The
Greatest of These is Love (Part 1):
As followers of Jesus we get to hear about and experience
God’s Love on a regular basis. In the NIV bible there are 697 verses with the word “love” used in some
way.
Here are some classic verses about “love”:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with
all your mind. 'This is the first and
greatest
commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as
yourself.'
From these to verses we know that God loves us beyond
human comprehension. We know that God should be priority one in our lives. We know we need to love others
as much or more than we love ourselves, which even includes the people that we “gossip” about (we should stop
gossiping). Jesus even tells us to even love our enemies:
"You have heard that it was
said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your
enemies and pray for those who
persecute you,
All this love stuff is hard to do sometimes. How many times do we tip our love scale toward our own direction, insuring that our needs are getting met first. It is God's desire and command that we love others.
- John 15:12 NIV
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
- Romans 12:10 NIV
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
- 1 John 4:21 NIV
And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Life in a fallen world can distract us from Gods command
to love others. The last thing the enemy wants us is for us to focus on God’s Word and His command to love others. So
with forces working against us, we can expect to be distracted from our mission and be tempted to sin along the way, which can hinder us from being effective
ambassadors for Christ. Therefore we must be careful and stay alert.
1 Peter 5:8 NLT
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
So in order to focus on loving others, it is important to
avoid hindering the Holy Spirit’s work in us which gives us the capacity to be Christ-like and loving toward others.
Well you might say, how can this be done?
First we need to be aware of our spiritual condition. We must recognize that we are sinners and our good works do not impute righteousness upon ourselves. Only through Jesus can we be made righteous before God.
The Holy Spirit
constantly reminds me of this one verse:
Romans 3:10 NIV
As it is written: "There is no one righteous (Morally upright; without guilt or sin), not even one;
We have to understand
that it is only through God’s grace that we have been saved not by any work that
we have done.
For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of
God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for
us to do.
We have to understand
that our sin will separate us from God
Surely the arm of the LORD is not
too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have
separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his
face from you, so that he will not hear.
So there must be
daily recognition and repentance for our transgressions against our Heavenly Father. If we
think we have had a couple of
sinless days, we should think about the thoughts and actions we had during that time. Would they pass the Ten
Commandments test? We need to be reminded that we
are all in need of a Savior and that
we are in poor position to judge others on the basis of their sin, while at the
some time having our own sin rearing
its ugly head. It is OK to evaluate someone elses actions and behavior, but we must not condemn them. Only God is the ultimate judge when it comes to a persons heart.
So once we become
aware that we are sinners and cannot earn favor with God, we must rely on the works of
Jesus to reconcile us back to God. Only through Jesus' work and the Holy Spirits presence and transformation in our lives, can we have the capacity to love and forgive one another in a supernatural sort of way. As we are changed by the power of the Holy Spirit from the inside out, we become more lie Christ.
You were taught, with regard to
your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being
corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of
your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in
true righteousness and holiness.
Being Christ-like and filled with the Spirit brings out the Fruit of the Spirit:
Being Christ-like and filled with the Spirit brings out the Fruit of the Spirit:
Galatians 5:22-23 TLB
But
when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of
fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; and here there is no conflict with Jewish laws.
The Bible exhorts us to live out our Christ-likeness:
Ephesians
5:1-2 NIV
Be imitators of God,
therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ
loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and
sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 4:32 NIV
Ephesians 4:32 NIV
Be kind and compassionate to
one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave
you.
Our faith in Jesus is
a major component in how we love and please God. Since faith is a gift from God we must rely
on Him to provide us with a
supernatural understanding of His love through which we will live out, minister and love Him and others. Just as
Jesus displayed a sacrificial love for us, we must
in turn show our gratitude by offering our lives totally to Him in obedience and daily worship. As followers of Jesus we sacrifice our self interest to live for God and His desires.
Romans 12:1 NIV
Romans 12:1 NIV
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in
view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and
pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of
worship.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-4
1 Thessalonians 4:3-4
It is God's will that you should be
sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you
should learn to control his own body in a way
that is holy and honorable
1 Thessalonians 4:7
1 Thessalonians 4:7
For God did not call us to be
impure, but to live a holy life.
Matthew 16:24-26 NIV
Then Jesus said to his disciples,
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man
if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give
in exchange for his soul?
God wants us to be like Jesus.
Next week part 2.
Just Sayin………………..Dave
No comments:
Post a Comment