Ep 40 – Seven Primary Qualities of Love

So here we are for the last program on our series on Love. You know, the four different words to ye eros philia agape and then all of the scripture that goes along with that in these eight programs that Vicki and I have been able and privileged to share with you. Uh today, I want to really highlight these seven principles that are going to just, I hope Rivet your attention on the incredible love, God’s love, Divine love that he has for us. So tune in and join us tom and Vicky as we bring you this last session on uh it’s all greek to me on the word, a copy. Well, it’s been great talking about Love, A Happy love. Now we know their story, there’s philia, there’s a rose, there’s a copy. But here uh we’re dealing with a lot of emotion, a lot of feelings, a lot of uh commitments and choices and Vicky the last time around we talked about the fruit, not the fruits but the fruit of the spirit and it really flows out of love. Love is the lead uh quality love and joy and peace and so forth. So, you wanted to say something before we move on into the next portion of what we want to do is look at a variety of verses. There are many verses in the new testament about loving one Another. Now there are even more versus about one another’s But there are about 20 that deal with loving one another. I want us to look at that. But before we do, let’s talk about this emotion and this feeling that you wanted to share. Well, I was thinking about how God has given us these emotions. Um and they are listed in the fruit of the spirit. Then there’s the antithesis of it, you know, Instead of the works of the flesh, the works of the flesh. We have hatred, We don’t have joy, we have uh depression even we have anger, we have all these other emotions. And it’s very important that jesus himself is shown as weeping, crying out uh showing deep emotion at the death of his friend in all of his life. He he at the end of his life when he’s talking on earth and he’s talking to Peter, he says, Peter, do you copy me? Do you love me? And Peter says Lord. You know I’m phileo I’m your friend. You know, I mean how would that be if you’re talking to your husband, say do you love me? And he said, yeah, you know I’m your friend. So how about this? So this this statement here, you know, emotions are strong feelings are commended in the scripture as they are the product of the Holy Spirit. All those emotions that we just read healthy emotion is essential to successful relationships with the Lord and with the people he places in our lives. People want us to care about them. They want us to be emotional in a healthy way. However emotion can become destructive when we are prisoners of our emotions. And we let our emotions control our thoughts instead of our thoughts. The truth of God’s word, controlling our emotions. That happens when someone becomes bitter. You know, someone gets hurt or you or I could happen to anyone, but they get hurt and then and then they go inward in that emotion actually becomes a poison bitterness and it just, it pollutes everything and them and and other people. That’s true. So we don’t want to become prisoners of our emotions. God made our minds in such a way. Every time you have a thought, if you have love joy and peace, guess what goes into those thoughts? A wonderful chemical that God coast your thoughts with your from your mind and you feel happy inside. So it’s so important that we control our emotions through the spirit of God and the word of God, he gives us guidance and he will help us. Well, let’s look at these, loving one another’s in the scripture. It’s a new commandment. Now, by the way, that word new means, It is new in a totally different way than it ever was in the old testament. And that is important for us to remember that when he says, this is a new commandment. Kano’s commandment I give to you that you love one another because this was in the old testament. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. But this what jesus is saying is this is a totally new inequality native way and that I’m giving it to you now and a new commandment I give to you that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. Kano’s properly new inequality native innovation, fresh in the development of opportunity because not found exactly like this before, exactly what I just said. You pick it up from there, John 1335 by this all men will know that you are my disciples, Matisse, if you have love for one another. So this is a mark of a true witness of Jesus, a true witness of Jesus Christ, the disciple of Jesus, Fantastic and then jesus commanded for all believers. He said this is my commandment and ali that you love one another just as I have come. I loved you see also john 15 17 same thing and dolly, a feminine noun derived from and in which intense advice to reach all the way to the consummation. And uh so that is his commandment. Uh And then also I’ll pick up this one romans 12 10. Be devoted to one another. I love this one. Look what it says, be devoted means Fila store was the only place found there is to be uh tied together in similar uh desires story is that family love and this is talking about the family of God, love in a brotherly love philadelphia which is different now, which is lover of brothers, lover of of family. Love is the first one, philosopher was a lover of brothers is the second one brotherly love. And give preference pro a pro yo man to one another another words letting the other one go in honor which comes from