Rom 13-Living in Love
| Living in Love! Romans 13:8-10
June 22, 2008 8Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. 9For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law. PRAY Scripture Memory:If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. – Romans 12:18 (NIV) Intro:“What the world needs now is love…”We LONG for love… yet we so easily hate…Kid’s reflections on the nature of love:"Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too." (Greg, 8)Kid’s prayers:Dear God,I bet it is very hard for you to love all the people in the world. There are only four people in our family, and I can never do it. (Nan)1. The Debt of Love (Our motivation to love)2. The Fulfillment of Love (What does it look like to love?)3. The Fruit of love (What does love accomplish?) 1. The Debt of Love (v. 8) (Our motivation to love)Verse 8 (NLT) – Owe nothing to anyone—Except for your obligation to love one another (the continuing debt to love one another)Owe nothing to anyone. – A future message on Biblical principles of money managementLit: To no one no thing owe, except to love one another.How do our heart’s attitude and our mind’s understanding impact our love (or lack thereof) for each other?X Loving each other has to do with dying to self – Luke 9:23 (NLT) – “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'"Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus!"Why would we WANT to be Jesus?!?X Loving each other has to do with loving the hard to love – Luke 6:32-33 – 32“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. Romans 5:7-8 (NLT) Most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Why would we WANT to be like God?!? X Loving each other has to do with obedience and Lordship (2 Cor. 5:14-15) – 14For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. – John 14 (3X) “If you love me, you will do what I command.”Loving others, particularly those who belong to Jesus, is the most genuine and true way that we show our love to Jesus. 1 John 4:20-21 (NCV) – 20If people say, “I love God,” but hate their brothers or sisters, they are liars. Those who do not love their brothers and sisters, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have never seen. 21And God gave us this command: Those who love God must also love their brothers and sisters.X Loving each other has to do with humility and grace (in terms of our sense of NEED for grace) (Mat. 18:21-35) “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”When we are aware of our OWN need for grace, we find it easier to extend it to others – i.e. when we can relate to someone else’s struggle, as opposed to when we can’t imagine ourselves struggling with something…Pride often keeps us from loving others…Why would we WANT to love those who don’t deserve it?!? X Loving each other has to do with our quickness (or reluctance) to forgiveLoving often begins with forgiveness… and forgiveness is much more a DECISION we make than a feeling we feel.It is very difficult to love anyone whom we are unwilling to forgive… X Loving each other has to do with our own desire to be forgiven (Mat. 6:12, 14-15) – 12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.We innately sense our own need for forgiveness. Our natural, human desire to have others think well of us is integrally bound up in our desire to be forgiven by God… and this is bound up in our willingness to forgive others. X Loving each other has to do with motive – Gratefulness to God (Luke 7:42-43, 47) – 41“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii and the other fifty. 42Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” A fairly accurate measure of the level of our gratefulness to God for His amazing grace and boundless love towards us is how much we love those around us. 2. The Fulfillment of Love (vv. 9-10) (What does it look like to love?)9For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.Love your neighbor as yourself.What does this look like? | | Ask “What would make ME want to be an integral part of this (or any other) fellowship…?The question of “self” loveBringing the golden rule into clearer focus: The Five Languages of LoveThe question: How does a person hear that he/she is loved?Time, touch, tasks, words, gifts…Specifically written for marriage… applied to the church:X Time: It takes TIME (& time TOGETHER) to build relationships X Touch: Knowing enough to bless themX Tasks: The joy of servingX Words: Words have such GREAT power… to destroy… OR to bless…X Gifts: Generosity. Hospitality Verse 10 – Love does no wrong to others.Q: How do we do no wrong to others?Sins of omission and sins of commission… 3. The Fruit of love (What does love accomplish?)Our most compelling witness… or lack thereofJohn 13:35 (NCV) – All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other. Article in the most recent edition of our “Equip” magazine: (by Richard Aeschliman)“The church is more and more being marginalized…. Some of the reasons for the church’s being pushed from the center of life are the lack of focus on community, the emphasis on individualism, and self-interest.” Charles DunahooPostmodernism: rejects absolute truth – the only truth you have is what you discover about yourself; You have your story and I have mine.Self-love and instant gratification are driving forces in this day of radical individualism. “Christianity has never been a private religion. It is personal of course, because it involves a personal relationship with Jesus Christ… But in coming to Christ… every single Christian gets connected to every other Christian.” Phil Ryken“When Peter describes the impact of Christian righteous deeds in a pagan world, he in thinking not of isolated saints, but of the people of God, called out of darkness into God’s light. Christian witness that is limited to private religious experience cannot challenge secularism. Christians in community must again show the world, not merely family values, but the bond of the love of Christ.” Edmund Clowney“Some have failed to understand the meaning of community, and consequently have failed to experience the benefits of their salvation.” Richard AeschlimanThere are many in this post-modern world looking for a place to connect and belong that will give meaning to their lives. WCF 26:1 – “All saints are… obligated to perform those public and private duties which lead to their mutual good, both inwardly and outwardly.”How, would you say, are WE doing in this? How well connected are YOU to this (or any) body? How well connected are those sitting around you? Do you even know?!?“In an age of post-modernism, individualism, and privatization of faith, such profession as described (in joining a local church) is quickly forgotten as members settle into their life in the church. Any obligations and binding as had been vowed seem to fall by the wayside as time moves forward. Maintaining a holy fellowship and communion in worship can often get squeezed as priorities change. Weekend schedules of work and entertainment become excuses for not participating in fellowship and communion. Sundays become a time for personal relaxation and pleasure.Mutual edification is lost as believers only think about their personal feelings of self-gratification.” Richard AeschlimanTwo ways this is seen:X Internally (in the context of Christian community)· Initially – the way we welcome visitors· Long term – the way we work to build deeper relationshipsX Externally (in the context of the communities in which we live)· Initially – our demeanor when we interact with people· Long term – the way we care for those around us in tangible ways… Summary / Review:Are we growing in our understanding of the debt of love we owe to our God, and therefore to those around us? Are we growing in our desire to invest ourselves in their lives, sacrificially ministering to them and striving to build deeper relationships with them? Are we the kind of community that will draw post-modernists who have little or no interest in truth, but are desperate for real friendships? A Truth to Remember: We are eternally in debt to God and to His love because of the price He paid to redeem us.A Challenge to Consider:Is there some specific way you could be more loving to someone outside your circle of good friends this week?One thing I heard this morning was… |