What does LOVE require of me? – Sermon (don’t announce title)
Today’s scripture is found in John 13:34-35 and it states, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (ESV)
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Before we begin this lesson, the Holy Spirit wants it to focus around four key ideals. So here they are:
- Jesus introduces a new commandment, shifting the focus from the Old Testament law to a love that mirrors his own.
- God has called us to a love that distinguishes you from everyone else working with and/or visiting the residents.
- This love mirrors his own self-sacrificial love. As we know, being a part of the Kairos is a big commitment and you are showing a self-sacrificial love.
- This love is also a core aspect of Christian discipleship as far as scripture is concerned and it is a part of the Kairos riverbank principles.
Love is RESPONIBILITY!
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• Today we are going to dive bit deeper into the meaning of how love requires responsibility.
Objective: We are going to move from the definition of love; which means action to the attitudes behind the work set before us.
• we realize with God, just doing the right thing is not enough for God’s Child. We are to do things with the proper attitude and motivation.
• As we look at what God is calling us to do, it becomes very evident of how important Romans 12:1-2 are for us.
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Without a renewed mind and without making our life a living and holy sacrifice unto God, we would not be able to do many of the things we are called to do in this section of scripture.
- • Our motivation for doing what we do is love. We are to be motivated by our love for God and that should motivate us to love others.
• Love requires responsibility. For instance, if I love my family, I have certain responsibilities that come along with that love. I must protect them, provide for them and be faithful to them. This is one of the ways our love is evident to them.
• In our passage today we will see that love requires responsibilities towards ourselves, towards other Christians, and towards those who are lost.
1 John 3:14
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We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.
• When asked what is the greatest commandment was, Jesus said, it was to love God and to love our neighbor as our self. (Matt:22-37-39)
Our title is: Love requires some responsibility
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And our first point is about those
I. RESPONSIBILITIES
For love to work, there are some things we need to do for ourselves. These things are things that might not show on the outside, but will work on us from the inside. Whatever is on the inside will eventually come out to be seen by all.
1. We have the responsibility to make sure we love without hypocrisy
• We have to make sure the love we have for other people is real.
• Love without hypocrisy would be a real genuine love, not a counterfeit one.
• We are to love people for no other reason than the fact that God created them, and he loves them; therefore, Christian, love others, because through Christ they are our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
• James 2 deals with situations in the church where people of wealth and position were given preferential treatment. When we love people, our motives must be pure. We have to constantly guard against loving people for the wrong reasons. When we love people for the wrong reason, we really do not love them.
• Our real interest in people will show through our actions.
• as a child of God and as a Kairos minister we commit to loving people without hypocrisy. We must love people for who they are in Christ or who they can be in Christ, not what they have or what they can do for us.
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2. Our title is:What does Love require of me?
And our 2nd point is to Hate what is evil:
• The proper Christian response to evil is to have a strong feeling of horror about it, we are to run from it and stay as far away from it as possible. Our abhorring evil should be a constant habitual action as the rest of the commands in this section are to be.
• Today, society walks too close to the line of what is good and what is evil. We have to stay as far from evil as possible, we need to see for what it is and what it does to people.
• Really, this is part of having a pure heart. One of the things missing in our society is an abhorrence of evil. Celebrities do things for shock value and we give them publicity for what they do and we applauded their creativity.
- As a minister in Karios we are entering an institution where evil may be housed. We are called to regenerate the Holy Spirit in the hearts of some residents, but we are called to help cover the compound with the truth of the gospel.
3. Let me remind you once again of the focus of this message: the title is: Love requires some responsibility: And here is point number 4: love clings to what is good and to what is holy.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 we are reminded,
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“But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good and abstain from every form of evil.”
• so, If you are going to stay away from evil in your life, you need to fill it with something good.
• To cling to means to hold on tight, to hold close to. Of course,
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Philippians 4:8 tells us what we are to cling to as children of God “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
- As we are called to penetrate the walls of Lakin prison, keep in back of your mind, that this is God‘s work of love for us and if He is for us, nothing and no one against us. As we continue together, let’s be united, and let’s make a contract between each other to listen. Listen and love, love.; which is the Kairos motto.
For one last time, let me remind you of our title, hang with me just for one more key point.
Our title is: What does Love require of me?
And point number 4
is to consider OUR RESPONSIBILITIES
TOWARDS OTHER CHRISTIANS.
1. Be devoted to one another in sisterly love.
• The word devoted word witch signifies the love as a parent has for their children. It is the tenderest kind of love; it is the kind of love that helps even though something bad is done.
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JOHN 13:35
“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
• Brotherly love is a family type love. Our family can do a lot to us and we will still love them. We are to be fiercely devoted to one another in the church
2. Give preference to others (10).
• GIVE PREFERENCE TO ONE ANOTHER INHONOR- We are to give preference to others without waiting for them to show it to us. PREFERENCE- to go before and show the way, to lead, to set an example. The command for the Christians in not for us to look for the most honor, but instead to give the most honor to others.
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Philippians 2:3
• PHI 2:3-4 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
3. Be DEVOTED TO PRAYER- Devoted- “persist in” to “adhere to”, “to busy oneself with” The Christian is to do all these things in reference to prayer. If we are going to carry out the work of the Lord with the spirit He wants us to carry it out, this will require a lot of prayer on our part. This will keep us close to God!
4. CONTRIBUTE TO THE NEEDS OF THE SAINTS- Contributing- comes from the same word as “fellowship”. Joint participation in something. This covers things such as giving money and doing whatever is needed to help other Christians
5. PRACTICING HOSPITALITY- Aggressively seeking to be hospitable is the idea behind this statement. The word “hospitality” comes from a word that means “a love for strangers”. The Christian is not to just wait for people to come to the door, but they are to go out and actively seek those who need.
6. BE OF THE SAME MIND TOWARD ONE ANOTHER- Check your attitude in at the door.
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James 3:14-16 (NIV)
4 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
We are to have the same attitude towards our fellow Christians as we have about ourselves.
• DO NOT BE HAUGHTY IN MIND- We are not to push ourselves to higher positions out of conceit or for the prestige it affords us. This can disrupt the harmony of the church.
• BUT ASSOCIATE WITH THE LOWLY-God’s way is called inclusion. Do not exclude based on anything! Being a lone Ranger is not godly. We are made for community and we are made to help one another.
- Do not pay back evil for evil.
• When evil is perpetrated against us, we are not to respond in the same manner. We are called to a higher level of action.
- Always consider how your action will look to others (17).
• RESPECT WHAT IS RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF ALL MEN- We are not only to worry about what is right in the sight of God, but also we must consider how it will look in the eyes of our fellow man.
• We are to give careful thought to what we do and how it will look.
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(1 Peter 2:12) We must consider how our behavior will affect others before we act.
- Try to keep the peace with all.
- Let God settle any scores
- Do not be overcome by evil
CONCLUSION:
We are called to love. We are called to act in a way that brings glory to God, not react in anger.
Love requires responsibility. It is our responsibility to make sure our motives and actions are pure. We need to be aware that we are to show love to those both inside and outside the church/prison. We SHOW love by for people and by what we do and say to them.
