The Lift of Love
February 14, 2020“By this all men will know that you are My [Jesus’] disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35
1. LOVE ENRICHES LIFE. The greatest thing we can do in our life expression is to walk in love. A man in the Bible asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was and He replied, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Mark 12:30-31a). When life is dominated by love inspired by Jesus, it will grow and develop and make all of life’s relations sweeter.
2. LOVE ENABLES LIFE. The love of God enables us to grow in spirit, soul, and body and have an indelible impact on the world around us. Love will bear burdens and break oppression. We can love people without condoning everything they do. Love enables parents to create a happy household and a loving home. Love can change entire nations. As people start to realize the empty cavern in their hearts, we need to be ready with love to intercept a broken culture.
[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:7-8
3. LOVE ENDURES. None of us is exempt from this life of love. Not only does the love of God lift us, but God wants us to go out with joy and peace and lift others. This is a deep, deep requirement. Other things will fail. Car collections will rust. Buildings will topple. Kings and kingdoms will all pass away – but love never fails.
Press on in love!
Pastor Jeff Perry
Daily Scripture Confession (Based on 1 John 4:7-21):
I love because God first loved me. Love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that I might live through Him. If God so loved me, then I will love others. If I love others, God abides in me, and His love is perfected in me.
love, noun
A strong feeling of affection and concern toward another person, as that arising from kinship or close friendship. A feeling of devotion or adoration toward God. A feeling of kindness or concern by God toward humans.
Copyright © 2020 St. Louis Family Church. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. “love” The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Web. 17 July 2018.