MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
TEXT: 1 John, 4:7; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
A. The Bible has a lot to say about love. In fact, from beginning to end that is its theme - God's love for each of us, & our love for Him, which results in our loving one another.
ILL. Some children were asked what love is. Their answers were interesting. Let me just mention a few of them. One said, "Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you’ve left him alone all day."
Another said, "Love is when my mommy makes a cup of coffee for my daddy & takes a little sip before she gives it to him to make sure it tastes okay."
One boy said, "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Another thoughtfully responded, "You really shouldn’t say, 'I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it you should say it a lot, because people forget."
And finally, 7 year old Bobby said, "Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents & listen."
(Robert Eggars on SermonCentral.com)
The Bible clearly teaches that the most important virtue we exhibit as Christians is our love for one another. So the Bible has a lot to say about the subject of love.
B. But so does the world. The problem is that the world doesn't say the same thing that the Bible says. And because we hear the world say so much about love, we tend to get the two mixed up.
ILL. In years past I was an avid reader of the "Dear Abby" column in the news-papers. Sometime I really appreciated the advice she gave, & at other times I disagreed. But let me pass on to you some of her advice that I really appreciated.
A man wrote: "Dear Abby, I am in love & I am having affairs with two different women other than my wife. I love my wife, but I love these other women too. Please tell me what to do, but don’t give me any of that 'morality' stuff." Signed: "Too much love for only one.”
I think Abby’s answer was "classic." She wrote: “Dear 'Too much love for only one.' The only difference between humans & animals is morality. So you need to write to a veterinarian." (Jason Cole on SermonCentral.com)
I think Abby got her point across. We have been made in the image of God, & God expects better of us than to fashion our lives according to the instincts of a beastly nature. So let's consider once again what the Bible has to say about some of the attributes of Christian love.
I. CHRISTIAN LOVE IS ALWAYS ROOTED & GROUNDED IN GOD
A. First of all, Christian love is always rooted & grounded in God.
The world tends to look at love as strictly a relationship between human beings, & we have been taught by the world that if we just love each other enough, we can create for ourselves an utopia on earth.
ILL. We sing songs about it. "What the world needs now is love, sweet love." And "We are the people. We are the children who can make it a better world."
B. These are noble words, words that we need to hear. But as long as love is seen as strictly a product of human effort, without involving God, it will never succeed in making our world a better place.
We have tried that as long as man has been around, & we still steal, rape, & kill each other. This world that ignores God is not becoming a better place. It is becoming a terrible place.
John says in 1 John 4:7, "Dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God." Love originates with God. And it is not until we have felt & understood God's love, & respond to it, that we really begin to learn how to show love to one another.
Listen again to the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7,
"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 with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
C. I am convinced that there are many marriages that would not survive if it weren't for a mutual faith in God.
ILL. My wife & I have been married for nearly 61 years now, & we have had some rough times - 3 children to raise, very busy schedules, sickness & accidents, financial pressures - all those things. And sometimes we wonder how we survived, & how our marriage survived.
But I'm convinced that it was because our love is deeply rooted in the love that God has for us, & that He has demonstrated to us through Jesus.
So the first essential of Christian love is to recognize that God's love is the source of all love, & that our love for one another must be deeply rooted in our mutual love for God.
II. CHRISTIAN LOVE GROWS DEEPER WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME
A. The 2nd attribute is this. Christian love grows deeper with the passage of time.
Did you notice what Paul said? He said, "Love is patient." Love is not in a hurry, & years from now, the love that is rooted in God's love will be greater & more mature than it is even now.
B. The world looks at love & says that love diminishes with time because it sees love in an entirely different way. It thinks love is something that just happens to us.
It is something that you fall into & you fall out of, like falling off a bicycle. You didn't intend it, but it just happened. It was out of your control. At least, that is what the world tells us. Just remember some of the songs we grew up with.
ILL. Elvis Presley sang, "I can't help falling in love with you." And The Doors sang a song with this line in it. "Hello, I love you. Would you tell me your name?"
And some of the songs were beautiful. One of my favorites said, "Some enchanted evening you may see a stranger across a crowded room." Then wham, bang, you are suddenly in love. Your eyes meet, & you are in love.
That's the way the world looks at love. It is something that just happens, an infatuation, if you will. And as long as it is infatuation, it fades with time. But the Bible says that real love matures & grows deeper with the passage of time.
ILL. As a minister I was present in a hospital room as a woman passed from this life into eternity. I sat with her husband while we watched helplessly as his wife breathed her last breath.
