Lessons in Love 3 Important Lessons

October 1999 - By Jason Chatraw - Staff writer

Copyright 1999 IN TOUCH MINISTRIES. All rights reserved. Pho e 1!""#!$%1!1##1 or Co t&'t (s

Here are three important lessons of His love:

1) O(r lives '& *t re+le't ,od*s love ( less -e le&r to love others. A young man had been saved for a long time. He knew all about God and about His plan of salvation for his life. He was in church every unday and professed to love !esus openly in front of his co"workers. However# it was all talk to the people around him who knew him. $henever things got tough at work# he became bitter and accusatory. %hose around him saw him as an e&ual who was 'ust a (religious fanatic.( %here wasn)t anything particularly different about his life other than it was spent at church on undays. *aul saw that same type of attitude developing among the church in +orinth# which is why he sent out this stern warning: (If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels# but do not have love# I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal( ,- +orinthians -3:-.. /ur walk with +hrist doesn)t set us apart if we don)t have love. $e)re 'ust an annoying noise drifting through the air# unable to minister God)s love to anyone. !esus even stressed this point: (0y this all men will know that you are 1y disciples# if you have love for one another( ,!ohn -3:32.. .) /ove is the 0o d o+ ( ity. $hen we love people# we can soften their hearts and touch their lives in uni&ue ways. 0ut how does love bind us together3 As we begin to develop love for a person# we desire for our relationship to be a (working( one# a relationship that is active and growing. $e never want any confrontation or misunderstanding to interfere with that relationship# but if conflict arises ,and it inevitably will.# a heart of love will seek to restore the relationship as &uickly as possible# no matter how badly we)ve been hurt. (0eyond all these things put on love# which is the perfect bond of unity( ,+olossians 3:-4.. %hat)s how we)re bound to God through the death and resurrection of His on# !esus. God loved us so much that when sin entered into the world and hindered mankind)s relationship with Him# God# in His infinite love# sought to restore us unto Him as &uickly as possible. God)s love is ever reaching out to us# seeking to take us into a deeper relationship with Him and unify our mind# will# and emotions with His. If God didn)t love

us# that wouldn)t be the case. 0ut praise God5 He does love us# and we)re bound in unity with Him through that love. 1) /ove 0ri gs 2oy to o(r lives. %he world would certainly be a lonely place without God)s love. $ithout God# we have no purpose# no meaning# and no destiny for our lives. /ur lives would take on a whole new meaning6no meaning at all. $e would wander aimlessly through life# desiring for something or someone to love us and give us hope and purpose for our lives. 1any people who haven)t discovered the love of God are wandering around right now in search of this missing ingredient to make their life complete. o# what does God and His love do for our lives3 0ecause He cares about us# God wants us to have purpose# meaning# and destiny. And when we reali7e how much God loves us# we begin to see life from a new perspective. His love gives us purpose# meaning# hope# and destiny. And in this we find 'oy. (!ust as the 8ather has loved 1e# I have also loved you9 abide in 1y love. If you keep 1y commandments# you will abide in 1y love9 'ust as I have kept 1y 8ather)s commandments and abide in His love. %hese things I have spoken to you so that 1y 'oy may be in you and that your 'oy may be made full( ,!ohn -2::"--.. ;nderstanding God)s love for us is important. It)s important that we understand why it)s so vital to our growth# to our relationship with Him# and to our witness to others. t. 8rancis of Assisi understood how important it was to love others# and when he struggled in doing so# he sought God)s help. And God changed his heart.

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