Scripture Reading: John 15:9 – 17
Message: “Love Each Other”
Text: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12).
Introduction:
Do you find it easy to love other people?
Your question might be, “What do you mean by loving other people?”
We have one kind of love for our families. In other words, the people who are closely related, mother, father, brother or sister, are usually easy to love because of the relationship. These are people that we have grown up with, lived with, took care of us, provided for our needs, washed our clothes, prepared meals for us, and helped us with our school work and a myriad of other things. These people saw to it that we had what we needed and even had what was not really necessary.
All of us have worked with people whom we care about and would do anything to help them. When we work with people, we have something in common with them. We share experiences or interests with them. We tend to back them in whatever they say or do. They are like brothers and sisters to us. This is a kind of love.
We can disagree with people, but that does not mean that we do not love them. Brothers and sisters often disagree, but they still love each other and would defend each other if the need arose. Husband and wife sometimes disagree, but they still love each other.
Story: “Husband and Wife”
A quarrelsome husband and wife sat before the open fireplace. They lived, or existed, at counter purposes with each other. Sleeping peaceably on either side of the fireplace were two cats. The husband said, “Why can’t we live in peace with each other like the cats?” The wife replied, “Just tie the tails of those cats together, and fling them over a clothesline, and see what happens!” Two can’t walk together except they be in agreement. Christians walking separately can walk peaceably with Christ in their hearts and with love and good will for everybody. Spirit-filled Christians can agree to disagree without strife and ill-will, their prayer being, ‘Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity” (Eph. 6:24).
1. Once again, do you find it easy to love other people?
I believe your truthful answer to this question would be that most people you know and meet are relatively easy to love, Jesus’ type of love, but there are some people you find difficult to even like.
Do you find it difficult to define love? Most people who think of love are thinking of a feeling. Jesus type of love was the love of his loving Father. Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you” (v. 9).
2. What kind of love does the Father have?
The love of the Father is a forgiving love. Psalm 103:2-3 says, “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.”
The Lord not only forgives all our sins but provides for us many benefits; one of them being healing our bodies of disease or keeping us from getting any type of sickness.
The Lord is also merciful to us. Daniel 9:9-10 says, “The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.” This verse indicates that the Lord not only forgives but extends mercy or compassion or sympathy to us.
I Corinthians 13:4-7 tell us more about the love of the Father. “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, and always perseveres.”
3. Do we have love that is:
Forgiving
Merciful
Patient
Kind
Protective
Trusting
Persevering
Sincere
Truthful
Honest
Joyful
Peaceful
Gentle
Good
Faithful
In all honesty, we probably do not fare too well in any of these categories.
The Father’s love is patient, kind, satisfying, personal and uplifting. The Father is very patient with us regardless of the things we might do. He will correct us, but he does it in a kind and caring way. He speaks to our hearts instead of making a scene of our mistakes. As parents, we tend to correct our children in a way that causes them humiliation and embarrassment. Parents usually make a scene in front of other people, not realizing what they are doing to the child and themselves. Parents do not always exhibit the Father’s kind of love.
The Father’s love is not rude, self-seeking or easily angered. The Father loved the Son because the Son was most worthy of his love. The Son in turn loves us who are most unworthy of his love. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Jesus was worthy of the Father’s love. The Father was willing to give up his Son, and Jesus was willing to give up his life, because of his love for each of us. God’s love is not a self-centered love. His love is a love that reaches out to who ever will accept it. The Father’s love for us is a personal relationship with him through his Son Jesus.
Romans 12:9 says, “Love must be sincere.”
The Father’s love is sincere (genuine, honest). The love that most of us have is a pretending type of love. In other words, we know the right words to say to others so as not to hurt their feelings. We tell them that they look wonderful, when in reality we are thinking of how terrible they look. We wish people a great and wonderful day when in actuality we really don’t care about their day. You see, we love these people, but the comments we make are not sincere. If our comments are not sincere, then perhaps, our love is not sincere.
God’s love is truthful and honest and this is the way God wants us to be to other people. His love goes the second mile in helping people in need. We, too, should go the second mile. God’s love to us is on a one-to-one basis. Although God loves all his creation, each one of us is loved as though we were the only one of his creation. God’s love does not involve ulterior motives. In other words, God does not do something for us so that we will do something for him. By the same token, we should not do something for someone else hoping to get a favor in return. God shows his power in the form of love. We are his children and we need to follow his example by showing our power to love our brothers and sisters.
Paul told the Christians at Corinth to “Do everything in love” (I Corinthians 16:14). Everything the Father does to us and for us, he does in love. Whatever we do for someone, whatever we say to someone and whatever our actions toward someone, these things should all be done in and with love. God’ message to us is the same message Paul gave to the Corinthians: “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong” (I Corinthians 16:13).
There is no doubt that Jesus loved his disciples. Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last” John 15:16). What kind of fruit was Jesus talking about? As stated in Galatians 5:22 and 23, the fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” The disciples were to go out and witness, but they were to witness using the fruit of the Spirit.
When Jesus chose the disciples, they were classified as servants, but later raised to the level of friend because, “…a servant doesn’t know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15).
You and I are also friends of Jesus because we know what God revealed to his Son. We have right here in our possession everything we need to know. We know what the Father expects because it is written here for us in his Word.
Jesus mentioned one other thing to the disciples before he raised them to the level of friend. He said, “You are my friends if you do what I command” (v. 14). If the disciples were to do what Jesus commanded then we are to do what is written in God’s Word. The only way we can fulfill our commitment to Jesus is to obey his commands and we do this because of his love for us.
Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (v.13). He did lay down his life for us. The question is: “Is our love great enough that we would lay down our life to save a friend?”
The second question is: “Is our love great enough that we would lay down our life for an enemy?” Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus died for us, not because we deserved it, but because he loves us. The Father loved us even before we came to know Jesus. Coming to Jesus gives us the assurance that we will spend eternity with him in his kingdom.
The love that caused Jesus to die is the same love that sends the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts and provide daily guidance for us. The love and power of the resurrection is the same love and power available to each of us today.
I read this little story about real love.
Story: “Real Love”
The little daughter of the Princess was seriously ill with diphtheria. The doctors told the princess not to kiss her little daughter and endanger her own life by breathing in the child’s breath. Once when the child was struggling to breathe, the mother, forgetting herself entirely, took the little one into her arms to keep her from choking to death. Rasping and struggling for her life, the child said, “Momma, kiss me!” Without thinking of herself the mother tenderly kissed her daughter. She got diphtheria and died sometime later.
The mother was an example of real love. Real love forgets self. Real love knows no danger. Real love doesn’t count the cost. The Bible says, “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.”
God the Father has real love for the Son. God the Son has real love for each of us. God the Holy Spirit is within us to carry forth that love. That’s real love.
Love is how to forget ourselves and serve others.
I read this illustration written by John R. Steward.
Beno Fischer is a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. During that terrible ordeal, Beno encountered a man who begged him to “trade my cold soup for his cube of bread.” He really did not want to do it because he himself was very hungry. But it was apparent that this other man was near death. Even though the cold soup would have satisfied Beno’s hunger more than the dry bread, he made the trade anyway. “Each day I set the tasteless broth by his bedside and slowly bit off pieces of the bland crust of bread.”
When the camp was finally liberated, the captives were taken to a hospital and given physical examinations. Beno says, “The doctor told me I lived for only one reason: out of love for my fellow prisoner, I traded my soup for the bread! The bread had enough nutrition in it to keep me alive. The soup had no source of nourishment.”
That is true love: To serve others. That is what Jesus did. Jesus said, “…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
Paul told the Galatians, recorded in Galatians 5:13, “…serve one another in love.”
4. Love is really not love until you give it away.
Do you remember the Scripture about when the disciples were fishing all night and caught nothing? When morning came, Jesus was standing on the beach and yelled out to them, “Hey fellas, did you catch anything?” When the disciples said no, Jesus told them to cast their nets to the right side of the boat. After doing this, they caught so many fish they could hardly pull in the net. When they came ashore, Jesus had a fire going and asked them to have breakfast. Then Jesus asked Peter this question three times: “Simon, son of John, do you truly love me?”
Did you ever stop to think why Jesus asked Peter this same question 3 times? Remember that Peter had denied knowing Jesus 3 times. Each time Peter responded, Jesus said “feed my sheep”. It is one thing to say you love Jesus, but it is another thing to commit yourself to serving him. Peter got the message and he gave up fishing in the lake and began fishing for men. His entire life was changed. His relationship with Jesus changed and he became the “rock”.
I found the following illustration by Brett Blair:
One night in New York, on Broadway, the great star Mary Martin was preparing to go on stage, as she had a 1,000 times before, in Rodger and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. Just before she took stage a note was handed her. The note was signed Oscar Hammerstein who was that evening on his deathbed. The note was short. It simply said, “Dear Mary, A bell’s not a bell until you ring it. A song’s not a song until you sing it. Love in your heart is not put there to stay. Love isn’t love till you give it away.”
When the play was over the cast rushed her backstage and asked, “What happened? We’ve never seen you perform that way before?” Mary read to them Hammerstein’s note and said, ‘Tonight, I gave my love away.”
When Jesus asked Peter, Peter do you love me? Feed my sheep. Jesus was saying, “Peter you know the song. Sing it! Peter you’ve got the bell. Ring it! Peter, love isn’t love till you give it away.”
Do we have love that is:
Forgiving
Merciful
Patient
Kind
Protective
Trusting
Persevering
Sincere
Truthful
Honest
Joyful
Peaceful
Gentle
Good
Faithful
Perhaps each of us needs to take inventory of our lives and find out what we truly possess.
I want to close with this Illustration entitled “Perfect Love” written by John H. Krahn.
Perfect love cannot be defined by imperfect people. Our world is full of statements of love. We have love songs, love perfumes, love manuals, and love stories. Love is a very popular concept. Yet perfect love, the kind that can even cast out fear, is not earthbound. Instead, it is heaven-found.
Perfect love is a love that gives of itself to another person then forgets the favor rendered. It is a love that finds something to love in the seemingly unlovable. It is one that states, “I love you because you need me, and I need to give myself away to people who need help.”
Jesus Christ is perfect love. When Jesus Christ is the master of our lives, then perfect love dwells within us. Perfect love is a force within that enables us to be sensitive to the needs of others and to desire to fill them. It is a motivating power that enables us to give strength and peace. It is “you” love before “me” love. With a child it says, ‘I love you and as you grow older, I will constantly be loosening the apron strings so that you can develop into your own person.” With parents it says, ‘I love you and will try to act in a way to make you proud of me.” With a spouse it says, “I love you and I want you to be happy and to achieve the fullest stature of your being.” Love is not primarily a result, but a cause. It causes people to grow into happiness. It is not primarily a product, but it produces. It produces fulfilled and whole people.
Perfect love is Christ flowing through us. The secret to perfect love is to have a personal relationship with Christ…Jesus Christ, the friend of sinners, as our friend. Receive perfect love today for your sake and for the sake of those around you.
Amen.
