Living The Christian Life – Loving
Many years ago Robert Fulghum wrote a book titled: “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” This book was his way of sharing all that he thought we would need to live by in order to be happy and successful in life. He says:
• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don’t hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
• Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
• Take a nap every afternoon.
• When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
• Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
Robert Fulghum gave some great advice about life. But today I want to talk the most important lesson you need to know about being successful in life – I want to talk about Love. The advice I’m going to tell you abut comes from God’s Word the Bible. The Bible is God’s instruction book for successful living. Our text for today is found in first John chapter four beginning at verse seven. Follow along with me as I read:
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
1 John 4:7-11 (NKJV)
From these five verses the Bible gives us five insights that will help us better understand love.
Verse seven talks about:
1. The STANDARD of Love.
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7 (NKJV)
God’s standard for us – is that we are to love ONE ANOTHER.
The Bible doesn’t say to only love the lovable. It doesn’t say to only love the healthy. It doesn’t say we should only love those who live in a ten mile radius of Burlingame, KS. It doesn’t say that we are to love only the middle class. What it does say is that we are love, “one another”. That’s “us” folks. We are instructed to love each other.
God wants us to accept one another – no matter what. No matter of a person’s past or present – no matter the color of their skin. No mater a person’s gender. No matter their political beliefs. No matter their occupation. No matter of a person’s educational level. No matter their level of spiritual maturity. No matter their monthly income. No matter of their age. God says that we are to love one another.
We need to say: “I will love and accept you exactly the way you are – warts and all.” If you want to succeed in love then you have to learn to accept one another no matter what. Follow along with me as I read from first Corinthians chapter one:
“Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"?”
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (MSG)
Take a look around you – those sitting next to you - to your right and to your left. Those sitting in back of you and in front of you. These are the people you are supposed to love. They are the “one anothers” that we are instructed to love. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”
Did you know that twelve times in the New Testament we are told to love one another? That’s right – twelve times! Now why would the New Testament tell us twelve times to love one another? It’s because love does not come naturally. It’s hard for us.
A person went to the zoo and saw a monkey and a lion in the same cage. They spoke to the zookeeper and said, "That’s marvelous, having a lion and monkey in the same cage. How do they get along?"
"Okay, usually," answered the zookeeper. "Occasionally they have a disagreement, and we have to get a new monkey."
”Why do you have to get a new monkey?”
“Because sometimes lions act like lions – and as long as the lions act like lions the zookeepers will always need new monkeys.”
There are times act like people. They hurt one another. And there are times when Christians don’t act like Christians. They ignore the influence of the Holy Spirit. They revert back to their old pattern of living. That is why twelve times in the New Testament we are reminded to love one another. But tells us to love one another - that is his standard for love.
Verse eight talks about:
2. The TEST of Love.
“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
1 John 4:8 (NKJV)
God is love. This verse does not say that God is grace. This verse does not say that God is mercy - although we know God is all-gracious and all-merciful. This verse says that God is love. He Himself is the love in a person. Do you want to know love – then get to know God. That is why this verse says: He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
It is the love of God that drove Jesus to the cross. It is love that hung Him there. It is love that allowed Him to die for us.
Most of us know John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son – that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but would have everlasting life.” But do you know 1 John 3:16? It’s in your notes:
“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
1 John 3:16 (NKJV)
Do you know that there is a test to tell if you know God? It is found in verse eight:
“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
1 John 4:8 (NKJV)
The test of knowing God is: Do you LOVE?
If we know God - we love. We are to imitate our Master. We are to act like our Savior. We are to behave like Jesus behaved. That’s what being a Christian is all about. We grow to become more and more like Him every day.
Folks there is no such thing as Lone Ranger Christians. We are not to isolate ourselves. If you think about – even the Lone Ranger had Tonto. God founded two institutions and both of them are based on relationships – family and the church. God expects us to have relationships with other people. He expects us to love one another. In fact:
God expects us to be connected with other CHRISTIANS.
He expects us to love other Christians.
Verse nine talks about:
3. The ULTIMATE EXAMPLE of Love.
“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” 1 John 4:9 (NKJV)
A traveler fell into a deep pit and couldn’t get out. Several people came along and saw him struggling in the pit.
The sensitive person said, "I feel for you down there." But didn’t help him out.
The reflective person said, "It’s logical that as long as there are pits someone would fall into one." But didn’t help him out.
The artistic person said, "I can give you some ideas on how to decorate your pit." But didn’t help him out.
The judgmental person said, "Only bad people fall into a pit." He didn’t help him out either.
The curious person asked, "How did you fall into the pit?" He walked away scratching his head.
The perfectionist said, "I believe you deserve your pit." And left him in the pit.
The self-righteous person said, "You should have seen the pit." And walked away.
No one helped him out of the pit.
But Jesus, seeing the man in the pit, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the miserable pit.
It doesn’t do any good to talk about love without demonstrating it. God demonstrates His love with action. He’s proven His love for us. That is what the cross of Jesus is about. God loved us so much - He did something about it. He sent Jesus to die for us.
Verse ten talks about:
4. The UNLIMITED BOUNDARY of Love.
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 (NKJV)
God will go beyond normal boundaries to love us. Why do I say this? Look at verse ten closely - very closely. Do you see the phrase: “not that we loved God, but that He loved us”? Wouldn’t you want someone that you showed kindness to, to acknowledge your efforts? Or wouldn’t you want someone that you showed kindness to, to at least be kind to you? I know that I would. But look at God’s unlimited boundaries of His love.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (NKJV)
God demonstrates His love to us even while we were sinners. Even while we are still rebellious – even while we are still at odds with Him - even while we are still at war with Him - God shows His love to us. God loves us BEFORE we even accept His love - still He loves us.
There is an old story about a man by the name of John Griffith, who lived in Oklahoma in 1929. He had lost all he had in the stock market crash. He moved to Mississippi where he took a job as bridge operator for a railroad trestle. In 1937 he was involved in a horrible accident. One day his 8 year-old son, Greg, spent the day with his Dad at work. The boy poked around the office and asked dozens of questions - just like little boys do. The bridge was over a river and when-ever a ship came John had to open the bridge to allow the ships to pass. The day the boy was there with his father a ship was coming so John opened up the draw bridge. After a moment or two he realized his son wasn’t in the office and as he looked around, to his horror, John saw his son climbing around on the gears of the draw bridge. He hurried outside to rescue his son but just then he heard a fast approaching passenger train, the Memphis Express, filled with 400 people. He yelled to his son, but the noise of the now clearing ship and the oncoming train made it impossible for the boy to hear him. All of a sudden John Griffith realized his horrible dilemma. If he took the time to rescue his son the train would crash killing all aboard, but if he closed the bridge, the boy we be crushed in the gears. John would sacrifice his son. He made the horrible decision, pulled the lever and closed the bridge. It is said, as the train went by John could see the faces of the passengers, some reading, some even waving, all of them oblivious to the sacrifice that had just been made for them.
Folks, that is what God has done for us. He gave us His son so that we could have life. Some in this world are oblivious to the sacrifice that has been made for us.
Verse eleven talks about:
5. The APPLICATION of Love.
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
1 John 4:11 (NKJV)
“if God so loved us – we ought to love one another”
- that is what the Bible tells us.
“if God loved us – we should love one another” - is another way of saying the same thing.
“since God loved me – am I loving?” - this is the question we need to ask ourselves. That is a simple question that deserves a simple answer. We need to answer either yes or no. If your answer is yes then let me encourage you to keep on loving. If your answer is no – then let me encourage you to begin loving today. Let the love of God be shown through you. For God loves you and He expects His children to be loving too.
