What God’s Love Do In Our Lives

A friend asked him why he went so far when there were plenty of other churches near his home.

He said, “I attend my church because they love a fellow over there.”

If only we could convince the world that we loved them there would be fewer empty pews in our churches.

A TRUE DEFINITION OF LOVE. Too many people believe and sometimes teach that love is a feeling or emotion. Yes, feelings and emotions are involved in love but the greatest part of love is action oriented.

Love is a verb (what you do) more than a noun (a feeling).

Many marriages, even among Christians, are failing because they value feelings over actions.

A counselor said, I have counseled many couples who say that they don’t feel the love that they once did for their mate. They fell “out of love” but there is really no falling out of or falling into love.

We can fall out of bed or fall in the bathtub but typically we grow to love someone over time. This love for another grows from what we see them do for us and for others.

Now, imagine if Christ, just before the cross, went to the garden and thought; I hate this feeling, I don’t feel like doing this, therefore I will base my decision upon what I feel. If that had happened, we’d all be hopelessly doomed to hell.

The good news, of course, is that Jesus resisted and fought back His feelings and even though He prayed three times to have the cup removed, He was more interested in doing the will of the Father than what He felt like doing…thankfully.

Jesus displayed His love by willingly going to the cross and dying for sinners and those of us who were still His enemies and desperately wicked (Rom 5:8, 10).

Love is not dependent upon feelings and emotions because feelings are one of the shallowest and most unreliable of all human emotions. Instead, we must emphasize that love is a choice more than a feeling because feelings are subjective while love is objectively displayed in actions.

The bottom line is that love is what a person chooses to do, not what a person chooses to feel. God so loved the world because He felt like it? Yes, He does love us but that love required action and that included the supreme sacrifice of His only Son’s life. That was the ultimate love in action.

Now this same love we are to love as He loved.

In this sermon I want to preach from I John 4 about this love God wants the church to have.

First, let’s look at…

I. THE CHARGE OF LOVE

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God.

When it comes to love we all know…

(1)Some people who are difficult to love.

That is, it is easier to love a SKUNK than to love some people.

Life is full of people who rub us the wrong way. Whether it's within our family, workplace, church, or community they make it hard to love them.

I gurantee you each of us know someone(s) like that…don’t you!

Some people make it very difficult to love them.

Also…

(2)Sometime love is misunderstood.

That is, some in raising their children out of love their children think they are mean and cruel.

Illus: Have you ever heard a parent say to their child…

• “You’re my child and you will....whether you want to or not.”

• “You are going to school like it or not!”

• “You will clean your plate or else you’ll go to bed hungry?”

Parents out of love do what is best for their children but children mis-understand this love.

Illus. Here are some examples of seeing love through the eyes of a child:

• Little girl named Darla prayed, Dear God, Did you really mean ‘do unto others as they do unto you,’ because if you did, then I’m going to fix my brother Tommy.

• Little boy named Andy prayed, Dear God, I bet it is very hard for you to love everybody in the world. There are only four people in our family and half the time I can not stand all four of them.

Now some people are not hard to love. Makes me think of the woman that wrote a love letter to her ex-husband named Jimmy.

She wrote…

Illus: “Dearest Jimmy,

No words could ever express the great 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