Introduction: There was a Christian marriage counselor who was known for bringing restoration to those who were on the verge of divorce. His nick name was “The Love Doctor.” He always had the right scriptures to say and advice to give. What made him so good at his job wasn’t the degree’s he had achieved or the amount of books he read, but simply, his connection with God. Over the years he had cultivated a deep passionate relationship with God. He was always moving towards maturity on his spiritual journey. He knew God’s love and it showed in his ministry towards his family and in his profession.
After a series of events in his life including: having a new baby and not dealing with pressures from his job correctly. He began to lose his passion for God. He put his devotional life on the back burner and it began to show in his family life and ministry. It got to the point where his marriage was on the rocks. So much so that the tables have turned, and now he was in desperate need for marriage counseling or he would be heading for a divorce.
So one day after a huge argument with his wife, he left the house and went for a walk in town. In town, he came across, Mike, a man he helped bring restoration to his marriage a few years back. This man recognized his counselor and walked up to him and struck up a conversation. Before the counselor could say two words, the man confessed his marriage was on the rocks again and asked him for help.
Little did Mike know, but his counselor’s life was also in shambles. The counselor was drained. He did not have anything to give his old patient, because he was living on empty. Since his connection with God was not up to par, he had nothing to offer this man. He could not show love or guidance to any degree. He was not living from the overflow of his relationship with God. This put him in a position that none of us would ever want to be in. Especially, since most of us are pursuing ministerial positions where the depth of our relationship with God will directly reflect the ability we will have to help someone.
Living Life from the Overflow
As Christians, we will either live life from a loving relationship with God that spills over into all our relationships, or we will live on empty and have nothing to offer those around us. In order to live life out of the overflow of our relationship with God, we must love one another habitually, connect with God daily, and reflect on the depths of God’s love regularly. If you would, please turn with me to 1 John 4:7-10. These verses are said to be one of the most beautiful passages in the NT on love. Let’s read together.
1 John 4:7---“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 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. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
When John penned these words, he was actually writing to Christians who were spreading heretical teachings about Jesus through his congregation. His congregation was made up of both Ex-Jews and Ex-Pagans. The Ex-Jews found it easy to diminish the humanity of Jesus on the basis of such texts in the gospel of John where Jesus made the statement about the Father being greater then Him. Even though, Jesus in the same breathe states that He and the Father are one. So in this letter, John makes it extremely clear that “Jesus is preexistent, holy, and pure and is going to return to glory at the end.” The other side of the camp emphasized the divinity of Christ. So John pointed them to a passage in his gospel that proved Jesus’ humanity, by showing them that His life and death were the real deal.
Although, John was facing these issues head on, in his letter, he did not solely prove that Jesus was equally God and Man, even though that is of great importance. To combat heresy, John simply encouraged them to love. His church was so concerned with the details of their faith. They overlooked the foundational principle of their faith, to love one another.
That is not an isolated issue. 2000 years later, we are still overlooking that same principle. Yes, we do love, but like John’s church, we tend to be very selective. We tend to love those people who sit next to us in church and in our small groups and even in our classes, but forget about all the other people this command speaks to as well. All the people who do not do the same things you do or like the same things you like, but who are in need of the same love God showed you. And guess what, He chose us, to communicate that love to them.
In this passage, John showed his audience, the source and the depth of God’s love, so that when the time came and they were faced with issues about Jesus’ humanity and divinity. They would walk away unwavered because they learned that to know and show God’s love is the best way to understand the person of Jesus. What better place to live life from, but a complete knowledge of God’s love that spills over into everybody we meet and everything we do.
Living life from the overflow requires us to do three things, the first is . . .
1) To Love One-Another: (v.7a) “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.”
The word, to love, in this verse is a verb (love is a verb) in the subjunctive tense. The word actually means to love one another in such a way that it becomes a habit. Love here is an action and John is urging us to keep on loving others so much so that it becomes a normal practice in our lives.
Johns actually support’s his own challenge, to love one another, in verse eleven of chapter four. He says, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” To love is an obligation. We are under obligation to make a payment, as the result of having previously received something of value. That something is being loved by the God of the universe. Despite knowing the details of our history and our future, God loves us. And because of that we are obligated to show love to all people at all times. These are tall orders, but something we are capable of doing when we realize why we are doing it. The first part of the verse gives us our motivation to love one another. And it is because God loved us. Since God loved us, we owe Him. We are indebted to Him. A clear response to God’s love is to love one another without having a selective mentality. God’s love does not discriminate. He loves all equally.
