with practice.
These are some great challenges that as believers, we need to learn and practice so we can Let Love Live genuinely in real live. But, these things are impossible to do without the Lord.
Showing genuine love though times of mistreatment and abuse, through loss, anger and frustration. When we are facing a decision between practicing humility or living in stubborn pride we must respond in love.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
“Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.”
Don’t let the heartache and pain of the past keep you from loving the way God has intended us to love.
That can only happen when we receive God’s love for us. Receive that love that we can never earn, we will never deserve it but God loved us enough to make this possible.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Take Away:
Church, let’s be the church and love genuinely, not being overcome by evil, but overcoming evil with good.
Maybe you are new to this Jesus thing. God loves you enough to send a preacher to a park to tell you about Jesus today.