Title: Love like this (John 13:34)
Contents
CBS Busan Broadcasting [102.9Mhz, 1404kHz], [2004, 3. 14 (Sun), 8:50-9 am, Fountain of the Word], Evangelist Hakkyun Im [Busan Central Church of Christ]
love like this
Holy Sunday morning dawned. May God's grace and peace be filled with you today. Today, we will share grace with the title of “Love like this”, focusing on John 13:34.
Everyone knows that love is good. When we say we love each other, no one opposes it. However, it is only a matter of the methodology of how to actually love and the will to love.
The first way to love is to "love God first."
In Matthew 6:24 it is written, "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other, for you cannot serve both God and riches." However, this verse emphasizes the need to set the priorities of love accurately. In general, people in the world tend to love the outstanding first, but the Bible stresses that we must love God first. That's why Matthew 6:33 also emphasizes, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you also." The problem is that those who know how to love God first will learn to love people with devotion. Pestalozzi, Livingstone, Schweitzer, Teresa, Lincoln, etc. Such examples have been proven in history.
The second way to love is to "love with all your might".
Matthew 22:37 teaches, “Jesus said, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’. To love God with all your heart, with all your life, and with all your mind is not to love roughly, but to “love with all your might” by mobilizing all of your abilities. If a parent sees a young child in danger and tries to rescue the child from that danger, there can be no parent with a strong attitude. It is not difficult to imagine that you will do your best even if you change your life. You must love at least seventy seven times.
The third way to love is to "love unconditionally."
Luke 6:35 says, "But love your enemies, and do good, and borrow, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will become sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked." and is recorded.
If we have a condition to love when we love someone, that love will also disappear when the condition is destroyed. Therefore, such a thing cannot be true love. If you say you love with conditions, that's not love, it's bargaining. The Bible teaches us to do good even to our enemies and pray for them. These teachings will require a really difficult decision, but it is the path to love and must be put into practice.
The last and fourth method of love is to "love practically".
1 John 3:18 teaches, “Children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and truth.” In short, this is "to love practically." Love does not end in theory, but in practice. So, 1 Thessalonians 1:3 praised the “labor of love” of the church members in 1 Thessalonians, and James 2:17 emphasized that “faith without works is dead in itself,” emphasizing practical love as true faith.
I'll sort it out.
Jesus Christ gave His life on the cross to save the truly sinful people. He did not cry out for love only with words. You didn't make a fuss by looking at people's eyes. He knew the best of God's mission to die on the cross for us, and loved us to the point of giving his life for us. You died because you did. I pray in the name of the Lord that we too will be filled with praise for being like God and Jesus-like people by imitating Jesus, “love God first, love God with all your might, love unconditionally, and love practically.”