The Path To Complete Joy
Spiritual Formation Class • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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There’s a clear theme in this passage…
In John 15:9-17, a version of the word “love” appears 9 times.
Two things really stand out to me:
First...
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
17 This is my command: Love each other.
Here is my question:
How is it possible for Jesus to COMMAND us to love???
I’ve come to THREE CONCLUSIONS:
It’s because we understand LOVE differently than Jesus intended us to understand it.
In this passage, LOVE is a form of the word AGAPE — a principled, deliberate, and selfless love
It is love as a choice — and it demands action
It is love NOT based on the attractiveness or worthiness of a person — it’s based upon the character of the one who is choosing to love
Instead we’ve relegated LOVE to the realm of merely SENTIMENTAL or ROMANTIC.
Our culture has taken the truth that GOD IS LOVE — that’s a biblical truth — and twisted it so that “any expression of ‘love’ is God”
That’s just not true — there are HOLY ways to love people — and these ways lead to spiritual health
And there are UNHOLY ways to express what we profess to be “love” — these are more accurately labeled LUST or INFATUATION…and they’re born from a place of PRIDE and SELFISHNESS
2. It’s because every family is marked by something — an accent, a heritage, a business.
Jesus’ family is marked by love.
In John 15, Jesus is headed for the cross — and He is reminding His fledgling family of what they will be marked by…
Their words will be accented by love
Their heritage and legacy will be love
Their business will be about love
3. Ultimately, Jesus’ love is all about CHOICE — not EMOTION
Sadly, many people who claim to be believers are still trapped in Satan’s lie about following Jesus in purely emotional ways
The second thing that stands out to me…
15 I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
Oswald Chambers once said:
“Each of us is as close to God as we choose to be.”
We live privileged lives…
Invited in… Close enough to Jesus so the Father holds nothing back from us
And it is…
In keeping Jesus’ command to LOVE
AND
In leaning in close enough to know the inner workings of the Kingdom of the Creator
…that we know the true joy that Jesus promised us:
11 I have told you this so that…your joy may be complete.
The bottom line is this:
True joy is found in a life formed by Jesus’ command to love.
