10-13-2023

Good Morning All,

      1 Peter 4:8; “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

      Do you remember the Beatles song “All You need is Love”?  It was written, primarily by John Lennon, but credited to Lennon and McCartney.  It was first sung during the first ever live global link broadcast.  It was transmitted over satellite.  It was written specifically so that the message could be understood in any language.  Many criticized the simplistic view of life.  The rejoinder was “You need a whole lot more than love!”  That is true but at the same time love is the most important element.

    Love is that which we freely give.  It does not demand that the other person change rather it accepts the person for who he is.  Love thus becomes the basis for all of our relational events.  We can trust someone because we love them.  We commit to someone because we love them.  Love is acceptance at its greatest level.  Love is what God does to you.

    God shows his love for us by the fact that while we were sinners, while we were his enemies; He died for us.  In the process, he returned us back to our humanity.  Until Christ came to earth, to live, to preach, to die and to rise again; love was dying in the world.  Pagan teachings taught that love or mercy was something to be avoided.  The pagan gods only wanted to be fed and honored; there was no mention of loving others.  Yet this is exactly what Christ brought to us; he brought us love. 

    He returned us to our original created purpose and that is to love.  We are to love God, love each other and love God’s creation.  This was why we were created, yet sin takes us away from this.  Sin causes us to look inward in a selfish and self-centered method.  We are egoists with our only concern about what is in it for us.  Yet when Christ calls us into his kingdom, he restores our original humanity, our original purpose, the purpose for which we were created.  This is what God’s love does for us; it frees us to be the true us.

    Through this love which we share with those around us, we are able to live in his kingdom just as we were designed to.  We see each other as a fellow redeemed child of God; someone whom God has accepted and someone we should accept as well.  We may have to have those things which hurt our relationship with God pointed out, but we do so in love.  So, we look at each other for what we truly are; we are God’s children. 

    So, God wants us to love each other, and he gives us the desire to do so.  It is sin that holds us back and keeps us from truly doing this.  It is usually the fear that causes us to stand off and not show the love that we should. It is fear that holds us back.  Yet God gives us the power to defeat that fear and to respond to his love with love, a desire to have compassion and mercy on our neighbors just like Christ had on us.

Gracious Father, teach us to love as you loved us.  Guide us by your Spirit to forgive as you have forgiven us.  Help us to show mercy as you have shown mercy.  Keep us in your loving arms.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret