LOVE?
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INTRODUCTION:
How do you define love?
When we read we see the fruits of the Spirit.
The first fruit of the Spirit we see is love.
Love is greatly misunderstood.
We like to define love in terms of feelings and emotions.
For instance, you might hear someone say, “It was love at first sight.” An emotion.
Vincent Word Studies of the NT makes the point that love “is less sentiment (opinion) than consideration.”
However, scriptures repeatedly describe love in terms of actions and consideration, not as feelings and sentiment
Paul’s description of love in bears this out.
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
10. Paul does not describe love in terms of feelings. Love is not warm fuzzy feelings. Love is not an emotional “whoosh” that comes over us.
Please notice that Paul does not describe love in terms of feelings. Love is not warm fuzzy feelings. Love is not an emotional “whoosh” that comes over us. Love is defined by actions. Notice that love is not self-centered, but is the consideration of others. I believe we would be correct, therefore, to define love in the New Testament as a constant, continual decision to actively seek out the best interest of another. As we examine the scriptures this morning, I want each of us to see how the scriptures define love as a decision to do good for another above ourselves.
11. Love is defined by actions.
12. Notice that love is not self-centered, but is the consideration of others. I believe we would be correct, therefore, to define love in the New Testament as a constant, continual decision to actively seek out the best interest of another.
13. I want each of us to see how the scriptures define love as a decision to do good for another above ourselves.
14. Last week we asked the question, “Does God Really Love Me?”
15. , “God gave...”
16. This passage defines love as an action and as a decision.
17. God made a decision to actively seek out the best interest of humanity by giving His only Son.
18. Paul makes the similar point in , “But God commendeth His love towards us...”
19. Again, God made a decision to actively seek out the best interest of humanity by giving His Son.
20. Love is something that is seen and demonstrated.
21. How do we know that God loves us?
22. We know that God does not simply love us because He says so.
23. God showed us, demonstrated His love to us by giving His Son, creating the world, by giving us blessings, and offering a relationship with Him.
24. Therefore, when we speak about loving God, God is not saying that we love God by having good feelings about the things we know are right and things we know we ought to do.
25. Loving God is making constant decisions to seek out God’s interest.
26. This is what John tells us in .
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
27. Simply put, God is the decision to seek out the interest of God, which is keeping His commandments.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.
LOVING OTHERS
LOVING OTHERS
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
A. To be found fruitful requires each of us to love God by loving one another.
Notice again what John says, we do not love God if we are not loving each other.
God is not asking me to have warm emotional feelings for other people all the time.
Rather, God is asking each of us to make constant to actively seek out the nest interest of others.
B. How can we seek out the best interest of others?
I. LOVE IS A DECISION TO GIVE, WHATEVER THE COST
I. LOVE IS A DECISION TO GIVE, WHATEVER THE COST
A. One of the most challenges of being asked by God to love others is that this requirement means that we make a decision to give to others, no matter how great the cost to ourselves.
By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
B. John describes for us the need to be ready to give ourselves to others regardless of the cost.
But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
1 John
C. We are called to compassion.
a. How can we close our hearts to others and think that we love God?
b. Love us a call to action.
My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
D. Saying that we love each other really does nothing, in terms of scriptures.
a. We are called to love by our actions.
b. When we see the needs of others, we show that we love God.
c. Our love for each other is to be abundant and overflowing.
And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you,
E. Again, love is a constant decision to actively seek out the best interest of another.
II. LOVE IS A DECISION TO FORGIVE
II. LOVE IS A DECISION TO FORGIVE
A. Because we love God we are called to forgive.
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
B. The giving of our heart extends to forgiveness.
a. We are not allowed to be bitter or hold grudges.
b. We are not to retaliate and return fire with fire.
c. We are to continue to decide to actively seek out the best interest of others.
d. God is the ultimate judge.
e. It is not up to me personally to be rude, ugly, or mistreat people because someone has mistreated me.
III. LOVE IS A DECISION TO SERVE
III. LOVE IS A DECISION TO SERVE
A.
For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
A. Love is about service.
B. Too often we think of love in selfish terms.
C. Love does not concern itself with what the other person is doing for me.
D. Love concerns itself with what is in the other person’s best interest.
E. We need servants right now, servants to help our brethren. help those who are hurting.
CONCLUSION:
Everything we do needs to be motivated by love.
We can al be selfish and we all have at one point in our life.
Let all that you do be done with love.
3. Sight has nothing to do with love, feelings are fleeting.
4. We are making a commitment, a repeated decision, to seek out another’s interest above our own.