You might be thinking, your right, but, how do we show this love? I’m glad you asked! In the NT, there are 53 “One-Another’s.” We are commanded to forgive one another, encourage one another, and here, John tells us twice, to love one another. The “53 One-Another’s” found in the NT are some of the greatest practical helps in scripture on the topic of love.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus gives us a clear picture on how to love in the Kingdom of God. He says, "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you” (John 15:12). Those are also, tall orders. We are commanded to love one another, how Jesus loved us. If I were to make a list of all the ways Jesus loved us, the list would be endless, but for the sake of time I want to focus on one that I believe is the greatest act of all and that was when He stepped down from heaven to be with us on earth.
Paul described this act in Philippians 2:6-7 by saying, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Did you see what God did? He did not grip his position as God, but humbled himself to meet us where we are. He put His agenda aside to show us love. The least we can do is put aside our agendas for those people who God has called us to be in contact and show them love.
There is a story in the Bible of a small group of four men, who put aside their agenda for a day to help a man who could not help himself. If it was not for this man’s four friends who responded that day from the overflow of their lives, this paralyzed man would have never made it, not just to the house where Jesus was teaching, but up on top of the house and through the roof so that this man could connect with Jesus and be healed. These four friends understood what it means to love. They sacrificed more then we can ever imagine for their friend. I want to ask you, when was the last time you dug through a roof for a friend? When was the last time it cost you something to show someone you loved them? To make an impact on someone’s life like these four men requires us to be aware of the needs and people around us.
Think of all the people God has positioned in your life. If you really think about it, we are very influential people. We have family, friends, co-workers and people we share common interests around us daily. Out of those 4 areas I just mentioned. I want you to think of one person you could show the kind of love, these four friends showed. Mind you, it did not cost them a dollar to show such a tremendous act of love. People are worth our time and resources. It is up to us, to show them that. Try to go out of your way, once a week for someone and watch the impact you have and the imprint you leave.
Living life from the overflow requires us to love one another and. . . .
2) To Connect with God: (v.7b-8) “Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
Loving others is only possible when we tap into God’s infinitive source of love. Love is the glue that seals our relationship with God or the agent that keeps us from sticking to Him. The word in the Greek that is used in reference to those who are “born” of God means to be in a close relationship like that of a father and son. Our ability to love God places us in direct relation to His ability to love us as His child. When we love, we are on the same page as God but when we don’t; our capacity to know Him is hindered since His very nature is love. When we connect with God, He divinely positions us to be used by Him in ways we would not be normally used, if we had to rely on ourselves.
God is our unlimited source of love. His love tank never runs low. We have the ability to continually connect with him on a deeper and deeper level. This then puts us in a position to connect with people on a deeper and deeper level.
When you look at the Apostle John’s church, problems arose because people were not connecting with God intimately. They got so caught up in the details of doctrine, they ended up spending more time exposing themselves to heresy then growing a relationship with God. Living life from the overflow calls us to be in direct relation with God on a daily basis. When this does not happen and we let other things take precedence over our relationship with God, our spiritual climate falls off the charts. This then affects the way we interact with people because in a sense we do not have anything of value to offer them. We are in a bankrupt state where God’s resources have been cut off.
It must be true then, if something happens when you spend time with God, then something happens when you don’t. The amount of time you spend with God directly correlates with the effectiveness of your ministry. The more time you spend with God, the more God can use you. From the person next door who is hurting to the ministry you do through the week. Your connection with God will play a key part in everything you do or your disconnection with God will hinder everything you do.
I want to illustrate this for you by sharing a story about Jim, the investor. This guy knew how to make money. Whenever an opportunity came his way, he almost always had the money to invest. Since, he had the money to fund these opportunities, frequently; he made substantial amounts of money. His goal was to wait for the big one, the golden opportunity of a lifetime, the one that would set him up forever. At one particular moment, because of a series of risky real estate deals and the decline in the stock market, his funds were low. He was actually almost bankrupt and guess what? The opportunity of a lifetime finally presented itself and this man who at one time had 10 times the money he needed, could not fork up half the money for this investment. He was broke, bankrupt. He had nothing to give. His bank was empty. His resources were depleted. Like this man, the way we handle money is a lot like the way we handle our spirituality.
We all have a spiritual bank that builds equity when we connect with God and declines when we don’t. God gives us what we need so that we can meet the needs of others. But unlike the investor who had nothing to offer when the opportunity of a lifetime came his way. We need to be full of God’s love so that when the person who is hurting comes our way. We are not bankrupt, but have something to offer that could help them through a tough time, a bad day or whatever they are going through.
