January 5, 2014

“The Look of Lov’n OneAnother”

Blessings Folk!

John 13:34-35
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

A new commandment.
Love OneAnother.

Jesus said that by this love all men would know that we are His disciples.
Is this important?
Apparently. Jesus mentions it.
Why?

The world will see the love of OneAnother.
They will be drawn to it.
They will be drawn to the Lord because of what they see in His disciples.

Such is often not the case now.
The world is repulsed, for the most part, by what they see in professing believers.
They see:

• arrogance
• pride
• greed
• sin
• false piety
• etc. etc.

In other words, much of the professing church is no different from the world.

We need to quit strategizing to be “attractive” to the world.
We need to love OneAnother as the Word says.

This change would have major implications on what we do as the Body.

We will think upon some of these things as we progress through our time together.

For now, look at how the love of OneAnother looks…

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.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part;
10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.
13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Do we love OneAnother this way?

• patient
• kind
• not jealousy
• no bragging
• not arrogant
• not acting unbecomingly
• not seeking own
• not provoked
• not taking into account a wrong suffered
• does not rejoice in unrighteousness
• rejoices in truth
• bears all things
• believes all things
• hopes all things
• endures all things

Love never fails.
Let us love OneAnother first, then trust the Lord to do as He desires...