timmy, which is the price or the honor or the respect that we give somebody properly perceived value worth Located the price. That’s exactly what this is. A powerful verse, Romans 12 10 has so much just filled into that verse of how we’re to be as brothers and sisters in the body of jesus christ. Pick it up now. What 2? Oh or Phileo afi leo Romans 13 8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. Oh, means to be morally obligated or legally required to meet an obligation to pay off a legitimate debt, pay your rent, get rid of all your credit cards, pay all of that. But above all here’s the biggest thing you owe is to love your neighbor as yourself, To love your enemy. To love everyone around you. That is the greatest commandment that God has given us the human race people and how to behave towards one another. And it is that the way I behave towards other people. And is that the way you behave towards other people? That’s a pretty good question, isn’t it? Vicky to Oh nothing except to love one another. Alright. Originally belonged to the legal sphere. It expressed initially one’s legal and economic and then later on one’s moral duties and responsibilities to the gods. And two men or two, they’re sacrosanct regulations of phyllo expresses human and ethical responsibility in the new testament. This is about what we owe as believers and now that we know God, we owe everyone on this planet especially those who are of the household of God to love them. All right, Vicky how to serve Galatians 5 13 for you were called to freedom in loose diarrhea brethren only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Do leo That’s the real slave from Delos properly to serve as a slave with all personal ownership rights assigned to the owner figuratively willingly give over the prerogative to be self covering. So if you really love and you really want to give yourself to love, then you’re gonna serve one another with love. So it doesn’t become a chore a burden. Something heavy that you can’t lift. And really it really becomes a joy To be able to do something with the people that you love. We doulas means that we become slaves to the people uh that we love that we want to do the out of a willing heart. That’s what it’s talking about. And uh and then we go on to how to behave and endure Ephesians 42 with all humility and gentleness with patience, showing tolerance. An echo may still bearing up for one another in love. So when you feel like throwing your hands up, I quit. I can’t do this anymore. Hold on. It says a Navajo man still bearing up for one another In love. You take the next one How to increase from the Lord. First Thessalonians 3, 12 and May the Lord cause you to increase leona’s. Oh, in quantity and abound. Peru ceo above and beyond in love for one another. And for all people, just as we also do for you, this thing is really something Vicki who is the one that can not only quantitatively but qualitatively cause someone to abound who is the only one who could do that. What does it say? The Lord causes us to do that. He’s the only one and he’s the one that causes us to do this in love. And and that’s why, you know, you can’t muster this up. You can’t pull yourself up from your bootstraps. God has to just so fill us ignite us. And now it says it may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another. And for all people just as we also do for you. So he’s the one somebody said, I don’t know if I have enough love. I remember when our kids were being born and I was thinking to myself, how am I gonna get enough love for you know the next one and the next. And then we had twins. And then we had five. And I’m like, I don’t know if I’m gonna find this. It’s the Lord that allows us to abound for each of the people that he brings into our life with. That Love, God’s major personal teaching. Go ahead Vicki first Thessalonians 49. Now, as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you for you yourselves are taught by God, it’s God who can teach this And he does it internally to us. In other words, you don’t need anybody to tell you that you should love one another. God himself is the one who is teaching that to us. That’s what it’s saying there. And he exemplified it and he exemplified it. Yes, do this one as well. Love produces hard work. First Thessalonians 5 13. And that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work, live in peace with one another. Is this about a servant of the Lord that you’re to honor. It’s talking about how in first Thessalonians 5 13 on how we work with one of that, we esteem them very high and love about those who are in the ministry, those who are pastors and teachers. And he says, you’re steaming very high in love because of their work. In other words, we have to esteem them high uh in love because of what they do for us. They sacrifice hopefully they do. And then in second thessalonians, 13, how we uh how we make love grow. How do you make your love grow? We ought always to give thanks to God for you brethren as is only fitting because your faith is greatly enlarged and the love of each one of you toward one another grows even greater, ever greater. And so he it’s reciprocal God, just as you love me and I love you. Just the love just expands. It just keeps going. That’s what it’s talking about here. Uh and why don’t you continue for the next couple of them? We can stimulate in hebrews 11, excuse me 10 24 and let us consider how to stimulate parakeets, mose a job one another to love and good deeds. This paradoxes