Love
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So today’s topic is on one I wasn’t planning
I was originally going to go with one of the five
Anyone remember what these where?
???????
Well today’s topic was inspired by the mechanics
Today we are going to talk on love
and more specifically what love looks like in a Christian context
This is perhaps one of the oldest lessons in life
And yet perhaps one of the most ignored
We are going to learn what Christian love truly is
Words in action
Life with purpose
Paul says in Galatians 5:14
For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
And in
Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
Our Lord Jesus says this
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.
Almost as if being a Christian requires you to stand out
Make sense.
But More specifically
Love is an action
an act of servitude towards someone else
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
Powerful
I’ll bet you thought I was going to take this somewhere else didn’t you?
I can’t
I have to be faithful to the Bible
Let me ask you
Does the Bible promote self love?
Or
Does the Bible require a denial of self in service to others out of obedience to God?
What is the standard of love according to Jesus?
What does that look like?
According to worldvision.org
Recent estimates for global poverty are that 9.2% of the world, or 689 million people, live in extreme poverty on $1.90 or less a day, according to the World Bank.
They're estimating that due to COVID and the lock downs
An additional 115 million are due to fall under this poverty line
Another source stated that the global median income lies at around $2000 a year
The American median income per family.... $63,000
This means that the average house hold income in America is 30x that of the rest of the world
According to the cdc
An estimated 2.2 billion people need access to safely managed drinking water, including 884 million currently without basic drinking water services. An estimated 4.2 billion people need access to safely managed sanitation. An estimated 3 billion people need access to basic handwashing facilities.
I share this information with you not to bring you down
Although it may have
No I wanted to open your eyes to the reality of the situation
The way we live out here, if far better than many live their entire life
The the reality of the world we live in
But today’s main passage of Scripture is in 1 John 3:11-24
And we are going to be going over three points real quick.
What love is and what to expect from the world as a Christian
The example of love in Christ
Our command to love as evidence of our salvation
Without further adu
This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.
We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.
And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.
Prayer
Don’t be surprised when the world hates you...
Not exactly the words you want to hear as a follower of Christ
And yet its true
Multiple times I have been asked,
Chaplain
Why do you do what you do
Why are you nice to people
Why do you give soldiers that don’t deserve it, a second chance
Why do you love those that others throw away
My answer is and always will be because of Jesus
But do you know whats interesting
What’s truly revealing
Is the response I get from that?
I get confusion
I get judgement
I get people looking at me thinking I’m crazy
I get people asking me or telling me,
“You know people can be nice without following God”
Some roll their eyes
Or people have actually just stopped talking to me altogether
look at me as if I am one of those religious nuts
I’m willing to bet I’m not the only one either.
How many of you have been judged for not partying
Decided to stay in rather than binge drink
Done the moral and acceptable thing vs. doing the popular thing.
Or making a decision that you know might cause issues but you knew it was right?
Or what my old 1SG used to say, the hard right over the easy wrong
Better yet,
How many of you have made such a choice
In obedience to God?
If you’ve never experienced this before
Give it a shot
When we get back to graf
Tell them you’d rather study the Bible than go out
Watch what happens
There is a divide when it comes to the standards of Jesus
and yet Jesus tells us
those people are hurting
those people that are suffering
those people the rest have thrown away
To love them
To love those that judge us
To show compassion no matter what
No matter how rejected it makes you feel
In fact the Bible commands
that you love
requires that you love
that you pray for their forgiveness
even under persecution
So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.
Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you.
Just as Cain killed his own brother for doing what was right
The world is going to not think to highly of you for following Christ.
I hate to say it but its a reality guys
Following Jesus isn’t as easy as some would have us think
Following Christ is a call to a new way of living
A new way of thinking
A new way of existing
It is death to self
A way that is unfamiliar
A way that brings peace
A way that cares
and loves
for everyone around us
But more specifically for those of us in the faith
In the brotherhood
the sisterhood
We are a family
Whether you like it or not you will spend all eternity with us
Yes with those of us that believe
Not only that but....
It is your responsibility to model that love
So that others may join us
So that others may also spend eternity in God’s love
This is why Jesus says
in John 13
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John even goes so far as to say that
That if you harbor hatred in your heart
If you refuse to love a fellow Christian
If you refuse to forgive
And you call yourself a follower
A believer
Then you’re fooling yourself
Look again at 1 John 3:14-15
If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.
John is saying that the evidence of a Christian
The evidence of their salvation
The evidence you are saved
That you’re going to heaven
Lies in your behavior to others
but more specifically
your behavior towards fellow believers
It’s really easy,
If you treat others as the world treats them
With hatred
judgment
distain
rejection
If you abuse their God given right to be loved
You are displaying that either you need Jesus
Or you need an adjustment in your walk with God.
