Christian Love

Christian Love

1 John 3:16-3:24

Prayer-

Introduction-

We begin a new series this week looking at holiness. Every time you mention holiness, people automatically think of perfection. We serve a holy and perfect God.

We as God’s children strive to be holy by being more Christ-like.

With this being Pentecost Sunday, I think it is appropriate to talk about how our lives are impacted by the Holy Spirit of God working in our lives and the only way we can be holy is being more Christ-like and less of our own sinful nature. A part of the Holy Spirit interaction with us is in how we love God and how we love others.

Tina Turner sang the song “What’s love got to do with it”

Her words-love is second hand emotion.

Her words-Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken.

That is not God’s view of love and how we love God and others.

In the Greek language are four words for love.

(1) (Storge’)There is the kind of love that you have for family. A child’s love for parents and parents natural love for their children.

(2) (Eros)There is the kind of love that is between lovers. . A sexual erotic love that involves intimacy and passion.

(3) (Phileo)There is deep friendship love that does not involve intimacy but great love for the person. Tender affection.

(4) (Agape love)- God’s love. It is to not allow bitterness to invade your heart and that you have the person’s best interest above your own revenge. You by choice seek out their goodwill though they hurt or try to destroy you.

I want for a moment to talk about Agape love- God’s love that He has for us and how we are to love as God loves.

As I looked at all the passages on love, I have to tell you I was over whelmed.

I was overwhelmed in that without God’s help, I cannot love like God loves.

God’s love goes outside the realm of human sense.

It does what does not come natural to us because we are selfish and want our own needs met before we love others.

Our love usually involves loving someone that loves you back, not loving someone without having an ulterior motive.

1 John 3:16-3:24

God loves because that is His nature and the expression of His being.

He loves the unlovable and the unlovely, not because we deserve to be loved or because of any excellence we possess, but because it is His nature to love and He must be true to His nature.

Agape love is always shown by what it does. God’s love is displayed most clearly at the cross.

“God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4–5, ESV).

We did not deserve such a sacrifice, “but God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

God’s agape love is unmerited.

We are to love others with agape love, whether they are fellow believers (John 13:34) or bitter enemies (Matthew 5:44).

Agape love does not come naturally to us. Because of our fallen nature, we are incapable of producing such a love.

If we are to love as God loves, that love—that agape—can only come from its Source.

This is the love that “has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” when we became His children (Romans 5:5; cf. Galatians 5:22).

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16). Because of God’s love toward us, we are able to love one another.

We are to love by the Spirit of God and we are to live by the Spirit of God working in our lives.

The only way that we can love and live for God is by God’s help daily.

Love is the fruit of the Spirit working in your life. It goes along with joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always hopes, always preserves. Love never fails.

Are you just as overwhelmed as I was? You cannot possibly love like that without God working in you.

This verse (love chapter) is in almost every wedding- truth is most should not use it because it is describing God’s love not human love. If you have no intention of loving like God loves, you should not use that verse.