What It Means To Be Loved

If I was to ask you, “What does it mean to be loved?” You may think of romantic love. You may think of familial love, the love you have received from a family member, or love you have given to a family member. You may even think of phileo love, or brotherly or the love of a dear friend.

These different types of loves are beautiful but they are only temporary. This morning, the message is about agape love. Love that never dies. Love that transcends our current situation and time. Love that really puts the needs of others above ourselves. Love that sees shares the same worldview as the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Kings 5:1–4 ESV

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.”

history of naaman and syria coming after Israel

Some historical context. Syria had been a thorn in the side of Israel and Judah for quite some time at this point. Syria had been fighting battles against Israel and winning. You can go back to 1 Kings 22 and see the battle with King Ahab and Jehoshaphat.

1 Kings 22:34 ESV

But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.”

Jewish legend tells us this man was Naaman, none other than than commander of the army of the king of Syria.

Naaman is referred to as ‘a great and honorable man’ and ‘a mighty man of valor’. This reference was given to David, Gideon, Jephthah, Jeroboam, and Eliada. Naaman seems to be the only non-Jewish man to receive this title.

Due to these victories, raids were common. Now this brings us to the girl. Her name is not mentioned but she affected the course of history.

Can you imagine living in a war torn area? Living on the front lines? The enemy comes in and takes what they want and leaves? One day they take you prisoner. They take you away from everything you know. They take you away from family and friends and any security you had known and make you into a slave.

In the midst of her dire situation, she served the Lord with humility and persistence. Knowing Naaman was a leper, she could have kept quiet and allowed him to die a horrible death from this disease.

She could have thought that with all the destruction going on in Israel, that he deserves no less. But that is not the choice she made. She said if he could just make it to the prophet, he would live.

Wow!! We need to have that same kind of love. It is not a love born naturally, but a love developed for the things of God. If our community would only meet the lover of their soul, there lives would be saved. Our communities would be turned around.

We could turn the course of history just by doing exactly what we are called to do. Share our testimony. Sharing our testimony is sharing the gospel because we are sharing how the gospel has changed our life. The gospel changed our history.

Someone had to step outside of themselves, maybe share the gospel with an enemy for the gospel to reach us. It is the gospel that really does change things.

John 4:10 ESV

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

John 4:13–14 ESV

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The greatest gift of love which we could give anyone is the precious gift of the gospel. It is the only thing that gives life. It is the only thing that gives peace. It is the only thing that gives hope.

JJ Heller - What Love Really Means Lyrics | Lyrics.com

Then he heard a voice somewhere deep inside And it said,

And I have watched you suffer all of your life And now that you'll listen I'll, I'll tell you that I I will love you for you

Not for what you have done or what you will become I will love you for you I will give you the love The love that you never knew

How can people know of this precious love if we do not tell them? How can people know about the God who breathed into them the breath of life and they became a living soul and then this same God sent His own son to be the ultimate sacrifice to build a bridge between Man and God.

Romans 10:13–14 ESV

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

Conclusion:

We need to show this world what it means to be loved, really loved. It is not enough to say God loves you. We demonstrate how God loves us. Yesterday, we gave away hot dogs, chips, and lemonade. We did this out of love. A way to demonstrate the love the Father has for us.

Where are you at this morning? Have you held back showing what it means to be loved out anger or hurt?

Or maybe, no one has ever shared true love with you this morning? Well, I will share it with you today. It is very easy to know this true love. Jesus has already done the hard part and He makes it as easy as knowing your A, B, C’s.

A - Acknowledge

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

B - Believe

Acts 16:31 (ESV)

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

C - Confess

Romans 10:9–10 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.