INTRO.- Genuine expressions of love.
ILL.- A man at work decided to show his wife how much he loved her, and before going home, showered, shaved, put on some choice cologne, and bought her a bouquet of flowers. He went to the front door and knocked. His wife answered the door and exclaimed, "Oh no! This has been a terrible day! First I had to take Billy to the emergency room and get stitches in his leg. Then your mother called and said she’s coming to visit for 2 weeks. Then the washing machine broke, and now this! You come home drunk!"
Genuine expressions of love. At least, that husband tried.
ILL.- Another man came home from work one day very tired, but his eyes lighted up as he stepped inside his house and saw a beautiful cake with seven candles on it setting on the kitchen table. He exclaimed, "A birthday cake! Whose birthday is it?"
"Oh," his wife replied nonchalantly, "the cake is for the dress I’m wearing. IT’S SEVEN YEARS OLD TODAY."
Genuine expressions of love.
Genuine expressions of love could be lots of things. Material gifts, but much more.
ILL.- A number of years ago (1986), U.S. Senator Jake Garn of Utah did something that most of us admire - HE DONATED ONE OF HIS ORGANS TO SAVE A LIFE.
A survey says that 73 percent of Americans approve of organ donation, but only about 20 percent actually sign donor cards and make arrangements for the donation of our organs.
In Senator Garn’s case, however, he did not wait until his death to donate his left kidney. His 27 year-old daughter, Susan Garn Horne, suffered from progressive kidney failure due to diabetes.
Jake Garn and his two sons were all found to be compatible donors. The senator insisted that he should be the one to give the kidney. Garn said, "Her mother carried her for nine months and I’m honored to give her part of me."
So, on Sept. 10, 1986, in a Washington hospital, a six-hour surgery was performed to remove one of his kidneys and implant it into his daughter. BOTH WERE FINE AFTER SURGERY.
A doctor reported after the surgery, "The senator is awake and has a bit of a grin on his face. HE SEEMS VERY SELF-SATISFIED, HAPPY AND PEACEFUL."
Talk about a genuine expression of love! You can’t get much better than that.
PROP.- From our text in II Cor. 6, I would like for us to consider some genuine expressions of love.
1- Avoid being offensive
2- Attend to others
3- Speak your love
I. AVOID BEING OFFENSIVE
ILL.- A college professor said to his students, "If there are any dumbbells in the room, please stand up.” There was a pause and a lone freshman stood up at the back of the room. The professor said, "What? Do you consider yourself a dumbbell?" The student replied, "Well, not exactly, but I hate to see you standing all alone."
Calling someone a dumbbell or a dummy would be offensive. Watch your words! Don’t be offensive with your words, because you may have to eat them! Don’t be confrontational. Not only will you offend people, but you will also end up picking on someone who is bigger than you some day.
II Cor. 6:3 "We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited."
The Living Bible reads, "We try to live in such a way that no one will ever be offended or kept back from finding the Lord by the way we act."
The apostle Paul did not have an attitude nor need an attitude adjustment. He did not think or act, "Well, I’m going to do as I please. I’m going to do and say what I want, no matter what others may think."
That’s the attitude that some people have. They don’t care who they hurt or how they hurt others.
Whenever we go around cutting people down verbally, we are not loving them. We are being offensive. LOVE DOES NOT PURPOSELY OFFEND OTHERS.
Avoid being offensive to others. WATCH YOUR MOUTH. Watch your words. Watch what you say and how you say it.
Prov. 10:19 "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise."
Watch your steps as well. We offend with our words and with our actions.
Rom. 14:13 "Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way."
Paul didn’t want to be offensive. He was willing to give up things in his life if he considered them to be a stumbling block to others. The principle is this: If we love people genuinely we’ll eliminate things in our lives that might keep them from following Christ.
ILL.- When a young couple gets married, it doesn’t take long before they find out things about one another that are offensive and obstacles to their love. Such as: "Don’t talk with your mouth full." "Don’t pick at your toenails." "Quit digging at your nose." "Stop throwing your dirty underwear in the floor."
If we love our mate we will avoid being offensive and avoid doing offensive things that harm the marriage relationship.
The same thing applies to the church. If we want to encourage one another in the faith, there may be times when we should stop doing certain things that are a stumbling block to others, things that offend.
ILL.- I heard about a young Christian man who had a lot of charisma and especially, when it came to influencing young people. He wanted to be a youth sponsor at his church. One day at ball game he was carrying his cup of beer up the steps, and he ran into a couple of junior high kids from the church. They stopped and talked and laughed, and he could tell that they looked up to him.
As he sat down in his seat with his beer in hand, he thought to himself, "It would be awful if tonight those young people decided to go drink beer because of me and get into trouble over it or have an accident."
AND THAT WAS THE LAST BEER THAT YOUNG MAN EVER DRANK. He stopped drinking beer out of love for those young people. Love avoids being offensive.
II. ATTEND TO OTHERS
II Cor. 6:6 Paul speaks of understanding, patience, and kindness. And when we are understanding, patient and kind, we are generally thoughtful of other people.
