Real Love Isn't Pretty

Real Love isn’t Pretty

Isaiah 53:2 (NLT)

2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.

“We’re quick to judge books by their cover…Rarely do we look past their introductions”

“If they don’t look a certain way…then it’s on to the next one.”

We like being enticed by pretty things because it makes US feel better about OURSELVES

“WE WANT BEAUTIFUL THINGS IN OUR LIVES BECAUSE DEEP DOWN WE’RE ALL UGLY.”

“SUFFERING SERVANT”

NOT THE “HUMBLE SERVANT”

NOT THE “OBEDIENT SERVANT”

Isaiah 53:3 (NLT)

3 He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.

GET THEM THINKING ABOUT THEIR OWN GRIEF

“A lot of us here today / know a little bit about grief.”

“But there’s a few of us here / that know A LOT about it.”

Jesus suffered more / than you or I / can ever know…SO THAT / YOU AND I / WOULD NEVER HAVE TO.

FOR WHAT?

“We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.”

Isaiah 53:4–5 (NLT)

4 “Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down...”

Real Love isPainful

Isaiah 52:14 (HCSB)

14 "...His appearance was so disfigured that He did not look like a man, and His form did not resemble a human being...”

That’s what we do to those who try to love us sometimes…

We mistreat them…

We pretend they’re not like us…

because it hurts too much to love…

to be loved.

5 “But HE was pierced for OUR rebellion, crushed for OUR sins. HE was beaten so WE could be whole. HE was whipped so WE could be healed.”

You can’t HEAL what isn’t BROKEN

Real Love requires Personal sacrifice.

Isaiah 53:6 (NLT)

6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

Isaiah 53:9 (NLT)

9 He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.

“Love isn’t about being right…It’s about loving others even though they’re wrong.”

Luke 23:33–34 (ESV)

33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.

34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Real love is about Forgiveness

Christ forgives us because He loves us.

He knows we hurt others…because WE hurt.

“We'll do pretty much anything / if it helps ease our pain.”

“The world offers us / unlimited supply / of things to try.

“I can promise you this…once you’ve come to know / what real love is

NOTHING ELSE WILL SATISFY.”

Isaiah 53:11 (NIV)

11 “After He has suffered, He will see the light of life and be satisfied; by His knowledge my righteous servant will justify many...”

Real Love isn’t Pretty…IT’S POWERFUL

BUT YOU CAN’T KNOW UNTIL YOU TASTE IT.

Psalm 34:8 (NIV)