Embracing The "Me” That Is Essential To "We” Series

Embracing the “Me” that is Essential to “We”

Series: Building Better RELATIONSHIPS

September 19, 2021

Summary: This is the second message in a series on building better relationships...and learning to love like Jesus. (Eph. 5:1-2) It focuses on learning to follow Jesus in being rooted in love in order to love others. Jesus said...“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” (John 15:9)

If we are to love like Jesus... we will begin by valuing the love that exists in God.

INTRO

So good to see each of you... and to welcome those connected online.

Today we are diving into our Fall focus and series on Building Better relationships.

As I introduced last week, this series is about developing real connections... developing better relationships... better relationships with our family... with our friends... with those we may just begin to engage... and with those we’ve known for a long time.

I would expect that there’s a range of relational life among us.

Some may feel their relationships have become more limited... perhaps in how many people they really connect with...or how connected they are. And you want to break new ground.

Others who may sense that have some significant and satisfying relationships...but you want those connections to deepen rather than decline.

And that is what this series is about.

Jesus said... all of life is ultimately about how we have done two things... loving God and learning to love others.

That is the purpose of our life. If you miss this, you have missed the purpose of your life.

As I shared last week... when our lives come to their final earthy moments... everything else will fade away. No one finds a desire to have someone bring their diplomas... their trophies... or their bank statement. What we want... what matters... is peace with God... and the presence of family and friends we have loved.

Because ...

Life is not about accomplishments. It is about relationships.

We want to know that we have loved well. And if we realize that this is our life... right now... it’s not just a dress rehearsal... then we may realize that we should value growing in loving others... and building better relationships.

And the good news is that... we CAN grow in building better relationships....in loving others...

As we heard last week... the Apostle Paul in the biblical Book of Ephesians provides a life long calling when he writes...

Ephesians 5:1-2 (NLT) ?Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

We can learn from Jesus.

There is no other source that can guide us more than Jesus... than the one who embodied God in this world.

He compares this to the way in which children learn from watching their parents. Every parent knows how real that process is. It happens over time. Parents provide patterns in our lives... and the more we watch them.... we learn from them...for better or worse....and we begin to operate out of them.

If we want to join the patterns of divine love amidst a wounded world... watch Jesus... and learn to love like Jesus.

So over the next five weeks we are going to do just this... we are going to look at five of the most defining ways in which Jesus loved others....and learn how to make them a guide for our lives of living and loving well.

And it’s helpful to recognize that this is about patterns... patterns that we develop over time.

We all like quick fixes. We all might like the idea of “five simple truths that someone can name”,,, that will automatically enable us to love others well... five simple truths for which the mere written statement will change your life.

But this is a call to develop new patterns... patterns that develop over time.

And I hope you encouragement in that...because too often the simplistic idea of a few quick magical insights leaves us disappointed.

What I am confident in...is that these are five of the most significant patterns in the life of Jesus ...that can serve and shape our lives. These are five patterns worth keeping before us for the rest of our lives.... five patterns that I plan to post over my desk.

And we begin with what Jesus described to his disciples...

Jesus said...“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” (John 15:9)

What is he saying? “As I live in the love of the Father... I now love you.”

From the love I live in... I am able to love you.

Love begets love.

Jesus is saying: I am here to bring what exists in God... which is love.