UNDERSTANDING THE LOVE OF GOD
*****************************************
OUTLINE
1. GOD'S LOVE TOWARDS US : WE MUST UNDERSTAND THE BREADTH AND LENGTH AND DEPTH AND HEIGHT OF GOD'S LOVE
2. OUR LOVE TOWARDS GOD : WE MUST LOVE GOD WITH ALL OUR HEART AND SOUL AND MIND
3. OUR LOVE TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER : WE MUST LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS CHRIST LOVED US
EPILOGUE
THE HOLY SPIRIT FILLS OUR HEARTS WITH THE LOVE OF GOD
THE MESSAGE
1. GOD'S LOVE TOWARDS US: WE MUST UNDERSTAND THE BREADTH AND LENGTH AND DEPTH AND HEIGHT OF GOD'S LOVE
****************************************************************************************************************
God loves us so much that He gave his only Son to save us. God loved us even before we loved him. We must understand the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of God.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
**************************
JOHN 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
1 JOHN 4:8-10
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
EPHESIANS 3:14-19
For this reason I kneel before the Father,
from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
THE BREADTH OF GOD'S LOVE
*********************************
The love of God is so broad and wide that He wants everyone to be saved. He will never drive away anyone who comes to Him. His love is so wide that He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west. The Lord has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He wants everyone to repent of their sins and come to Him. There is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than ninety nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
**************************
JOHN 6:37
All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
PSALM 103:12
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
1 TIMOTHY 2:3-5
This is good, and pleases God our Savior,
who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,
2 PETER 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
EZEKIEL 18 : 23 , 32
Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?
For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!
EZEKIEL 33:11
Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’
LUKE 15:1-10
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Then Jesus told them this parable:
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders
and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’
I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’
In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
THE LENGTH OF GOD'S LOVE
**************************************
The love of God is so long that it lasts forever. It is an eternal love. The Lord Jesus loved his disciples till the very end. The love of man may change and turn into hatred. But the love of God remains the same and lasts for all eternity.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
**************************
JEREMIAH 31:3
The LORD appeared to us in the past,saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
JOHN 13:1
It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
HEBREWS 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
MATTHEW 28:20
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
2 THESSALONIANS 2:16
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
GENESIS 31: 2 , 5
And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.
He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me.
2 SAMUEL 13: 1-2 , 15
In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David.
Amnon became so obsessed with his sister Tamar that he made himself ill. She was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.
Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”
MATTHEW 10:21
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.
LUKE 21:16
You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.
THE DEPTH OF GOD'S LOVE
**********************************
The love of God is so deep that He would go to any extent to save the lost. The Lord Jesus even went down to the lower earthly regions to speak to the disobedient spirits who were imprisoned in the days of Noah. God's love reaches even to the most depraved sinner in the depths of degradation . He calls even those who sins are red like scarlet and crimson to come to Him and be cleansed from all their sins.The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness. The woman caught in adultery , the Samaritan woman who had five husbands and was living with one who was not her husband , the prodigal son, Zacheus the dishonest tax collector , all of them experienced the depth of God's love in their lives.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
**************************
EPHESIANS 4: 8-10
This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”
(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?
He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
1 PETER 3:18-20
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
After being made alive,he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—
to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,
HEBREWS 7:25
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
ISAIAH 1:18
“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
1 JOHN 1:7-9
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
MATTHEW 8:1-3
When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.
A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.
JOHN 8:1-11
but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group
and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”
They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.
Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
LUKE 19 : 1-10
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.
A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.
He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”
So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
LUKE 15: 11-32
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons.
The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.
After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.
So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.
He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!
I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’
So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.
For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.
So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.
‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.
But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
JOHN 4 : 1-42
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John—
although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.
So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
Now he had to go through Samaria.
So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.
Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,
“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.
Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true.
I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”
So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.
And because of his words many more became believers.
They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
THE HEIGHT OF GOD'S LOVE
************************************
The love of God is as high as the heavens are above the earth. The Lord Jesus ,though He was God himself , yet from such a great height , because of His great love for us, He chose to reach so low to take the form of a servant in human likeness and even give his life on the cross ,in order to save us. Though he was rich , he became poor in order to make us rich. The height of God's love elevates us to the status of becoming his children and makes us to be seated with Christ in the heavenly places.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
**************************
PSALMS 103:11
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
ISAIAH 55:9
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
2 CORINTHIANS 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
1 JOHN 3:1
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
EPHESIANS 2:4-6
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
2. OUR LOVE TOWARDS GOD: WE MUST LOVE GOD WITH ALL OUR HEART AND SOUL AND MIND
*****************************************************************************************
We must repond to the love of God by loving God with all our heart and soul and mind. We demonstrate our love for God by obeying His commandments and by living not selfishly for ourselves , but by living for the One who died for us. The Lord wants us to serve Him out of a heart of love for Him. We should not allow the trials and tribulations of life to seperate us from the love of God.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
**************************
MATTHEW 22:36-38
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
This is the first and greatest commandment.
MARK 12:29-30
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
JOHN 14: 15 , 21 , 24
“If you love me, keep my commands.
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
1 JOHN 5:1-3
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.
This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-15
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.
And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
ROMANS 8:35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
JOHN 21:15-17
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.
REVELATION 2:1-4
"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
3. OUR LOVE TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER: WE MUST LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS CHRIST LOVED US
****************************************************************************************
The love of God towards us and our love towards God should lead us to love one another. All the commandments are summed up in the command to love our neighbour as we love ourself. The Lord Jesus set an even higher standard by giving us a new commandment to love one another as He has loved us. As we have experienced the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of God , we should love one another with the same love that the Lord has loved us.We should sacrifice our lives for one another. If we say that we love God whom we have not seen , but fail to love one another whom we have seen , we would be liars.
Our love towards one another should be genuine . We must show our love by helping those in need . We should be kind and forgiving and tender hearted towards one another. Love covers a multitude of sins. We must demonstrate the qualities of true love. The Lord wants us to love our enemies and those that hate us and persecute us. When we demonstrate such a love towards one another , it would be a powerful witness for the Lord Jesus before the world and make the people of this world to beleive on Him.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
**************************
MATTHEW 22:39-40
And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
MARK 12:31-34
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.
To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
ROMANS 13:9-10
The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
GALATIANS 5:14
For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
JAMES 2:8
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.
1 JOHN 3:23-24
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
2 JOHN 1:5
And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.
JOHN 13: 34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
JOHN 15: 12-13
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
1 JOHN 3:16
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.
EPHESIANS 5:1-2
Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children
and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
EPHESIANS 5: 25 , 29
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—
1 JOHN 4:11
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
JOHN 15:17
This is my command: Love each other.
1 JOHN 4: 7 , 12, 20-21
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
1 THESSALONIANS 3:12
May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
1 JOHN 3:16-17
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
1 PETER 3:8-9
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
EPHESIANS 4:31-32
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
1 PETER 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:1-7
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
MATTHEW 5:43-48
"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
LUKE 6:27-36
"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that.
And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
JOHN 17:21
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
EPILOGUE : THE HOLY SPIRIT FILLS OUR HEARTS WITH THE LOVE OF GOD
***********************************************************************************
The Holy Spirit pours out the love of God into our hearts. We cannot practise such a great love in our fleshly human strength. When we allow the Holy Spirit to work deeply in our hearts , the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives would be love. The Holy Spirit purifies our hearts and enables to love one another fervently with a pure heart.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
**************************
ROMANS 5:5
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
GALATIANS 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
2 TIMOTHY 1:7
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
1 PETER 1:22
Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
***************************************************************************************************************************************
