Where’s the Love?

Where is life found in a politically divided, polarized world?

In a world of HATE, LOVE is the answer.

 

WHERE’S THE LOVE?

For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

Love is to be the DEFINING MARK of a follower of Jesus. (John 13:34-35)

 

The Antithesis of Love:

Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.

Cain: The Archetype of Hate (Genesis 4:1-11)

• Be aware of EMOTIONS that DESTROY.

Envy, Jealousy, Bitterness, Resentment, Selfishness, Contempt

Evil: in active opposition to the good; seeking to drag others down; pernicious, having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.

• Be aware of EXCUSES that DECEIVE.

Murder: to butcher, kill violently, occurs frequently in a sacrificial context, implying a religious butchering—a slaying wed to piety, murder laced with prayer.

Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.

• Their bad BEHAVIOR never justifies our bad BEHAVIOR. (Romans 12:9-21)

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

• We do not have LIFE if we are holding onto HATE. (Matthew 22:36-40)

Hate (present active tense): a state of being, holding onto, fostering, harboring; to allow hatred or ill will to settle into the heart.

 

The Definition of Love:

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

Jesus: The Archetype of Love (John 15:12-14)

Know (Ginosko): goes beyond knowing facts or information; knowledge by way
of experience; intimate understanding, personal.

And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

We are to love OTHERS the way JESUS loved us.

Lay Down: to take off, setting aside something; “divesting oneself of something that is precious and personally valuable.” (John 10:11; John 13:4)

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?

• Love costs TIME, MONEY, and ENERGY.

Material Possessions: the financial means by which one lives; resources needed to maintain life.

• Love requires SEEING other’s needs beyond SERVING myself.

See: to observe something with a sustained attention, to come to an understanding; perceive, notice.

• Love is when COMPASSION moves to ACTION.

No: to shut, to lock, to close one’s heart against something.

Pity: to have compassion, a deep feeling that produces action

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

Love is the GOSPEL.