Loving Like Jesus Loves Me
Series: 40 Days of Love
March 1, 2009
Pastor Bill Bump
John 13:34 (NLT):
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.
John 13:15 (NLT):
I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you!
We can’t fully understand how to love other people until we first understand how much God loves us.
THREE WAYS THAT JESUS LOVES US AND WE ARE TO LOVE:
1. I MUST ACCEPT OTHERS LIKE JESUS ACCEPTS ME.
The fact is, the deepest wounds we’ve ever had in our lives are the wounds of rejection.
John 6:37 (NCV):
The Father gives me my people. Every one of them will come to me, and I will always accept them.
Psalm 27:10 (NIV):
Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.
Titus 3:7 (CEV):
Jesus treated us much better than we deserve. He made us acceptable to God and gave us the hope of eternal life.
We can accept someone without approving of what they do.
Romans 15:7 (NIV):
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you…
Last week: The highest form of love is focused attention.
ACTION STEP:
THIS WEEK I WILL SHOW ACCEPTANCE TO ____________.
2. I MUST VALUE OTHERS LIKE JESUS VALUES ME.
We are infinitely valuable to God:
• God created us
• Jesus died for us
• God puts His Spirit within us
• God wants us to be with Him for eternity
Luke 12:6,7 (NLT):
What is the price of five sparrows? A couple of pennies? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows.
WHAT GIVES VALUE?
A. The value of something depends on who made it.
I Timothy 4:4 (NIV):
For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV):
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
B. The value of something depends on what someone will pay.
I Peter 1:19 (NLT):
He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
Isaiah 49:15,16 (NIV):
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…
I Peter 2:17 (Mes):
Treat everyone you meet with dignity…
ACTION STEP:
THIS WEEK I WILL AFFIRM THE VALUE OF _____________
3. I MUST FORGIVE OTHERS LIKE JESUS FORGIVES ME.
Isaiah 43:25 (GN):
...I am the God who forgives your sins, and I do this because of who I am. I will not hold your sins against you.
Ephesians 1:4 (NLT):
Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
God knows everything we’re going to do and He’s already planned to forgive us.
Romans 8:1 (NIV):
...there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Matthew 26:28 (NIV):
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 3:13 (NLT):
You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
Luke 6:37 (NIV):
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Because God has given us so much forgiveness, that gives us the ability to give forgiveness to others.
ACTION STEP:
THIS WEEK I WILL OFFER FORGIVENESS TO ____________
CONCLUSION:
Hebrews 10:24 (NIV):
Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Ephesians 3:18 (NLT):
And may you have the power to understand as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.
