The Love of God

A wonderful evening service tonight. Somewhat subdued but Spirit filled. Tonight we broke away from the "Fire and Brimstone" and looked into God's love for us. Our scripture reading was 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Most people have heard this portion of scripture sometime in their life. It is read at weddings, you hear it in songs, see it on greeting cards, and it hangs on walls in picture frames. The title of the message was "luv-u - Watered Down Love". I asked that we examine ourselves and see if we really love the way our Lord commands us.
God is Love, 1 John 4:8 reads: Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. I read 1 John 4:7-21 and we concluded from this portion of scripture that God is Love (vs. 8), God lives in us (vs. 13), we love because God loved us first (vs. 19), and we are commanded to love (vs. 21). We backed up two chapters to 1 John 2:15-17. This is a warning to us. Do not to love the world and what is in it, for it is not from God. We continued to Matthew 22:34-40 and learned that Jesus said that the greatest command was to Love the Lord with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind (vs. 37) and the second was to Love your neighbor as yourself (vs. 39).
We were on a roll now. God is love, He dwells within us so love is in us. But what kind of love is this love of God? Self Sacrificing Love. affection, goodwill, benevolence, brotherly love. I wanted everyone to know what self sacrificing love really was. We turned to Genesis 22:1-10. This is where God asks Abraham to sacrifice Issac, his only son. Abraham loved the Lord our God so much that he took Issac to the mountain to sacrifice him to God. Self Sacrificing Love. Next we looked at the book of Job. After everything Job went through, loosing all his live stock, servants, and family Job, in his love for God, would not curse God (1:22). He did not turn his back on God but prayed and continued to remain steadfast in his relationship with our Lord. Self Sacrificing Love. Finally, we turned to Acts 7:54-60. The story of the stoning of Stephan. True love for Jesus. Stephan was full of the Holy Spirit (vs.55) filled with God's love. Then Stephan fell to his knees and ask God to forgive those who were stoning him as he drew his last breath. Self Sacrificing Love.
Is Jesus in your heart? Do you love as Christ command's us to? Can you not love the thing's of this world? Are you ready to die for God? God loves us so much He sent His only Son to die for us. Love your God with all your heart, soul and mind. Self Sacrificing Love...............
This was a short sermon but powerful. I pray that we can love one another as God loves us. Be blessed this week and may God's peace and understanding be with all.