mO’s barracks is most is a jab kind of in a kind way. Come on Atta boy, you can do it, you can do it, you know? And and when a when a coach does that, encouraging like somebody playing a game, you’re like, come on, go for it. When somebody is working very hard, you come along, you give them somewhere. That’s a man, you’re doing a great job, that type of the thing, you know, and and encouraging them. And first peter 1 22 since you have an obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a sincere and hypocrite. So sincere without hypocrisy, love of the brethren fervently, then love one another from the heart. Exynos fervently. Exynos of this. I love this word which literally means to stretch all the way out. As far as you can. Don’t have any slack in this, he says uh fully stretched out, describing something as extended to its necessary full potential without any slugs strenuously without undue let up completely taught. You know, it’s talking about fully extended. That’s what that word uh you know, is describing when it talks about fervently love. You know, it’s talking about the the total stretching of yourself in order to accomplish that. Uh and Epstein Austin and uh the next one uh with the command Love one another earnestly as faith is completely extended out. Let’s see. And then first peter 48 above all, keep fervent Denise. These are the place that is found in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins. So in other words, as as as long as somebody fails, your love should stretch out to cover that. I mean that that just is exactly what jesus christ said when he told peter, not seven times, but 70 times seven to peter and uh see here what else we’ve got Greet one another with a kiss of love. Uh and then for this is the message which we have heard from the beginning that we should love one another. And why don’t you take these last few? This is the commandment that we believe in the name of the son of son, Jesus Christ and Love one another just as he commanded us. And love is the proof of a child of God, beloved let us love one another. For love is from God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God well. It’s self explanatory beloved. If God so loved us, we ought to love one another and no one has ever seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. What a phenomenal uh group of scriptures there. This is the new commandment to love one another again. Now I ask you Lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning that we love one another and that’s it. So we we’ve been talking about this incredible emotion but more than that a divine regeneration transformation of God himself in our lives that gives us now the ability to extend ourselves all the way out even way beyond our own ability to forgive and love. We just extended as as as tight as we can and to cover as many sins as we can because love covers what a multitude. Institute of sense anything else you want to say in closing. I think that we have to stop saying well I feel this and I don’t feel that it’s all about me and I’m not like, you know, it doesn’t matter. We’re supposed to all become like, jesus amen tom and Vicky with It’s all greek to me. So, I was introduced to this whole concept of love through john 3 16 back in 1968 I was 19 years old um into the hippie love power, flower power, all of that. And all of a sudden God just kind of tapped me on the shoulder and touches my heart and I realized this agape love is really what I’ve been looking for through my music, through my everything I was going through back then as a teenager and here I am now A full circle talking about the seven incredible qualities that this love is all about. Now, John 316 obviously is is it was my introduction, but that’s my conclusion because that love is about God’s universal love for God. So loved the world. Cosmos. It’s a cosmic love. It’s a global love that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life because God did not send jesus christ his son into this world, to condemn the world to judge the world. The whole motive was that the world through him should be saved. Now the idea here is that it’s universal. It’s for everyone. Yes, Black lives matter. Yes, White lives matter. Yes, the yellow, the brown, everyone matters to God. He created all of us From one person out of everyone came. We’re all connected. You can’t go around uh separating yourself from this one and that 100, there might be different cultures, there might be different languages, there might be different nations, there might be different villages. We are one people, the human race. God loves all of us. Some people do it politically. Some people do it religiously. You know, we’re jewish your gentiles. We’re all from the same source and God loves us and God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now, that’s the second time I quoted. I know, but I want you to see the various principles. That’s the last principle. I’ll come back to it. But the various primary qualities of love, There are seven of them. I want to give you number one. God’s love is unconditional romans 56 to 8. For while we were still helpless at the right time. Christ. Died for the ungodly when it says christ, it means the messiah died for the faith. A ungodly against God, literally against God. For one will hardly die for a righteous man though, perhaps for a good man, someone would dare even to die. You get what God is saying here that yeah, it wasn’t a good man. A righteous man. A good man. It was an ungodly man. The people of this planet have all seen. We’ve all sinned and fall short of God’s glory. This is why this incredible divine love is so amazing that it’s unconditional though perhaps for a good man, someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrated his own love toward us in that while we were um Marto lee sinners, christ died for us. This is why I love this love Because it’s unconditional. # two It’s inseparable Romans 8 35 through 39. Who will separate us from the love of christ will tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword. I mean, this is a long list just as it is written for your sake. We are being put to death all day long. We were considered as sheep for the slaughter. