And The Greatest Of These Is Love

2015-03-01
Pastor Jonathan Falwell

Memory Verse: John 13:35 (NKJV)

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

1 Corinthians 13:11 (NLT)

“When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a 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.”

And The Greatest of These Is Love

1 John 4:7 (NLT)

“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 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. 13 And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. 18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 19 We love each other because he loved us first. 20 If someone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.”

1. Love is a sign – of God’s love within us.

vs. 7 “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

2. Love is a gift – that we have been given by Him.

vs. 9 “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

3. Love is a promise – that cannot be broken now or forever

vs. 15 “All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.”

4. Love is our hope – that everything will be okay regardless of our current situation.

vs. 17 “And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. 18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”

Practical Ways To Live Out God’s Love

1. Always look for the best in others and in all situations.
2. Make forgiveness a habit.
3. Forgive even when they’re not asking.
4. When conflict arises, don’t let it settle in.
5. Look for ways to bless someone else for no reason.
6. When you see a need, meet the need without being asked.
7. Deliberately and diligently pray for others.
8. Read the Bible daily.
9. Find ways to show Christ’s love to those who don’t know Him.
10. Be known as a person of peace.

1 John 4:4

“But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”