Christian Love, Conviction, and Repentance

Good morning, children of God! What a glorious day to praise the LORD! I hope everybody had a great week! Last week, we had our first annual Thanksgiving meal together. How cool is that! As I walked around, I watched people and listened to your conversations. Just so you know, It is not eavesdropping if you are talking in church, okay?

Your conversations were amazing. You were opening your hearts to one another, you were being vulnerable with one another, you were sharing hope and wisdom with each-other, you were serving each-other, and genuinely loving one another.

Pastor Paul's message about the fig tree was spot on! In my head, I saw Jesus reaching into my heart and finding some good fruit, but some unhealthy fruit too. I do not know about you, but I do not want any unhealthy or dead fruit in my life.

Between your conversations and Pastor Paul’s message, I was inspired. I was so inspired that I went to Carolyn, my beautiful wife, and admitted that she was right about the mashed potatoes. What I call the Great Mashed Potato Incident of 2024!

You see, I usually make five pounds of mashed potatoes for our gatherings. She said to me, “You need to make ten pounds.” That is a lot of mashed potatoes! I was adamant that there was no way we would go through ten pounds of potatoes, but I agreed to make ten pounds.

Ya’ll were about halfway through getting food, and I had to pull out the backup potatoes! The pan I thought we would be taking home with us, with me staring at Carolyn and saying, “Uh-huh.” “Ten pounds she said.” “We need more potatoes she said.” So, thank you all for proving me wrong and causing me to have to humble myself to my wife and admit that she was right.

There is a point in there. We can become so wrapped up in wanting to be right or we allow our pride to well up in us that we let our emotions take control of us. When we allow our fickle human emotions to take control, we can quickly step outside of showing the love of Christ to others. We may even find ourselves withholding love as a way of punishing someone. Praise God that He does not withhold His love from you or me. Amen?

In the Hebrew and Greek, there are several different words for different types of love. We are going to focus on the love of Christ, agape love. Let’s look at one Biblical definition of agape love.

Agape love (Christian) — verb. To have compassion for a person and their good as understood by God’s moral character, primarily characterized by a willing forfeiture of rights or privileges on another person’s behalf.

That is what Jesus Christ did for us. What this means for us is willingly giving up something that we believe we deserve for the benefit of someone else. When we give of our time, when we give of our finances, when we give up something for someone else’s benefit, we are showing agape love. For the believer, it goes from “What can God do for me” to “What can I do for God and for others.”

God gave us everything,: His only begotten son, His Spirit, and eternal life in the Kingdom, all out of His agape love for you and me. Why would we not share that love with others?

Scripture is very clear that we are to show the agape love of Christ to each other. Look what the Apostle John tells us in 1 John 3:18

1 John 3:18 NLT

18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

John the Beloved is telling us that Christ-like love requires action. We can talk about loving someone all day, but until we do something, it is just talk. What do our actions show? Are we doing what we are able to help others? We are to actively seek out ways to help one another. To show the truth of our love by action and not just words.

Now, I think it is important to clarify a few things. Number one, we are not talking about a “feeling “of love. You are not expected to be everybody's best friend. Even Jesus' inner circle was small: Three people, Peter, James, and John.

You do not even have to like someone to show love for them. We may not want to hang out with the person or be their friend, but we are all called to show Christ's mercy, compassion, and love.

The other thing is that you will not be able to help every person every time, whether you are close to the person or not. We all have commitments.

Some cannot physically help a brother or sister, and some of us are struggling just to get to the next day. The point is that we support each other in the ways we can. That is why God brings different people from different walks of life together.

Here is where it gets hairy. We may see someone struggling who has wronged us somehow, and compassion, mercy, and love go right out the window. We start thinking things or saying things like this:

• “They deserve it.”

• “They are being paid back.”

• “God is judging them for their evil.”

• “They made their bed, let them lie in it.”

• “They are reaping what they sowed.”

We are quick to seek the love and the forgiveness that Jesus offers, yet there are occasions when we hesitate or refuse to share His love with others. Jesus tells us in Luke 6:35:

Luke 6:35 NIV

35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Talk about a verse that runs contrary to the world! There it is! In the body, there is no “you owe me one.” Not just that, we are supposed to love and do good to believers who have hurt us.

I have searched high and low for a loophole in this one. I NEEDED TO FIND A LOOPHOLE! There is no loophole; Jesus means what he says.

When we are in a good place it is easy to say “Just love your enemy; that is what we are supposed to do.” The truth is, when you are in the midst of it, when you are being hurt, threatened, or torn down, the last thing most of us feel like doing is loving the person or doing good to the person hurting us.

When we fully realize that outside of Christ, you and I were once an enemy of God, the hard reality of this verse sets in. I was once one of the ungrateful. I was once one of the wicked that God showed kindness to. The agape Christ-like love of others, even when I was at my worst, brought me to the kingdom.

Each of us has the opportunity to allow the Holy Spirit to work within us and show that same agape love to others. Even those who have wronged us. It is not a suggestion; Jesus commands us to love others as he loves us.

