Let Love Lead and Define our Actions

Intro

You know it was 36 years today that God’s love reached out to me and saved me. I am so blessed, it is hard to imagine His love, that He reaches out to sinners like us and saves us.

But so glad Jesus did, aren’t you? Yes, indeed.

Monday morning the Lord had the topic of “Love” on my mind…

Love is a great word my friends, and by it we are not referring to the world’s definition of love, the world has polluted it, distorted it and twisted it away from how it is meant...

But the love I’m talking about is the Lord’s love, God’s love for us, Agape type of Love, that is the Greek word and meaning.. a godly type of love.

And when you look at the Bible, we see it a lot. God’s message permeates it and is given to us so that we might be able to duplicate it.

So let me take you on a short journey as we consider the word “love” and how it will define and shape us.

1. The first fruit of the Spirit....

Love is the first fruit of the Spirit that is listed in the Scriptures, I think that is a noteworthy fact, because all our actions have to be dipped and bathed in love.

says

Galatians 5:22 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

First off this word love here is one that defines the actions of God, especially in relation to us, He took us where we were and brought us to Himself, forgiving us.

Romans 5:1 ESV

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And then verse 5 of the same chapter says this...

Romans 5:5 ESV

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.

Love begins and ends with God, We know love because He first loved us...

The word here in the Greek refers to a “agape” love, and we know that is a godly type of love, that is the love we are to extend back to Him and yes rightly to others as well.

So this love is one where by we do our best for those around us. Let me take you back in the OT, to see the portion of the greatest commandment illustrated.

Leviticus 19:17–18 ESV

17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Lev

:17-18

Leviticus 19 ESV

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. 3 Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. 4 Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God. 5 “When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire. 7 If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is tainted; it will not be accepted, 8 and everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned what is holy to the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from his people. 9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God. 11 “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. 12 You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. 13 “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. 14 You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord. 15 “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord. 17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. 19 “You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material. 20 “If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free; 21 but he shall bring his compensation to the Lord, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. 22 And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed. 23 “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. 24 And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. 25 But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the Lord your God. 26 “You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes. 27 You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord. 29 “Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity. 30 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord. 31 “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God. 32 “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord. 33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. 35 “You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. 36 You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.”

Love says we love others as ourselves.

How do you want to be treated? The answer provides us with the actions that are to be extended to others of our human family. Especially as it relates to salvation. we are glad someone loved us and extended time toward us, and shared the message of Jesus with us.

2. The Command to Love...

Just as we have been loved, God calls on us to love one another. Listen to the message God has given to John the beloved in

1 John 4:7 ESV

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

The origin of love is God, and since love is from God and if you have been born of God, knowing God then the natural response of our life should be… “Love”...

And here is where it gets to the point, if a person remains in a state of not loving, if you have no love ( others, self and or God) then how can you say you know God… in truth you do not…

I think about Corrie Ten Boone upon meeting a converted Nazi guard who once inflicted here and shame upon her and her sister in the concentration camps. The demonstrated His love because they had experienced it in their lives.

And as God has demonstrated His love to us, we are called to love the same..

1 John 4:9 ESV

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

Here is the key, we must live through Him.. you see living to self and for self will never produce love, the fruit of the Spirit. But our life in Him will… The initiative began with God, he modeled it to us..

1 John 4:10 ESV

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The conclusion is seen in verse 11

1 John 4:11 ESV

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

So we love because he loved us and continues to love us. This is part of his plan for us...

Now we have been talking about the easy stuff, lets move into the harder items that deal with love,

The Scriptures tell us to Love our Enemies...

3. Love Our Enemies....

When you look at the New Testament, both Luke and Matthew appear to be harmonizing, the Lord is allowing them both to share this perspective about loving your enemies.

So

Matthew 5:44 ESV

44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Matthew 5;344

and

Luke 6:27 ESV

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

Luke 6:27–28 ESV

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

Do right here in these spots we see this ....

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Love (NT and Early Jewish Literature)

LOVE

ENEMY

do good

those who hate you

bless

those who curse you

pray for

those who treat you spitefully

Love One Another

LOVE - ENEMY

ENEMY

do good - those who hate you

those who hate you

bless - those who curse you

those who curse you

pray for - those who treat you spitefully

And in fact looking at verses that follow, Luke even expands the point...

those who treat you spitefully

And in fact looking at verses that follow, Luke even expands the point...

Luke 6:29–30 ESV

29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.

In these illustrations we are called to have compassion on those who are wicked, on those who dont love God,

Love them, go good for them, bless them and pray for them and the list goes on....

What do you think about that?

How easy is it to do this that has been mentioned ?

It was really a break from the tradition of the day, Jesus said in

Matthew 5:43 ESV

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

This was the way the Jews loved, they loved those who we loved them and hated those who did them wrong or hated them.. But this did not illustrate God and his true sense of love.

God would take us who knew sin and while we were hostile to him, He loved us and saved us…

What credit is it to love those who love you back? None.... Love those then who hate you.. God did, so learn from Him.

Do you remember the parable of the good samaritan? it teaches us that love has no boundaries ...