Its very clear here Christians do not act in such ways.
And why,
Because as a believer you are a slave to Christ
Your entire existence should be devoted to Christ
Living his example
Living out the love that He showed us
Look at verse
We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.
Let me ask you,
What did Christ gain from you by dying on that cross?
What are you going to give in return for His pain?
Guys He knew exactly what He was getting in to
He was so nervous
that the night before
He begged the Father
If there is any other way, please, please
He was so nervous He sweat drops of blood
A verified medical condition for people in serious distress
He did it anyways
He knew what He was getting into
He knew the consequences
the pain
the hardship
but he loved you
He loved me
and out of obedience and love for the Father
He went through hell
So that you and I could spend eternity with Him
It is the greatest act of love the world has ever seen.
I love what John does here
right after he gives us the example of Love
He gives us a standard
1 John 3:17
If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
Look when you’re a Christian
Love is no longer passive
Its an action
Love is no longer sexual
Individualistic
focused on self
NO!!!
Its entirely focused on others.
Why do you think I gave you those statistics at the beginning
I want you to realize that as a Christian
As a believer in Christ
You fit the beginning of this verse
Look at it again
If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
Do you have a TV?
a Car
Food
Shower
Drinking water?
You live better than billions of our other brothers and sisters in Christ.
But I know what you’re saying
Come on Chaplain
I’m in the Army
I can’t just leave and take up a life as a missionary
I get that, I truly do
But you and I both know,
We have soldiers in our formation
that are struggling
Soldiers that are hurtin
Are you showing them the love that God showed you?
Are you inviting them out
including them in fellowship?
Maybe even
DARE I SAY
READING THE BIBLE WITH THEM?
Heres a bold one,
When was the last time you opened up a Bible
Without a man of the clothe around
When was the last time you set up a reading plan
Went to a Bible study?
I encourage you guys
Get in the Word of God daily
Find a study
Find a group
Invite others
Show them the kindness
the compassion
We see some of these soldiers suffering
And not just financially
but Spiritually
emotionally
Bring them in
Show them love
Pour the love of God into them
Out of obedience
and THANKFULNESS for what Jesus did for you on that Cross
And this is exactly what john is referring to
Love in action
the definition of Christian love
Look at vers 18
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
Love in action
Just as a side note
You know who the happiest people in the world are?
Studies have found, multiple studies
The key to happiness
Helping others
That old lie,
love yourself
focus on self
I have to do me
etc…
You know what you’re doing?
Turning yourself into a god
Instead of taking that love that is supposed to be poured out on others
You’re taking that love and pouring it on yourself
Its simply not biblical
Matter of fact guess what the root cause to so many divorces is?
They aren’t satisfying my needs
They aren’t doing what I require
They aren’t fulfilling my dreams for marriage?
What happened to sacrifice?
What happened to unconditional love?
What happened to taking up your cross and dying to self?
What happened to a marriage being about
Helping that person grow in Christ?
We have become a society of individualistic people
And its not biblical!
A life that is focused entirely on self
A life devoted to my goals
my needs
my wants.
This passage says
This life style
This way of thinking
Is proof
You may be in the WRONG standings before God
But then go back
verses 18-24
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.
And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.
Our actions show that we belong to the truth.
Love for your fellow man
Love for fellow believers
Love for others is evidence that God is working within you.
Not only that but if you live a life
The way this passage is directing you to
If you live a life in service to God
On the day of judgment
On that day that we all stand before God
What do you have to worry about?
You will have that confidence
That boldness to know beyond a shadow of a doubt
You are loved
You are accepted
because of His love for you
Because of Your love for Him
And your life spent in service to Him
You have nothing to fear
Nothing to worry about
Everything to gain
but then John sums up this section
with a command
And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.
Do you remember what I spoke on last week?
Anger and love
Hatred and love
Oil and water
You cannot be a Christian and hate
Its to polar opposites
One chapter over John tells us
We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
Guys I have a challenge for you today
I want you to take this week and do something new
Rather than resorting to the same old attitude
Whatever that looks like for you
Take this Jesus thing one step further
Do something completely selfless for someone
Now heres the catch
I don’t want you to do it for the glory
I want you to do it for God
I don’t want you to brag about it
I want you to show love
show kindness
out of obedience to this passage
Make it between you and God
And try to do one a day
watch how your life will change
Don’t expect anything in return either
Just show that person God’s love
Can you imagine what this world would look like
If we started to live for each other?
It would be heaven
Last but not least one final Scripture
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!
Lets pray.