The
people of God show God’s love for the world. Jesus said as I was sent, so
send I you. Love is the
foundation of the Christian Faith and Life.
It is love for God that propels the people of God to live for Him and
with Him. In the imitation of
Christ we find all of the following characteristics.
Sam
Walton, founder of the highly successful Wal-Mart department stores, always
leads new associates (employees) in the "Sam Pledge":
"From
this day forward, every customer that comes within ten feet of me, regardless
of what I'm doing, in this house, I'm going to look him in the eye, I'm going
to smile, I'm going to greet him with a 'Good Morning', or a 'Good Afternoon',
or a 'What can I do for you?' -- so help me Sam!"
Wouldn't
it be great if we pastors could lead our people in the "Samaritan's
Pledge":
"From
this day forward, every person that comes within ten feet of me, regardless of
what I'm doing, in this church, I'm going to look him in the eye, I'm going to
smile, I'm going to greet him with a 'Good Morning', or a 'Good Afternoon', or
a 'What can I do for you?' -- so help me God!"
-- Sam Walton, by Vance Trimble, p. 268
Romans 12:9 (NIV)
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above
yourselves.
11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with
God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who
persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice;
mourn with those who mourn. 16
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate
with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil
for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is
possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not
take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written:
"It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 20 On the
contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him
something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his
head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
What is Christian Love?
It is the crimson crush. It
is the sacrifice that makes the difference.
It is the one factor that makes the church different from any other
group in the world. It is the
factor that keeps us together.
1.
Love must be sincere: it
keeps on going even when it is tough. Sincere love hates evil and clings to those things that are
good. George M.
Bowman says:
You
see, the word "sincere" comes from two Latin words meaning
"without wax." Artificers
of Middle Eastern countries fashioned highly expensive statuettes out of a
very fine porcelain. It was of
such fragile nature that extreme care had to be taken when firing the
figurines to keep them from cracking.
Dishonest dealers would accept the cracked
figurines at a much lower price and then fill the cracks with wax before
offering them for sale. But
honest merchants would display their uncracked porcelain wares with signs that
read, "sine cera," "without wax."
-
George M. Bowman, How to Succeed With Your Money, Chicago: Moody Press,
1974
2.
Love will keep us together. Love is seen in devotion to one another.
By honoring one another above yourselves you will show Christian/divine
love. “Those who deserve love
the least need it the most.” From
Bible Illustrator.
3.
Love will keep on keeping on with the Lord.
We should be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in
prayer.
4.
Love will share with God’s people who are in need.
Practice hospitality.
5.
Love will bless those who persecute you and don’t curse.
“Someone has offered this penetrating comparison of the difference
between revenge, justice, and grace. If
someone brutally murders your son and you take things into your own hands,
that's revenge. If you're content to allow the law and the courts to arrest
and punish the offender, that's justice.
But if you pardon the murderer, adopt him, and take him home to live
with you as your son, that's grace!” From
Bible Illustrator.
6.
Love will rejoice with those who rejoice and will mourn with
those who mourn.
7.
Love will try to live in harmony with one another.
Don’t be proud, but be willing to associate with others.
8.
Love doesn’t repay evil for evil, but seeks to live at peace
with everyone. Love doesn’t
seek revenge. Leave vengeance up
to the Lord who says He will repay.
A speaker held up a blank sheet of
paper and asked, "What do you see?"
The reply was, "A piece of paper."
He then placed the paper on the podium, made a tiny dot in the center
and held it up again. "What
do you see now?" "A
dot," was the unanimous reply from the audience.
"Imagine this blank paper is a person," the speaker said.
"The small dot you saw is his/her biggest fault. The white surrounding the dot represents all of this person's
worthwhile qualities which we so easily fail to see. Often a fault seems bigger than it really is and we allow it
to overshadow the many positive aspects of that person's personality."
From Bible Illustrator.
9.
Love overcomes evil with good and with God’s love.
This is God’s love.
“I heard a story the other night about a truck driver who dropped in
at an all-night restaurant in Broken Bow, Nebraska. The waitress had just
served him when three swaggering, leather-jacketed motorcyclists -- of the
Hell's Angels type -- entered and rushed up to him, apparently spoiling for a
fight. One grabbed the hamburger off his plate; another took a
handful of his French fries; and the third picked up his coffee and began to
drink it.
The trucker did not respond as one might
expect. Instead, he calmly rose,
picked up his check, walked to the front of the room, put the check and his
money on the cash register, and went out the door. The waitress followed him
to put the money in the till and stood watching out the door as the big truck
drove away into the night.
When she returned, one of the cyclists said
to her, "Well, he's not much of a man, is he?"
She replied, "I can't answer as to that,
but he's not much of a truck driver. He
just ran over three motorcycles out in the parking lot."
From the Bible Illustrator.
When the first missionaries came to Alberta, Canada, they were opposed
by a young Cree Indian chief named Maskepetoon.
But eventually he responded to the gospel and accepted Christ. Shortly afterward, a member of the Blackfoot tribe who hated
Maskepetoon killed his father. The
chief rode into the murderer's village and demanded that he be brought before
him. Confronting the guilty man
he said, "You shall ride my best horse and wear my best clothes."
In utter amazement and remorse his enemy
exclaimed, "My son, now you have killed me."
The hate in his heart had been erased by Maskepetoon's forgiveness and
kindness. From Bible Illustrator.
During World War II the U.S. submarine
Tang surfaced under the cover of darkness to fire upon a large Japanese convoy
off the coast of China. Since
previous raids had left the American vessel with only eight torpedoes, the
accuracy of every shot was absolutely essential. The first seven missiles were
right on target; but when the eighth was launched, it suddenly deviated and
headed right back at their own ship. The
emergency alarm to submerge rang out, but it was too late. Within a matter of
seconds, the U.S. sub received a direct hit and sank almost instantly.
In much the same way we can destroy ourselves
by hostility toward others. The
effects of holding a grudge are very serious. Modern medicine has shown that
emotions like bitterness and anger can cause problems such as headaches,
backaches, allergic disorders, ulcers, high blood pressure, and heart attacks,
to name just a few. When we do
not love our enemies but strike back at them, we are usurping Gods's
prerogative to mete out justice. We read in the Bible, "Vengeance is
mine; I will repay, saith the Lord!"
By seeking revenge, we really inflict great harm on ourselves. From
Bible Illustrator.