Jesus tells us to turn the tables on our enemies for His glory!

Repay hate with love.

Repay cursing with blessings.

Repay persecution with intercessory prayer.

It is easy to love someone who loves you. The love we are to have is not only for friends but also for those who oppose us and do things against us. I am sure we can recall times when we have not loved a brother or sister in the LORD.

This does not mean we are not Christians. It simply means that we love imperfectly and are learning to love others like Christ loves us. This kind of selfless love takes practice and can be emotionally exhausting.

Look at what the Apostle John tells us in 1 John 3:19-20

1 John 3:19–20 NIV

19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

PRAISE GOD! I am here to tell you this morning that the truth is not a what. The Truth is a who. The Truth is Jesus Christ. God is the Father of Truth. The Apostle John calls the devil the father of lies.

The enemy will be right there to condemn you when you fall short. Other people will be right there to condemn you when you fall short. You may even condemn yourself when you fall short. Please hear me when I tell you:

As we live out Christ in our lives and do good deeds toward others, there are times we will fail. We will fall short of our own ideals, let alone God’s. When we fall short, we can rest in the presence of God. God knows everything. The LORD knows those who are in Christ. He knows that we strive to love our brothers and sisters.

God is not just looking at the outer circumstances of our imperfect human love. He knows your inner most thoughts, He knows your heart this morning. Rest assured that the human heart and human opinion are not the final standard. God is. It is God's power that keeps us secure in Him. His power and His perfect love give us security.

If you are experiencing condemnation, it is not of God. The Holy Spirit convicts our hearts; He does not condemn us.

Romans 8:1 NIV

1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

When people feel condemned, they carry a terrible burden of guilt or shame that they cannot escape and feel hopeless. Condemnation is from the enemy, but conviction is a gift of the Holy Spirit that leads to forgiveness and freedom.

You will notice that Romans 8:1 does not say “no mistakes,” “no failures,” or even “no sins.” Christians do fail and we make mistakes, and we do sin.

Abraham lied about his wife; David committed adultery and had his friend killed; Peter tried to kill a man with his sword. They suffered consequences because of their sins, as we all do, but they did not suffer condemnation.

If you are in Christ, you are not condemned. How could you possibly be condemned if you are bought and paid for by Jesus Christ? It is simply not possible.

John 3:17 NIV

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Christ does not condemn you this morning. He came so we would be brought back into a relationship with God. I think one of the most beautiful illustrations of this occurs with the woman who was caught in adultery in John 8:1-11. .

Some Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery before Jesus in front of a large crowd of people. They wanted to stone her according to the law of Moses and asked Jesus what they should do.

They were trying to trap Jesus into saying something they could use against him. In these verses, Jesus teaches us about our salvation, repentance, and how to treat others in the body of Christ.

John 8:7 NLT

7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”

There is no person without sin. We all need a Savior. It does not matter how much scripture a person knows, how great a person's calling is, what a person's gifts are, or what position a person holds.

Moral goodness and perfection belong to Christ alone. We are to call wrong wrong and right right by the Word of God, but He is the one who changes hearts and minds. Look what happens next.

John 8:9–11 NLT

9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” 11 “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

The picture of the woman is the picture of every person. When it comes to sin and judgment, every person stands alone, face to face before Christ—stripped of all righteousness.

Did you notice in these verses that Jesus did not pass judgement on the woman, Jesus passed judgment on those judging the woman. They were applying the law to the woman, but not themselves. They were acting as hypocrites.

What are the final two things Jesus says in this verse? “I do not condemn you.” She was forgiven of her transgression. “Go and sin no more.” Jesus called her to repentance, to turn away from the sin in her life.

God has the final say. Not you, and not me. When we judge within the body of Christ, we are to do so in love. To help one another when we are struggling. To help guide each other away from sin. To build one another up.

Ultimately, the Gospel message of Christ, the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and the experience of His gracious forgiveness motivate us to live obedient lives.

Worship Team

Brothers and sisters, I have been asked multiple times, “Bob, why do you share your shortcomings and sins with the church?” It is pretty simple for me. As a Pastor and fellow believer, I am accountable to God; He already knows what I have done. Sharing with my brothers and sisters is easy because I have already brought those things to God.

I am also accountable to you. None of us is immune to falling short, and none of us is alone in our struggles. I want to stand before the LORD with as clean a conscience and as pure a heart as possible. We cannot do that if we condemn other believers or live with unforgiveness in our hearts. We all need the ongoing sanctification of Christ—the cleansing of our hearts and minds.

If you are struggling with sin or carrying condemnation or unforgiveness in your heart, let today be the day you turn it over to Him. Release the heaviness, let go of the burden, and ask Him to guide and heal you.

If you want someone to pray over you this morning, we have brothers and sisters ready to go to the Throne Room of the LORD with you and for you. If you do not know Jesus as your LORD and Savior and want to know more, Pastor Paul or I would love to talk to you.

God Bless you this morning. He loves you more than you can even imagine.