I want to ask you, what is the balance of your spiritual bank? Are you in the negative or are you in the positive? The formula for success with God is easy, connect with him or don’t. The ball is in your court and people’s lives are on the line.
Connecting with God through prayer is the place where our tank is filled, but like a car’s gasoline supply that needs to be refilled regularly. We need to do the same and let God fill and refill us again and again. Edward M. Bounds said, “Those who know God the best are the richest and most powerful in prayer.” Make room for prayer so that you can make room for love.
You can only give from what you received. Remember the story I started off with. The counselor was at his best when he made time for God. When he connected with God, he lived from the overflow, but when he lost touch with God. He was bankrupt. He could not help himself let alone another person.
In order to live from the overflow, we must first love one another, connect with God and lastly,
3) To reflect on the depths of God’s love: (v.9-10). 9 “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. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
Taking inventory on what God did for you is the motivation behind points one and two. If only there was a device that could be implanted into our minds that regularly showed clips from the movie “The Passion.” I think we would love people and connect with God more often and deeper, but since that has not come out yet. We have to use what we have at our disposal, our hearts.
I don’t know about you but the act of God sending His Son to the earth is the only reason I live the way I do today. Everything I do is filtered through that act. I serve people because of it. I am in college because of it. I love my wife because of it. The more evident we make the cross in our lives the more we will reflect on God’s love. This will give us the determination to live life from the overflow, not on empty.
The reason why John used this word picture of God, sending His son for us was because the teachings in his gospel on the death of Jesus were being distorted. Those who were spreading this heresy knew that if they can cut Jesus’ death out of the equation, people would not love one another and connect with God. The basis and foundation to love God and people is the imprint the cross left on history. When we allow the cross to leave an imprint on our hearts, we serve not because we want to, because we get to.
At the time when God sent His Son to the earth, humanity was probably at one of its lowest points. God loved the unlovable and we should do the same. Loving the unlovable is not an easy thing to do. The reason I know God operates like this is from my personal testimony. I was that unlovable person before I came to Christ. For three years of my life, I did a lot of things that I am not proud of and a lot of people including close family were hurt in the process. But even at my lowest points, when I was with no place to go and nobody to turn to. God did not reject me, but embraced me and that is why I am here today. Actually, the word unlovable does not even do justice in describing me before Christ, but just as God loved me where I was at. We should do the same for those in our family, who might not have it all together, for our friends who are struggling with their identity in this world, and for anybody who intersects with our lives deserves to be showed the same love God showed and continues to show you.
I have concluded from these verses that “Love is a sacrifice for someone else’s benefit.” To love like God is calling you to love must cost you something. It cost God, His one and only Son. What has it cost you lately? I am not talking about spending money, but sacrificing something to show somebody you love them. That is the least we should do in response to the love God showed us and keeps showing us.
In conclusion, loving others is not possible if you are not connected to God and connecting with God is motivated by the imprint He has left in your heart. You can only love somebody to the degree in which you have experienced God’s love. Jesus Himself understood this, in that He depended on His father to give Him what He needed to fulfill his calling on earth. If Jesus, the Son of God, understood that to be effective in life and live from the overflow depended on the amount of time He spent with His father, how much more important is it for us to spend time with God daily?
Action Points (Apply The Truths):
If you want to live life from the overflow, you must . . . .
1) Love One Another Habitually!
a. Practice the One Another’s: Encourage, forgive, Love, etc. See how many you can do for others in one day without being annoying!
b. The Five Love Languages: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Acts of Service, Physical Touch, and Receiving Gifts.
2) Connect With God Daily!
a. Devotional Life: If you ever want to increase your capacity to love, increase the time you spend with God.
b. Your Private ministry with God reflects in your public ministry for God, so make time.
c. Find a non-negotiable time to connect with God daily, so that you have the resources of heaven at your disposal.
3) Reflect on God’s Love Regularly!
a. Remember Love is a sacrifice for someone else’s benefit.
b. Be mindful that when you love it must cost you something, so that it has its full God-given effect on people.
I don’t know about you, but when the time comes and someone needs something from me, whether it is an encouraging word, or an act of service. I want my tank to be overflowing so that people are touched in such a way, it is clear God is living and working in my life. Today, I want to encourage you to live life from the overflow of your relationship with God. Because you are going to come in contact with a countless number of people who desperately need to be touched by God’s love. Thanks for listening and God Bless!
