It's All About Love
Series: 40 Days of Love
February 15, 2009
Pastor Bill Bump
1 Corinthians 14:1 (LB)
"Let love be your greatest aim..."
Mark 12:30-31 (NLT)
"'And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these."
1 Corinthians 16:14 (NLT)
"And everything you do must be done with love."
THE BASICS OF LOVE
1. WE LOVE BECAUSE GOD LOVES US.
1 John 4:7,8 (NLT)
"Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God...for God is love."
The reason God wants us to love is because He is love.
1 John 4:19 (NIV)
"We love because he first loved us."
We cannot love others until we feel loved.
1 John 4:16a (NIV)
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us."
2. LOVE IS A CHOICE AND A COMMITMENT.
Deuteronomy 30:20 (NLT)
"Choose to love the Lord your God...and commit yourself to him..."
3. LOVE IS AN ACTION, NOT JUST EMOTION.
1 John 3:18 (NIV)
"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
A. Acting in love when you don’t feel like it is the highest form of love.
B. It is always easier to act your way into a feeling than it is to feel your way into an action.
4. LOVE IS A SKILL.
1 John 4:7 (LB)
"Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are the children of God, and that they are getting to know him better."
1 Timothy 4:15 (GN)
"Practice these things and devote yourself to them, in order that your progress may be seen by all."
5. LOVE IS A HABIT.
Hebrews 13:1 (NLT)
"Continue to love each other with true Christian love."
CONCLUSION
John 13:34,35 (NIV)
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
- I must commit to growing.
- I learn how Jesus did it.
- Practice the skills.
- Trust God to help.
