It's time again for the Weekend Sermon. Thank you for taking the time to read this week's message. I hope and pray that you are all well.
Today, we are going to continue with our study of some of the characteristics of a life that is filled with and directed by love. If you've been following the series, you know that for the past few weeks we've been examining the great chapter that explains a lot about love I Corinthians 13.
In our message this week, we will focus our attention on verse 7. As I was studying for this message, I found several different translations for this verse. I like how the Living Bible paraphrases the verse. We read, "If you love someone you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him."
First of all, love expresses itself in loyalty. This is true in the natural and in the spiritual realm. If you love someone who is related to you, your spouse or a good friend, love expresses itself in loyalty. You stand up for your people when they are going through a hard time or when someone is giving them a hard time. You take their side. You are faithful to them and stick by them through thick and through thin. You aren't a fair-weather friend who runs off when everything is not sunshine and roses. As it says in the marriage vows, it is for better and for worse.
Loyalty as an expression of love in the spiritual means that we are 100 percent totally and fully committed to the Lord Jesus. We do what He tells us to do. We follow His teachings and commandments. We don't put anyone nor anything above our relationship with Him. He is number one in our lives. He is Lord of all that we are or ever will be.
Love also manifests itself in believing in another person. If you love someone you believe that they will succeed. You encourage the other person and always keep positive thoughts in your mind about the other person. If someone says something negative or bad about someone that you love, if you truly love that person, your first instinct is to not believe the negative thing that you've been told. You believe the best about them, and hold that person in a position of esteem within your heart. You don't let others drag them down in your presence.
Love stands its ground in defending another person. I would always stand up for those I loved while they were with me. I loved my parents and my friend Toby so much. If someone said something bad about them, I always stood up for them.
In the spiritual, our love for Jesus should cause us to stand up for Him. We should live our lives in such a way that we are not ashamed of the the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If people try to cast doubt on Jesus Christ, we stand for Him and defend the cause of Christ by giving reasoned arguments for who Jesus is and for what He did while He was on this earth. We do it because we love Him, and we don't want others to mock nor ridicule Him.
There is another way that this verse is often translated. The NKJV says, that love, "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." The first part of this is similar to what we've discussed, but I want us to focus a moment on love endures all things.
If you are filled with love for another person, you are willing to go through a lot of hard times and hard things for that person. I know people who have had a spouse or partner that they've taken care of for many years at great cost physically and financially. There were a lot of hard times, but they did it because they loved the other.
As always, we see that love is about putting aside the self and seeking the best for the other. It is about loving God and our neighbor. It is about putting Jesus first, others second and ourselves last. Amen.
Prayer Requests
I have been feeling a little worse this week than I have been. Please keep praying that I will get back to feeling better. I've been feeling off since I had pneumonia way back in May.
Pray for those recovering from the hurricanes here in the US.
Keep praying for the end of the m pox and Marburg virus outbreaks.
Let us pray for peace in Israel and the surrounding areas. Pray for the release of the hostages. Let us pray that war throughout the region can be avoided. Remember to keep praying for peace in Ukraine and Sudan.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Djibouti and North Korea. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will continue with our series. I have one or two more messages on this series before we move on to something else. On Monday, I will post the verses. May God bless you all.
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