I'll never forget him leaning over her bed & whispering, "Honey, I love you." Through decades of marriage their love had grown ever deeper & become more mature.
Love grows with the passage of time. That is an important characteristic of love. As time goes by, real love gets wider & deeper & more meaningful as we share the experiences of life with one another.
III. CHRISTIAN LOVE HAS STRENGTH OF CHARACTER
A 3rd attribute of love is that it has strength of character. Real love in the Bible exhibits strength of character. But that is not necessarily true today.
ILL. Did you hear about the man whose fiancé broke their engagement & his heart? However, she later sent him a very apologetic letter & begged for their reconciliation. It read:
"Dearest Jimmy, No words could ever express the unhappiness I've felt since breaking our engagement. Please say you'll take me back. No one could ever take your place in my heart, so please forgive me. I love you, I love you, I love you!
Yours forever, Marie. PS: Congratulations on winning the lottery!"
(From "Radical Love" by Todd Leupold - SermonCentral.com)
A. You know, the world also sees love as something syrupy sweet. It says that parents who love their children never discipline them. Just love them, & hopefully, they'll love you back & everything will just be wonderful.
It says that preachers should only preach a message of love, & never about sin & judgment. Just preach about love & everybody will love each other a whole lot more.
Some politicians even say that we should never confront our enemies. Instead, just lovingly lay down our arms & hope that our enemies will lay down theirs, too. To them, love looks only at the good, & shuts its eyes to any of the evil in our world.
B. But true love has strength of character. Parents who really love their children discipline them. They develop guidelines & enforce them.
Politicians who really love our country know that we must be vigilant against any enemy who would rob us of our freedom. And those who preach the gospel must hate sin & evil in the world. They must present the gospel so that people recognize that they are lost & dying without Jesus Christ.
Love sees both sides. Love is realistic, & it deals promptly & effectively with those things that are wrong in life.
IV. CHRISTIAN LOVE IS SELF DENYING
Fourthly, Christian love is self denying. It willingly gives of itself for those it loves. Jesus had it all. He had all the riches, glory & prestige of heaven. But He gave all that up to become one of us, even to suffer death on the cross for us.
The world looks at love & says, "Love is getting whatever you can get out of relationships. Then when you are tired of them, just cast them aside."
But Christian loves means that you love others so much that you behave the same way Jesus behaved. You give of yourself for the sake of the ones you love. How are you doing in that department?
ILL. For example, you're going to take a shower & you find that there are only two clean towels left. One of them is so thin you can almost see through it, & the other one is a nice fluffy one.
You know that your wife is going to take a shower right after you do. Which towel do you use? The fluffy one, or the thin one?
Are we self denying? Or are we always trying to get what we want? Are we self sacrificing, or are we always trying to promote ourselves to the detriment of others?
V. CHRISTIAN LOVE ALWAYS DEMONSTRATES ITSELF
A. Finally, Christian love always demonstrates itself.
A few minutes ago I read a part of the Apostle Paul's description of love from the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians, which is often called the "Love Chapter" of the Bible.
ILL. Following Paul's lead, someone has written a "Mother's Version of Love."
"If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place, but have not love, I am a housekeeper - not a homemaker.
If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorating, but have not love, my children learn cleanliness - not godliness.
Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.
Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.
Love picks up the child before it picks up the scattered toys.
Love is present through the trials.
Love reprimands, reproves, and is responsive.
Love is the key that opens a child's heart to God.
Before I became a mother, I took glory in the perfection of my house. Now I glory in God's perfection of my child.
As a mother, there is much I must teach my child, but the greatest lesson of all is love." (Bobby Scobey on SermonCentral.com)
It is love that willingly sacrifices itself. Love touches. Love hugs. Love demonstrates itself in a thousand different ways.
It is rooted & grounded in the love of God. It grows as the years of life pass by. It exhibits strength of character - stands for what is right, & opposes what is wrong.
That is why decision time is important, because it is an oppor¬tunity to demon-strate our love. God says, "I love you, & I have proven that. I've gone to the cross & died for you. I've done it all. Now if you love Me, then demonstrate your love."
INVITATION: If you are not a Christian, then demonstrate your love for God by accepting Jesus as your Savior & Lord, by being obedient to His command in Christian baptism, & thus beginning a new life, a new relationship with Him.
If you are already a Christian, then demonstrate your love by loving one another with an abiding love - by forgiving each other, & encouraging each other, bearing each other's burdens - demonstrating to the world that you are His disciple.
God invites. We pray that you will respond as we stand & as we sing.
