Alive in Love
This mindset is prominent among many “Church-goers”
Love non-believers, talk bible to believers.
This is not an incorrect mindset. But this is a secondary consequence of the primary objective. What is lacking in the mindset of many “church-goers” is the primary mindset.
Love believers, talk bible to non-believers.
When I brought this idea up with Ivan, I had some problems explaining this "new" idea to him. This got a bit clearer when we went down this thought pattern:
Compare the amount of time you spend loving a non-believer to the amount of time you spend loving a believer (this is assuming that you have some biblical concept of love).
There are about 250 verses in the New testament with the word “love” in it. I proposed to Ivan that this ratio of the time spent loving a believer to loving a non-believer should be about 50 : 1.
This might be extreme but what is your ratio? 1 : 50? 1 : 20?
Perhaps 50:50 is the best ratio?
This is the commandment of Christ to his followers:
Love each other
(John 15:17).
This is one of the most important perhaps the central theme in the New Testament.
This commandment is impossible to fulfill for non-believers.
This commandment is impossible to fulfill for those that do not have fellowship with believers.
This commandment is not something you fulfill once a month at church. This commandment is to be lived out fully for the rest of your life on earth.
The books of the bible speak as one:
John 13:34
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
John 15:12
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
John 15:17
This is my command: Love each other.
Rom 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
2 Cor 8:24
Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.
Gal 5:13
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love.
Eph 4:2
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Eph 4:16
From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Phil 2:2
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
1 Thes 3:12
May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
1 Thes 4:9
Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.
1 Pet 1:22
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
1 Pet 2:17
Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
1 Peter 3:8
Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 Pet 5:14
Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
2 Pet 1:7
and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
1 John 2:10
Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.
1 John 3:10
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:11
This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
1 John 3:14
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
1 John 3:16
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
1 John 3:23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
1 John 4:7
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:11
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:21
And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
2 John 1:5
And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.
(All passages from NIV)
Love non-believers, talk bible to believers.
This is not an incorrect mindset. But this is a secondary consequence of the primary objective. What is lacking in the mindset of many “church-goers” is the primary mindset.
Love believers, talk bible to non-believers.
When I brought this idea up with Ivan, I had some problems explaining this "new" idea to him. This got a bit clearer when we went down this thought pattern:
Compare the amount of time you spend loving a non-believer to the amount of time you spend loving a believer (this is assuming that you have some biblical concept of love).
There are about 250 verses in the New testament with the word “love” in it. I proposed to Ivan that this ratio of the time spent loving a believer to loving a non-believer should be about 50 : 1.
This might be extreme but what is your ratio? 1 : 50? 1 : 20?
Perhaps 50:50 is the best ratio?
This is the commandment of Christ to his followers:
Love each other
(John 15:17).
This is one of the most important perhaps the central theme in the New Testament.
This commandment is impossible to fulfill for non-believers.
This commandment is impossible to fulfill for those that do not have fellowship with believers.
This commandment is not something you fulfill once a month at church. This commandment is to be lived out fully for the rest of your life on earth.
The books of the bible speak as one:
John 13:34
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
John 15:12
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
John 15:17
This is my command: Love each other.
Rom 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
2 Cor 8:24
Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.
Gal 5:13
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love.
Eph 4:2
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Eph 4:16
From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Phil 2:2
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
1 Thes 3:12
May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
1 Thes 4:9
Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.
1 Pet 1:22
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
1 Pet 2:17
Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
1 Peter 3:8
Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 Pet 5:14
Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
2 Pet 1:7
and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
1 John 2:10
Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.
1 John 3:10
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:11
This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
1 John 3:14
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
1 John 3:16
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
1 John 3:23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
1 John 4:7
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:11
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:21
And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
2 John 1:5
And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.
(All passages from NIV)
Indeed, the bible (verb) predictably encourages “Go” and “Do”
And everyone’s typical sarcastic response --- “Yes, we know” or “Really, We heard this before”
But do we Really and fully understand, and doesn’t this beg you to ask yourself, to then immediately seek out the answer to, “How?”
1 Corinthians 13
Love
1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Matthew 7
Ask, Seek, Knock
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Refection: How do we Love and / or Evangelise…..How can we apply the many Love skills and description of love (above) and better ourselves to improve….. Lord, What is your benchmark especially for special me…… Because you Created me, and know me well, my strengths, my weaknesses and my identity in Christ…… Today, How am I progressing Abba Father……furthermore because we are curious Christians…… and were not born with a computer chip downloaded in our brain (like a laptop)……. therefore where and how can we attend more support care groups, fellowship and more formal training or classes to polish up our skills sets.
Lord, Please show, guide, and reveal all these and many other things to me, all in good time.
Posted by
Norman |
4:50 pm, April 26, 2009