Greater Love, The More Excellent Way

Greater Love, The More Excellent Way

This is one of those days when all I could think about was the awesome love of God. His love was manifested throughout the Bible, but never more significantly than these words from our Lord.

John 15:12-13

12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

Verse 12 presents a problem from time to time.

“Don’t sit there with your smug religious attitude. Thinking that you haven’t had a problem loving someone in the way Christ loves you.” LOL

I say this with a humorous tone. I would suspect that all of us humans have met someone in our life that presented us with a challenge. The challenge being, how will I love this person, like Christ loved me.

Just so you know, God most likely puts these people in our lives from time to time, to teach us. He is teaching us to look beyond personalities and see people like He sees them.

Teaching us to forgive, as He forgives. “Forgive our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

In verse 13 our Lord really raised the bar. He loved us so much that He gave His life for us.

Love was never meant to be used as a tool to hurt and confuse people. I hear those 5 famous words, taken out of context all the time. People will say they have the right to condemn others because they are, “speaking the truth in love.”

This approach has turned more people away from Christ, than it has ever brought to Him.

Jesus also said this.

John 3:16-17

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Note. God sent His Son because He loved. The Son didn’t come to judge, He came to save. Why?

BECAUSE HE LOVED.

I have a passion for this. With all my heart I believe that when you reveal God’s love to a sinner it becomes a seed in their heart. It will grow as it is watered, and will reach a season where this soul can be harvested.

It is so much easier to embrace someone that loves you.

This is why 8000 souls came to Christ in the 1^st few chapters of Acts.

Peter preached the story of Jesus. The sin He recognized was simply unbelief. All sin stems from that same principle today. People don’t believe that God loves them, because many times the message is one of judgment and condemnation.

It is not God’s anger, but His goodness, that leads men to repentance.

The Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthian church chapter 12 had some great instruction for the church. He taught on spiritual gifts and the function of the body of Christ. Ending with the function of ministry and spiritual gifts as well.

Then He made this statement.

1 Corinthians 12:31

But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way.

That excellent is found in its’ entirety in Chapter 13. I will close with the first and last verse. Read the whole chapter when you get a chance.

1 Corinthians 13

1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Be blessed as you follow Christ and remember this.

#lovewins and #hopelives