Whatsoever Things Are True
by Dan Coburn
Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church
pastordan@mtida.net
What's Love Got To Do With It? 
Men get real queasy when the subject of love comes up, so how do we (men) reconcile the plethora of material from our Lord on the subject, with our daily lives? Is it weakness? Is it ultimately strength? If we seek to live Godly lives w/respect to love, will our wives think the cheese has slid off our cracker and move on to greener pastures? 
First, I have to set up some ground rules. I am working from the position that the reader (you) have a saving knowledge/relationship with Jesus Christ. Absent that, what I am about to share with you will be pure foolishness to you - 1st Cor. 1:18.  With that established, take a deep breath and let's see what the Lord has to say about Love.  "And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, that as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it." 2nd John 1:6 "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity (love), it profiteth me nothing." 1st Cor. 13:3   
It is in loving that we are most like Him - "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self" Gal. 5:14.  So why is our love so important to Jesus?   He said it would be our love, not our doctrinal beliefs that would be our greatest witness to a lost and dying world - John 13:35. 
Let's turn the Spiritual Switch.   Love cannot be learned in isolation, but only by surrounding ourselves to irritating, imperfect and frustrating people. If your Church doesn't have these, somebody is not being honest with you.  It is through God's Word, manifest in fellowship that we learn these important truths: 
1)  Life without love is really worthless - 1st Cor. 13   We have bought the bill of goods which says we are #1, and relationships are to be squeezed out of our extra time (like we have any of that); Time for kids, time for our spouse. The first four commandments are about your relationship with God, and the balance are about your relationship to  others. And what is important to your God? How do you please Him? "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." 
2)  Love will last forever - 1st Cor. 13:13  Three things last forever........ "but the greatest of these is _______?" You guessed it. 
3)   We will be evaluated (I wrote that cause so many hate the J word) on our love. In heaven, God won't ask you - "Tell me about your bank account, or portfolio, or your hobbies and awards". It will be how you treated others, particularly those in need. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matt. 25:40   
In eternity, we leave everything behind but character. This might be why Gal. 5:6 says the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself "through love". 
Extra Credit. Many men and women, fear or have resolved themselves to the notion that they have sinned beyond forgiveness. That for them, there is too much water under the bridge - too much red ink. I would like to challenge you with this. Part of God's intrinsic nature is Love. He literally is love, and His love is perfect. It always has been. So, rather than question how you have damaged that love, think on this. If you were the best person to ever live, if you had lived the best most flawless life in history, God could Not love you any more than He does in your sinful state. His love is already perfect. You can walk ten thousand steps away from God, but it only takes one step toward Him, and He is there - 1st John 1:8-9. 
Halleluiah, What a Savior.  

Cottonwood, Idaho 83522
 

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