But, sad to say, we live in a very self-centered society.
ILL.- A Sunday School teacher, after reading the story of the Good Samaritan, asked her class what they learned. One little boy piped up and said, "I have learned that whenever I get into trouble someone should help me out."
Most of us look out for number one.
ILL.- Late in his life, Sir Winston took a cruise on an Italian ship. A journalist from a Rome newspaper encountered the former prime minister to ask him why he chose to travel on an Italian line when the stately Queen’s line under the British flag was available.
Churchill gave the question his consideration and then replied: “There are three things I like about Italian ships. First, their cuisine, which is unsurpassed. Second, their service, which is quite superb.” And then Sir Winston added, “And then there is none of this nonsense about women and children first.”
Basically, we are selfish, self-centered, thinking of ourselves before we think of others. But it should not be this way.
Phil. 2:3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."
Rom. 15:1-3 “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
Gal. 5:13 “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
Gal. 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
ILL.- Bob Russell is the Sr. Minister of the large Southeast Christian Church of Louisville, KY. One weekend they had over 22,053 in three services attend their church. Their general fund offering was $608,704. Another $27,000 was given to the building fund.
You would think that the Sr. Minister of such a large church should deserve some distinction and respect wherever he goes. Right? Not necessarily.
Bob tells this story about his parents, who were raised differently from many people today. Bob said, "Recently, my sister asked us to a family get-together at her house in Cincinnati. They were in a new house, so she gave us directions.
“She said there was room for only two cars in the driveway and we couldn’t park on the street. If the driveway was full when we arrived, we were to drive half a block down the street, park at the schoolyard, and walk back to the house.
“When my family and I arrived, there were no cars in the driveway, so I pulled in. When we went inside, we discovered my parents were already there. They had parked down at the schoolyard and walked so that those who came later wouldn’t have to walk that far. So I went back out and moved my car down the schoolyard and walked back."
Bob was humbled by his humble parents. What a lesson for all of us today! That’s the kind of thoughtfulness we should have for others. Love attends to others! Love is always thinking of others!
III. SPEAK YOUR LOVE
ILL.- Early on in their marriage, a certain husband told his wife that he loved her. Years passed (like 30 yrs) and he never again told her again that he loved her. Finally, one day she asked him about this.
He replied, "Look, I told you a long time ago that I loved you and that if I ever changed my mind I would tell you!"
II Cor. 6:11 "We have spoken freely to you..."
I think we can assume that in Paul’s free speech he was quick to express his love for people. He wasn’t too fearful or proud to say, "You mean a lot to me. I care about you. I love you. I am here for you."
Eccl. 3:7 "There is a time to be silent and a time to speak."
Prov. 10:21 "The lips of the righteous nourish many." Are you nourishing people with your lips, with your speaking?
Prov. 12:18 "The tongue of the wise brings healing." Are you bringing about healing with your words?
Prov. 13:12 "Hope deferred makes the heart sick..."
I believe that many people are heartsick because they never hear those words from anyone: "I LOVE YOU!" They hope to hear those words of love, but never do. Or they seldom do.
Not everyone is good at expressing their love in their speaking, but we all need to work at it. There is a time to be silent, but there is also a time to speak. WE SHOULD SPEAK OUR LOVE TO PEOPLE.
ILL.- Some years ago I found some talking key chains. They had a little button on them to push and when you did, they would speak to you. The men’s key chains would say things that he was supposed to say to his mate: "Yes, dear." "You’re so beautiful. "Of course, I love you." And "Just charge it, honey."
Now, men, if you need one of those key chains in order to say to your wife, "Of course, I love you," we’ll get it for you!
Not only should we express our love for (and to) our mates and our family members (which should be the easiest to do), we should also express our love to our other family members as well. By that, I mean the church family.
ILL.- I was taken back some years ago by a Nazarene preacher. I assisted in a wedding that took place in the Nazarene church in town. This young couple was going to attend our church but she had previously gone to the Nazarene church and wanted to be married there. In fact, she and her family invited the former preacher to come back and perform her wedding and I assisted him.
Before the wedding started, the Nazarene preacher and the father of the bride and I were in the backroom waiting. Suddenly, just before we walked out, the Nazarene preacher said to the father of the bride whom he had apparently known for many years, "I love you, Robert." And Robert, "I love you too."
THAT TOOK ME BACK. I had never heard a man in a church tell another man, "I love you" and mean it in the right way. But it was very good.
A genuine expression of love is expressing your love vocally.
ILL.- Knock. Knock. Who’s there? Olive. Olive who? Olive you!
CONCLUSION-------------------------------------
ILL.- In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, "Do not waste your time bothering whether you ’love’ your neighbor but rather act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.”
Lewis is saying that we learn to love by practicing love.
We’re all amateurs when it comes to love but this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t stop demonstrating love. Practice makes perfect. Practicing love makes us all better at loving.
Col. 3:14 “And over all these virtues put on love…”
I Pet. 4:8 “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
Loving one another is the greatest thing we can do in life.
Don’t be offensive. Attend to others. Speak your love. Demonstrate your love. “For God so loved the world that He gave….”
