1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian LOVE | Page 10

like to return you to the core of this theme and that is found in the role that the Holy Spirit plays in helping us to love others as Christ has loved us. With His love inside of us and our love for Him we are able to love others and that which was considered to be supernatural evidences itself as being natural. Won’t you this week really focus on your love for God and recognise that it’s your love for Him that makes all of this possible. SUNDAY 1 Corinthians 13 We end this week’s series on the subject of Christian love by focusing on one of the most profound pieces of Scripture about this subject. There is so much literature written on this subject, much of which I am sure is good, but in my opinion there is nothing so profound as the writings of apostlePaul on the subject of love. He sets the scene for us from verses 1 – 3by establishing the fact that there is nothing more important than LOVE. That even though I may exercise my spiritual gifts to the full, make great sacrificial donations to the church and demonstrate great acts of faith, if I do not do these things in the context of love then I am nothing. From verse 4 – 8 he speaks of the practical nature of what this love looks like, it is this portion that worries me. It is so deeply practical and, at its first reading, it would appear to be totally impossible. The standard for this kind of love is so high, it is so self-sacrificing and its ideal is somewhat intimidating, but I would like to end the series this week by reaffirming the fact that God will never tell us to do what we cannot do. We are, with the help of God, able to love like this. If we could plug the holes in our barrel of love and stop the leaks by loving Christ more and enjoying His presence to a greater degree, this kind of love doesn’t become just a possibility but now moves into the realm of being a probability. John 13 v 35clarifies for us the importance of love being the central theme of our Christian existence when it says, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you love one another as I have loved you.” Folks, I cannot stress this highly enough, the impact that our church will make in the world will not be determined by better music, better preaching or greater theological integrity, our impact will only be felt as we learn what it means to really love one another. It saddens me sometimes to listen to some conversations where I see legalism overwhelming love and where I see the desire to be “right” taking the place of unconditional love. God cannot be pleased when He sees this, but I know too that when we learn to love in the power of the Holy Spirit that it will automatically bring to us, as a church, the blessing of God that we so desire. We so need to put down our petty grudges, issues of the past and personal prejudices in order to receive the full blessing of God. How amazing it would be if our community were to look at the church on the hill and say, “We know they are disciples, look at the way they love one another.”