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us for I am convinced that neither listen to this list now, Death nor life nor angels nor Principalities nor things present nor things to come, nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in christ, jesus. Our Lord. This to me is so complete. That look, demons can’t touch you. Uh politics countries kings, uh, wealthy people. I don’t care who they are. Death itself cannot separate us from the love of God, which is in christ jesus. Our Lord. This love is inseparable. I mean to know that nothing can separate my love for God and God’s love for me, that to me is absolutely wonderful. And then the third thing is that it’s unmerited Ephesians 24 through 10. God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us. Even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with christ by grace, you’ve been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in heavenly places in christ jesus, so that in the ages to come, he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us. In christ jesus, for by grace, we have been saved through faith, and not of ourselves. It is a gift of God, not as a result of works so that no one may boast for we are his workmanship created in christ jesus unto good works. This love is totally unmerited by Grace was saved through faith, none of ourselves. You see, it’s not only the fact that this love is unconditional, but it’s also unmerited? Notice the next thing, it’s unmeasurable Ephesians 3, 17 through 19. Can you measure the love of God? How far did jesus have to come from heaven’s throne all the way down to the cross of of calvary. How far did jesus have to travel? He traveled light years, millions of light years, septic millions of light years to come here into this galaxy from heaven itself into this planet and to go and be born in Bethlehem and to go into Jerusalem and to bleed and die on the cross. It is unmeasurable, look what it says. So that christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you being rooted and grounded in love. That’s what we’re supposed to be grounded in love. That’s our that’s our foundation rooted. That means it grows and it produces fruit may be able to comprehend with all the saints. What is the breath length, high depth and to know the love of christ which surpasses knowledge. Listen, you can’t, it surpasses who knows is knowledge that you may be filled up with all the fullness of God. The fullness of God is given to those who allow the love of God to expand in their soul. The fifth thing, it’s unselfish Ephesians 5 25 husbands love your wives just like christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her John 1513. It’s all about giving Greater Love has no one than this than to lay down his life for his friends. It’s incom per ball. It’s just uh First Corinthians 13 1 into it says if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and do not have love, I have become a noisy gun or a clanging Cymbal if I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge. And if I have faith. So as to remove mountains but do not have love. I am nothing incomparable. I said, incomparable before It is also that. But it’s incomparable. You can’t compare it to anything. It is the thing that is at the top of the pyramid, at the top at the pinnacle is love more than hope, more than faith is love in this particular chapter. And finally, John 3 16 and 17, like I said before, this love is universal and it’s universal. That means this love is for you. And you may be sitting there and wondering, what’s this guy talking about? What I’m talking about is that God loves you. That his love is universal. It’s for all of us because if everything else was true, immeasurable, unconditional, unmerited, all of those things. And it wasn’t for you, then you couldn’t experience it. But it is for you. You can open up your arms and your heart and your mouth and your spirit and with your faith say, oh father God, thank you for loving me. God so loved the world, you that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish. That means you, but have everlasting life. That means today, it doesn’t mean it starts when you die. It means today you can experience a connection with God who created you and begin this eternal life. This connection with God immediately by repenting of your sins, by asking God to forgive you a very simple prayer would be something like this. Father God, thank you for loving me, jesus christ. Thank you for dying on the cross. For me as my substitute as my savior. Lamb of God. Please forgive me of my sins. Come into my life, forgive me and save me, come into my heart, come into my soul and change me, teach me how to read your word and guide me in your truth. God bless you until next time with tom and Vicky. It’s all greek to me.