WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE SWEET LOVE
Hosea 14:4
"I will heal their waywardness and
love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from
them.
The world we
live in today is full of division, hatred, violence, and misconceptions
There is one
thing that can cure all of this: it is LOVE.
God has
given us His greatest commands
Matthew
22:36-40
"Teacher,
which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
37 Jesus
replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is
the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your
neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law
and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
If I can be
obedient to these two commands all the rest will fall in place in my life.
My objective
each day should be to Love God and to love you.
According to
1 John 4:16-17
God is love.
Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
Since we
have the essence of God and His greatest commands, we ought to spend more time discovering
His Love
The Bible presents
us with four to five types of Love
1. Storge love
is used to describe familial love. This word describes the type of deep and
caring bond that develops naturally between parents and children, husbands and
wives, siblings, as well as other people who you may consider to be family.
This type of love can withstand many trials, is protective, and loyal.
While the word storge itself
is not found in Scripture, its contrary form is: the word astorgous is used in
the Greek translation of Scripture to mean “without natural affection,” as we
can see in the King James Version (Romans 1:31 KJV). Paul warns that during the end-times, people
will become so selfish that they will live without any sense of natural
affection for their own family (2 Timothy 3:3 KJV).
Storge love is
depicted in the Bible by
the concern shown by Jairus for his sick daughter (Luke 8:40-56) and by the grieving shown by Martha and Mary for their
brother Lazarus (John 11:1-44
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2. Eros love refers to romantic or sexual love, and is the root
of the English word erotic. Eros or sexual love
in and of itself is not impure, but is a gift from God to married couples so
that they may express their love with one another and continue the human race.
While the word eros doesn’t
appear in Scripture, the Song of Solomon was written to commend the virtues of
passionate (or eros)
love shared between a husband and wife.
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3. The word phileo is
expressly used in the Bible and refers to the warmth and affinity shared by
close friends, almost as if those friends were actual siblings.
Phileo love is seen in Scripture in the passage about the raising of
Lazarus. There, we’re told that Jesus wept at the sight of His
friend Mary and others weeping over the death of Lazarus (John 11:33-35). At the site of Jesus
crying, one witness in the passage pointed out the depth of Jesus’s love for
Lazarus by using a derivative of the word phileo to exclaim, “See how He loved him!” (John 11:36). CROSSWALK.COM
4. Agape (New Testament) is God’s love for mankind: to love. Love, affectionate regard, goodwill,
benevolence.
With reference to God's love, it is God's willful
direction toward man. It involves God doing what He knows is best for man and
not necessarily what man desires. For example, John 3:16 states, "For God
so loved the world, that he gave."
What did He give? Not what man wanted, but what God knew man needed, i.e., His
Son to bring forgiveness to man.
(from The Complete Word Study Dictionary:
In the Old Testament the word for God’s love, is ahab, to have affection
Deuteronomy 7:13
13 He will love you and bless you and increase your
numbers.
Storge, Phileo, and Eros are man-directed.
Agape is the
true essence of God. We will focus on
Agape, God’s love for mankind.
What does
agape love look like? How do we put it into practice in our daily lives?
1. The first thing is to be mindful of God’s
greatest commands.
2. Love is directional God directs His love to you. We are
commanded to direct our love to each other.
3. Love is intentional It Is God’s complete intent for us to
experience His Love
Ephesians 1:4-6
In love, he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus
Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace
God did not choose the whole world.
Rev. 20:12 focuses on a book
for the saved and books for the unsaved.
4. Love is sacrificial God sent His Son to die for our
sins John 3:16
5. Agape Love has Divine Characteristics
Love is the foundation of His grace and mercy
6. Love is purposeful
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.
7. Love is generational from parents to children to grandchildren ……
Psalms 102:18
Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:
8. Love has evidence
John 14:15
"If you love me, you will
obey what I command.
9. Love is encouraging Gives us hope in the mist of trials and
tribulations
2 Thessalonians 2:16
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by
his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
10. God’s love is free A gift from the Lord before
the foundation of the earth
11. Love is reciprocal : God loves us, we are commanded to love
others
The objective is not to get human reciprocation from the ones we love
12. Love is effectual God
rewards those who love Him
Hebrews 11:6
for he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
13. Love is essential Without God’s Love there is no heaven
14.Love bring joy
John 15:11-12
I have told you this so that my
joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
15.Love brings peace
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I
give you. I do not give to you as the world gives
16. Love is never ending.
Malachi 3:6
For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not
consumed.
17. Love is non circumstantial
Luke 6:27
But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which
hate you.
18. There is no fear in love
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But
perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one
who fears is not made perfect in love.
19. Love is generous
1 Timothy 6:18-19
Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and
willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a
firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that
is truly life.
20. Love promotes compassion
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles,
1 Corinthians 13 sums up what love is
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is
not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with
the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres. 8 Love never fails.
IN GOD’S LOVE WE ARE VICTORIOUS
1 John 5:4-5
This is the victory that has
overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only
he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
God love is uncomprehensive. God
sees us in ways that we can’t see ourselves
We see God incompletely
Questions to consider
Is there power is God’s Love?
How does God’s Love control your actions?
How can I disagree with another person and still love them?
How do you love someone who hates you?
Rev. M. Mitchell
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