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Jenn's Animals Northeast Mississippi |
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Ladies
Class
Jennifer
Austin Showing
Love to one another 1 John 4: 7-12 Beloved,
let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born
of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is
love. In this the love of God was
made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we
might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he
loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God
so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we
love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
We were created out of God’s love, God sent Christ here out of love,
and Christ suffered and died on the cross out of Love for us and the Father.
Love is very important to God. Love
is the basis for the first two commandments:
Mat 2:36-40
"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he
said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind. This
is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your
neighbor as yourself. On these two
commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets
We are commanded to love. This is not a choice we have, we have to do it.
Repeatedly we are told to love. So, what is ment by Love? What type of Love are
we to have for one another? We are to show compassion, be kind, helping one
another, respecting others, to give our lives for others. Christ was our example
of Love. While he was here on earth, he shared food, cared and healed those who
needed healing, dried the tears of family when lazerus was raised, comforted
those who needed comforting with God’s word, sacrificing his life so that
others would have life. He still continues to do this today through the word. We
read some of the things he said and did. We can learn from his example.
Loving is easy right? Well, it depends on who you are talking about.
Let’s look back at his word and see who Christ was talking about when he told
us to Love. 1)
We
know we are to love God. He is to be number one in our lives. As a Christian we
are to devote our lives to doing his will. Why? Because we love him. He is easy
to love because he has been so good to us, our lives, our families, our material
blessings, but most of all he gave us Christ so that we could be cleansed and
reunited with him someday. 2)
We are to Love our fellow Christians.
Eph
4:15-16 Rather, speaking the truth
in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it
is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it
builds itself up in love.
We
are to work together in the church so that is builds itself in love. Together.
Not with bickering, gossiping, snickering, looking down at each other.
1Pe 1:22
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere
brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
A
sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart? Are we
loving our fellow Christians earnestly? Are we showing them the same love Christ
would have shown? We are to be one body, we cannot be one body if we have
conflicts and strife among us. 3)
We are also told to Love our Family.
Not only our Spiritual family but our physical family.
Tit 2:3
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or
slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young
women to love their husbands and children,
We are to love our husbands and our children. I find it easier to be nice
to others outside of the home than I do inside the home sometimes. As a mother I
have the daily job of caring and disciplining the children. Sometimes the
discipline seems to outweigh the caring. Or so it seems. Have you ever noticed
we are nicer to strangers than we are to our own families? We tend to hold
grudges longer with those close to us. Maybe it is because we are closer to our
family and get hurt easier by them, than we do strangers. They mean more to us
yet they get treated harsher and more critical. We expect them to be better than
we would others. The Lord says we are to love them. Treat them with kindness;
show them daily that they are special to us. Don’t take them for granted.
Don’t let a day go by without telling them we love them and how much they mean
to us. We won’t be here forever, lets leave them with good thoughts of us.
After all they are the ones who bring us so much joy in our lives. Treat them
that way. 4)
Fourthly,
we are to love our Neighbors.
Mat
Who are our neighbors? All those we come in contact with. Whether it be
on the phone, at the store, on the road, at work, etc. We are to show kindness
to all of those around us. The world should see that we are different from them.
If they are hungry, sick, needing comfort, we are to help them. Jesus helped
those who did not know him. So should we. We are not only to show love to those
who are members or are in our household. We are to show love to all those we
come in contact with. That they might see Christ in us.
5) Lastly there is one more group of people we are told to Love. They are
our
enemies.
Luk 6:27 -35 "But I say to
you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to
those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To
one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who
takes
way your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who
begs
from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.
And as you
wish that others would do to you, do so to them. "If you love those
who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those
who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to
you? For even sinners do the same. And
if you lend to those from whom you
expect to receive,
what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to
get back the same amount. But
love your enemies, and do good, and lend,
expecting nothing in
return, and your reward will be great, and you will be
sons of the Most High, for
he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Christ
gave us his way to deal with our enemies. He knew that harsh feelings would only
bring about more harsh feelings. Showing love will produce love, evil produces
evil. When we return evil for evil we are allowing it into our hearts and we are
no longer pure. When we return evil deeds with love, humility, kindness we
continue to stay pure and we show the world that there is another way through
Christ. We show Godly love through us. 1Co
God
could have come to us with a whip and demanded that we follow him. We would do
it out of obedience but not love. God wanted love and deserves love after all
that he has done for us. Rom
5:8 but God shows his love for us
in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We
were still sinners when God loved us. He loves all men not just the ones who
love us. Rom
If
love does no wrong to a neighbor, why do we do everything except love. Love is
the fulfilling of the Law. God
is Love, Let’s be a part of God and Love. |