Our Hope To Love Others (A Loving Hope)

Intro:

This month is considered to be the love month of the year since we are celebrating Valentine’s Day every February and so everybody wanted to feel that love is in the air. Though for us Christian, this feeling or emotions of love should not be felt during this time only but in every day of our lives, love should always be our motivator in everything we do. This is the reason why our theme this month is “A Loving Hope” which has a theme verse found in 1 Corinthians 16:14 which says “Do everything in love” according to Apostle Paul.

For Apostle Paul, love is the greatest of all as he compared faith, hope and love in 1 Corinthians 13:13. But for some reason and consideration, this does not mean that hope and faith is inferior when it comes to the subject of love. But the hope that we wanted to share with others must be motivated out of love for others.

Though we are not going to study again the different characteristics of love in our lives as we always do during this February, what is important to know is the Christian love we ought to share with our brothers and sisters in Christ especially during these times of crisis brought by the pandemic. Today let me share with you about the Christian way of loving others, and this is to have…

Our Hope to Love Others

1 Peter 4:8-11

What is our hope in our lives so we can love others? Apostle Peter would like to give a follow up of the definition of love mentioned by Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. Let us all read our text today in

1 Peter 4:8-11

8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

ASND:

8 Higit sa lahat, magmahalan kayo nang tapat. Sapagkat kung mahal mo ang kapwa mo, mapapatawad mo siya kahit gaano pa karami ang nagawa niyang kasalanan. 9 Tanggapin ninyo sa inyong tahanan ang isa't isa nang maluwag sa puso. 10 Binigyan ng Dios ang bawat isa sa atin ng kaloob. Gamitin natin ito para sa ikabubuti ng lahat bilang mabubuting katiwala ng iba't ibang kaloob ng Dios. 11 Ang binigyan ng kaloob sa pangangaral ay dapat mangaral ng salita ng Dios. At ang binigyan ng kaloob para maglingkod ay dapat maglingkod ayon sa kakayahang ibinigay sa kanya ng Dios, upang mapapurihan ang Dios sa lahat ng ginagawa natin sa pamamagitan ni Jesu-Cristo. Makapangyarihan siya at karapat-dapat purihin magpakailanman! Amen.

How should we love others? We may not discuss here about romantic or erotic love but what’s most important of all is to have hope that we may love others just as what God wants us to do so. Our love for others should be…

1. Fervent – v8 “above all love each other deeply…” or the other term for deeply is fervently (masidhi). ASND “Higit sa lahat, magmahalan kayo nang tapat”

When was the last time we love deeply or fervently especially to others or to those we don’t know? We may easily love our loved-ones with this kind of intensity or emotions but what about others whom we don’t have any relationship with them at all? Can we still love them deeply? This verse has the context to put others first over our own interest. Apostle Paul mentioned this in Philippians 2:4 “not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” ASND “Huwag lang ang sarili ninyong kapakanan ang isipin n'yo kundi ang kapakanan din ng iba.”

So, when we start to love deeply is to look at the affairs of others more than ourselves.

Another context of Apostle Peter when he mentioned this is a picture of an athlete straining to reach the goal which is to win. And in order to win, an athlete must be consistent in training with intensity. This means that to love others is consistently hoping to win them out of love. Christian love is something we have to work at just the way the athletes work on their skills with consistency. It is not a matter of emotional feelings or based on our moods though that is included, but of dedicated will. It means treating others just as the way God treats us, obeying His commandments and will to love others.