Walking With The Greatest Part 1 Series

I want to start a series today about the most important thing that Christians need to work on in their life with God. In your relationship with Christ, which is the most important of all, there is 1 thing that we as the church need to do a much better job getting an understanding of. That is walking in love.

1 Cor 13:13 13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

1 John 4:8 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

Romans 8:38 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We need to walk with the greatest….God IS LOVE which means we need to spend MORE TIME walking with HIM through LOVE.

In the bible we see there are three words for love

eros, which meant sexual love

philos, which meant friendship

Agape-the unmerited love God shows to humankind in sending his son as suffering redeemer. When used of human love, it means selfless and self-giving love. The selfless promotion of others.

This word agape is what we are going to talk about for the next several weeks. Christians need to figure out the selfless promotion of others because that is what God IS. The selfless promotion or betterment of EVERYONE, that is attached to all human beings and can’t be separated from us. It is the greatest of all spiritual things because it is HIM…not of Him, it IS HIM. When you love someone, with the God kind of love, you are applying Him to someone’s life.

I. LOVE IS THE GREATEST OF ALL

a. 1 Cor 13:1-3Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

i. 1 Cor 13:13 13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

ii. There is nothing that has a greater impact on this planet than loving people with the LOVE OF GOD

iii. Many people think that a spiritual gifts manifestations, that good preaching or teaching, instantaneous healings and miracles, or any supernatural manifestation would be the ultimate impact on people’s lives.

1. This is why all these things can and will disappear and disapate…I believe they are for us now, but they do not have a greater impact than the love of God.

2. It’s not even the action of taking care of the poor. ACTS of kindness are not a substitute for the LOVE of God

a. People can do something nice but not do it with the Love of God and the bible says we are NOTHING.

iv. There is nothing wrong with that but they actually can do a lot of damage if Love is not the motivation

1. The SELFLESS PROMOTION OF OTHERS

a. Not, Yeah God, show them how wrong they are!

b. This is going to be awesome when I see their face

c. Watch what happens when they see someone get radically healed

2. I know churches that have been more convinced about the person’s response than the ministry than the person themself and people have left churches where the spiritual gifts manifested through people not walking in love and watched them never come back.

v. It isn’t based on how other people treat you

1. People will mess with us, do terrible things to us, and react negatively to us…but we shouldn’t base our selfless promotion of them on what they do to us.

a. If someone does this to me, forget me ever doing things for them.

b. If someone is nice to me, I’ll be kind and nice to them.

vi. IF THE PERSON NEVER RESPONDED IN A POSITIVE WAY TO YOU CAN YOU STILL WALK AWAY HAVING DONE EVERYTHING YOU COULD DO TO BETTER THEIR LIFE?

1. This isn’t talking about giving them everything

2. Jesus died with NO GUARANTEE ANYONE WOULD ACCEPT WHAT HE DID AND YET HE DID IT ANYONE. HE PAID OUR DEBT NOT FOR HIMSELF, BUT FOR US ANYWAY AND BECAUSE OF THE SELFLESS PROMOTION OF US, MORE PEOPLE HAVE ACCEPTED HIM. LOVE IS THE GREATEST!