SESSION 5: “What’s Love Got To Do With
It”
2 Peter 1:7 NKJV
to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness
love.
2 Peter 1:7 NLT
and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly
affection with love for everyone.
As we move out
from the spirit through the soul to the body, we reach the last two pearls on
this ’necklace of Christian virtue’, as some have called it. These two deal with our body.
As we said last
week, self-control is instant obedience to the initial prompting some of the
Holy Spirit. How do we bring our bodies
under subjection? Is it by sheer
striving or personal willpower? Or is
there a different motivation that comes into play?
God has always
given us commandments. From the initial
prohibition in the Garden to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, to the formalization of the character of God through the Law of Moses, to
the commands of Jesus in the Gospels and the instructions of Paul and others in
the Epistles, God has given us rules to live by. Yet, all of these rules have
been broken and all of us have broken them!
Only Jesus has managed to keep them.
What motivated
Jesus? Love. Love for the Father and love for the
world.
John 15:12-13 NLT "This is my
commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no
greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Ephesians 5:2 NLT
Live a life filled with love, following the example of
Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma
to God.
Revelation 1:5b NLT
All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his
blood for us.
In our text
Peter exhorts us to love in the same way.
Brotherly
kindness or affection is the Greek word “phileo love”, the love of a brother or
friend.
Love for
everyone is “agape love”, perfect love or God’s love.
Jesus said that
all the law was summed up in loving God and loving others.
Mark 12:28-34 NLT One of the teachers of
religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that
Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the
most important?” Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this:
‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. And you must
love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and
all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” The teacher of
religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying
that there is only one God and no other. And I know it is important to love him
with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my
neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt
offerings and sacrifices required in the law.” Realizing how much the man
understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And
after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Peter understood
how important love was to Jesus.
John 21:15-17 NLT After breakfast Jesus asked
Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these? ” “Yes, Lord,”
Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.
Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,”
Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said. A
third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt
that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know
everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.”
If you love Me,
take care of my sheep: my brethren, my family, my people, my neighbors, my
enemies! He doesn't even ask Peter if he
liked sheep! Or if he wanted to feed
sheep! It was his job, not as a
preacher, but as a follower of Jesus!
Why? Because people far away from God can only see
our outside, our bodies. We know that
Christianity is an inside job, but folks can only see our outside! It has been said that "people will never
care how much we know until they know how much we care!”
John 13:34-35 NLT "So now I am giving
you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should
love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are
my disciples.”
1 John 4:12 NLT
No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his
love is brought to full expression in us.
We are Jesus
with skin on!
What does this
look like in real life?
Luke 6:27-36 NLT "But to you who are
willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on
one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your
shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you,
don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
“If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even
sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good
to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend
money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners
will lend to other sinners for a full return. “Love your enemies! Do good to
them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven
will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High,
for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be
compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate."
Luke 10:25-37 NLT One day an expert in
religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher,
what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What does the law of
Moses say? How do you read it?” The man answered, “‘You must love the LORD your
God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’
And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you
will live!” The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who
is my neighbor?” Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from
Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of
his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. “By chance a
priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other
side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked
at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. “Then a despised
Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him.
Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and
bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn,
where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver
coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this,
I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ “Now which of these three would you say
was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The man
replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do
the same.”
Romans 13:8-10 NLT Owe nothing to
anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your
neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments
say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal.
You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this
one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to
others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.
Galatians 5:13-15 NLT For you have been called to
live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy
your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For
the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as
yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out!
Beware of destroying one another.
James 2:8-9 NLT
Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found
in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you favor some
people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the
law.
James 2:15-16 NLT Suppose you see a brother
or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good
day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing.
What good does that do?
1 Peter 4:8-9 NLT
Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each
other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with
those who need a meal or a place to stay.
1 John 3:16-18 NLT We know what real love is
because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives
for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees
a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in
that person? Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let
us show the truth by our actions.
The greatest
outline on practical love is 1 Corinthians 13.
1 If
I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others,
I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of
prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all
knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love
others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even
sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I
would have gained nothing.
4 Love
is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does
not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being
wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth
wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and
endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy
and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless.
But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and
even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when full
understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When
I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up,
I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror,
but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is
partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God
now knows me completely.
13 Three
things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is
love.
Matthew 25:31-46 NLT "But when the Son of
Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his
glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will
separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will
place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his
right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared
for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was
thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into
your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for
me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
“Then these righteous ones will reply,
‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you
something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give
you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the
truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,
you were doing it to me!’
“Then the King will turn to those on the
left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared
for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was
thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t
invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was
sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we
ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and
not help you?’ “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to
help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
“And they will go away into eternal
punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
Action points…
1.
Look
around
2.
Find
a need and fill it
3.
See
what God is doing
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