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Love
for
God - for Fellow Man
To live and work for the right
reasons ...
Love God and Neighbor
Notice in the following verses why this woman
loved Christ.
Luke 7:37 "And, behold, a woman in the city,
which was a sinner, when she knew that
Jesus sat at meat in the
Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,"
Luke 7:38 "And stood at his feet behind
him weeping, and began to
wash his feet with tears, and did wipe
them with the hairs of her
head, and kissed his feet, and anointed
them with the ointment."
Luke 7:39 "Now when the Pharisee which had
bidden him saw it, he spake
within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have
known who and what manner of woman
this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner."
Luke 7:40 "And Jesus answering said unto
him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master,
say on."
Luke 7:41 "There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the
other fifty."
Luke 7:42 "And when they had nothing to pay,
he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will
love him most?"
Luke 7:43 "Simon answered and said, I
suppose that he, to whom he
forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged."
Luke 7:44 "And he turned to the woman, and
said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house,
thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet
with tears, and wiped them
with the hairs of her head."
Luke 7:45 "Thou gavest me no kiss: but this
woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet."
Luke 7:46 "My head with oil thou didst not
anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment."
Luke 7:47 "Wherefore I say unto thee, Her
sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much:
but to whom little is forgiven,
the same loveth little."
She loved Christ, because Christ loved her first in
forgiving her sins.
1 John 4:19 "We love him, because he first
loved us."
Those that realize their sinfulness will
love Christ more because they realize how much there was to be
forgiven.
The more forgiveness we perceive, the more we end up loving
Jesus. Do we not love those the most who understand and still
forgive us.
Commitment is the prime mover.
Once that we get committed to the Lord (put Him first) we will
want to please Him, then we will begin to search out sin and stay
away from it.
Commitment to God will develop a love for God.
This is how it works:
1. When we put the Lord first in our lives we show a commitment to
Him.
2. When we repeatedly commit to Him we end up loving Him.
3. Real love comes by commitment, which is putting the loved person
first, before self.
Commitment is a decision to act, a decision to
love, not a helpless reaction (Hollywood's idea of love .)
Christian Commitment is a decision to act righteously. When we
become committed to something or somebody, we begin to love it or
them.
Luke 12:34 "For where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also."
The person or thing to whom we commit:
* is what we love
* is what we treasure
Teaching Love
Commitment and resultant love from that commitment must be
taught.
The committed person must have decided to be
committed, and will love the thing or person committed to.
The young must be taught to love.
* It is not fallen into.
* It does not come naturally.
Titus 2:1 "But speak thou the things which
become sound doctrine:"
Titus 2:2 "That the aged men be sober,
grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience."
Titus 2:3 "The aged women likewise (like the
men), that they be in
behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to
much wine, teachers of good things;"
Titus 2:4 "That they may teach the
young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their
children,"
How to love your spouse and children.
Wives and husbands must either be taught or teach themselves to
be committed to their family in order for love to arrive. Anything
else is merely flesh. If you are committed (putting them first):
you will be honest about your dealings with them; they will forgive
you in their dealings with you.
Personal Commitment
Be sure to realize, their commitment has nothing to do with your
commitment, otherwise your commitment is only as strong as theirs.
Love is unconditional
We love others because we decide to commit to them, not because
they decide to be nice to us, or commit to us.
Mat 5:44 "But I say unto you, Love your
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"
Commit to your enemies
Commit to love those that hate you. How else could we ever love
our enemies. We must decide to love others, good or bad. To
decide is to allow ourselves to be taught to commit to
others.
Deciding to Love
Col 3:2 "Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth."
To "set" is to decide, then place.
Clearly we are to determine or decide where our affection is to
be placed. Not merely "fall into love" (Hollywood misnomer.) The
above verse clearly shows that affection is placeable, decideable.
It comes through commitment, so we must be determined to decide
where we will place our affections.
Do not confuse Love
and Like
Liking others is when they do something that we appreciate.
This completely hinges on their good conduct.
* Some will say,
I just love my wife. She is the best cook in town. That is
not love. That is like. The proof is when she no longer cooks
to suit him.
* Some will say
I love my husband. He is a good father and provider for our family.
That is not love. That is like. The proof is when he is no
longer able to provide in the manner the wife loves.
Loving others is when we determine to commit to
them whether they do good or not. This is how the Lord can easily
command us to love our enemies. Love for them is not dependent upon
their conduct, but ours.
TOP
How can you and I make sure we live and work for
the right reasons?
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