What's the big deal about love? I. What is the big deal about love? Why did the Lord make love a priority over all other Christian virtue's? A. When we say to each other "I love you" what does it mean? B. love is the 1st and greatest . II. John said that "This is the message we heard from the beginning: we should love one another". 1 Jn 3:11 A. We can spend all kinds of time on other things. Time with family and friends, work, prayer, ministry, evangelism, serving the poor, fighting for rights, protesting wrongs. But scripture reminds us in corth "no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I am bankrupt without love". B. Even though we have the freedom to set our own priorities, Jesus made a point of defining certain priorities for us. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it,"Love your neighbor as yourself." C. Then this is not a gray area, the Lord told us to do it. III. Love is the Peg A. When Jesus spoke to His disciples about this he explained to them that "these two commands are the pegs for a Christian life; Everything in God's law and prophets hangs fro them. They are foundational to living the Christian life as the Lord ask us to live it. B. It is the basis of obedience, because we love the Lord. "If you love me you will obey what I command." Paul says that Love fulfills the law. C. This may sound insignificant to a rambo, Marlboro world, but it takes more strength to live out this simple command than any of us naturally possess - more power than any man made weapon. D. The logic of Paul is also very simple.. If you love God and your neighbor you will not commit adultery or lie to them, or resent them. or any of the 1000's of things that violate the Royal law of love. E. The practice of loving God and our neighbor presents a lifetime of challenge. F. The more we know and love the Lord the more we begin to understand what Jesus is like. IV. One area I learned that Jesus is not like me is that He is not results oriented A. When I love someone that is not very lovable I expect them to respond, or change. I want my loving spirit to pierce right through them. and when it doesn't I say well it not working because I expect results. But Jesus' love is unconditional He doesn't expect anything in return. He kept loving on earth until it killed Him. and He love today because He loves not because He wants us to respond. B. God wants us to love so we can know Him better. 1 Jn 4:7 tells us that everyone that loves has been born of God and knows God." C. If we desire to be a doctor, then I must understand who a doctor is and what they do. If I want to love Jesus I must understand who He is and What He does before I can really love Him. The bible says that God is Love. If I learn to love I will understand who God is and how He operates and learn to love Him for who He is. V. Love is the heart of the body. A. Forgiveness is based in love. Service is based in love. Ministry of any kind if it is of God is based in love. Evangelism is based on love for another. B. All we do as Christians if it is of God is based on and in love. and it is in the body of a covenant community that we have opportunity to practice our ability to love others as we love ourselves. C. If we cannot learn it with Brothers and sisters that we live our lives out among, how will we be able to love strangers. VI. Love is the outward sign of our inner faith in Jesus Christ. It is love that awaken the unbeliever to see God. It is the drawing power of the Lord. It is His answer to all things, It is the foundation of creation, it is the one thing that we are told "Never Fails. VII. Well then how do we practice????? VIII. Try this exercise... A. Take one day a week and make a promise to love everyone you encounter. B. Your day might go something like this: C. The alarm goes off and the first thing you hear on the radio is some jerk making fun of Christians.. What do they know about the bible. They only quote the verses that are convenient and the heck with all the rest. I like to tell them what I ......Oh no Lord not her , I haven't even washed my face yet, could I just skip her? But I don't even know her.. D. The truth is she wasn't faceless over the radio.. She had a face and the Lord loves her as much as He loves me. She had probably rolled out of bed at 4:00 am fought traffic to work, maybe her life wasn't going well or maybe no one had really ever loved her. OK Lord I will love her and pray for her. Help her today Father. Show her the futility of playing politics and chasing causes. Some way and somehow today Lord.. direct her thoughts to you. E. OK lord that over now to the bathroom... What happened in here? What a mess look mud all over the place and is that His new shoe? I can't believe how many time I told him to stay out of the mud... Wait till I get Him out of bed I'll.... F. What Lord I not making it very well this morning with my promise... My son, remember how much I wanted a son, how you gave me my heart desire, how I sat an watched him build a castle out of the mud singing to himself all the while... Yes Lord your right..That boy is worth much more than that pair of new shoes. I never have an eight year old boy again, and this summer, I can always get another pair of shoes.. Lord I love that boy and I pray for him right now that He will know and serve you in his lifetime and lord help me to practice that Cor 13 scripture with him.. Please Lord. G. Well Lord I made it out of the house and boy it great to be on my way... What that crazy kid during behind me.. I'm already going over the speed limit and he's right on my tail.. I 'm up to 65 now in this 55 zone and he's still tailgating me... oh,oh here he comes and in a no passing zone.. that kid hasn't got a brain in his head.. he trying to kill us all.. he just probably listening to that rock music and driving that porsche. Man rich to soon and no respect for anyone. I'd like to give him a piece of my mind, I'd .... H. did you say something Lord? Ok Lord.. use this young man's impatience, use his too early affluence. Use his hard driving, hard playing.. Reveal yourself to him and let him fill the emptiness in his life with your spirit. Through someone today lord touch him, soften his heart, please Lord for his sake. I. Oh no I just remembered I got to talk with to mister "Take all day to say hello. He is so slow in coming to a point it drives me crazy.. and I got to call him to work out these situations. I think I would rather eat worms, he drives me nuts with his him- hawing.. Lord why don't you change that miserable.. WHAT LORD? Not him.. Can't I just get grace on this one? I can't you mean I need to love old slow poke.. Yes Lord you did love me when I didn't know you and you should have really not liked me, but you cared enough to stick it out until forever... Thanks lord I will try to love old Bob today.. J. Lord I have a feeling this is going to end up being a rather exciting day. Boy am I glad I have your help... IX. The Lord said this is my command that you love one another as I have loved you. Love you enemies and do good to them.. Do the things you see me doing... If you will you will see that Love never fails. 3