Into Being Loving
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Seeking Change In My Attitudes |
INTO BEING LOVING
Philippians 1:8-11 (ESV) 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
I listened to a sermon on prayer, and the preacher used the country music entitled “Pray for you,” sung by Jaron Lowenstein. I believe he wrote the song after his relationship with his girlfriend fell apart. The lyrics of the song went like this:
I haven't been to church
Since I don't remember when
Things were going great 'til they fell apart again
So I listened to the preacher as he told me what to do
He said you can't go hatin' others
Who have done wrong to you
Sometimes we get angry, but we must not condemn
Let the good Lord do his job, you just pray for them
I pray your brakes go out runnin' down a hill
I pray a flower pot falls from a window sill
And knocks you in the head like I'd like to
I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls
I pray you're flyin' high when your engine stalls
I pray all your dreams never come true
Just know wherever you are, honey, I pray for you
I'm really glad I found my way to church
'Cause I'm already feelin' better
And I thank God for the words
Yeah, I'm gonna take the high road
And do what the preacher told me to do
You keep messin' up, and I'll keep prayin' for you
I hope that we are praying better than Jaron, especially for people who don’t like us or we don’t like. I know that if there’s something we need to pray for, it is to pray that our love for others will continue to keep growing. This kind of love is the focus of Paul's prayer for the Philippian believers in our text.
As we continue our sermon series, my sermon this morning is the follow-up sermon to last’s Sunday theme, “From Being Critical.” We have seen the destructive criticism of Miriam and Aaron and how the Lord dealt with them for their bad attitude. This morning, our emphasis is the attitude of being loving, which should be the substitute attitude. Instead of being critical, we, as believers, should be more loving.
Jesus, Himself conveyed clearly in John 13:35 why His followers must be more loving:
John 13:35 (ESV)
35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
The author John Piper explained this verse by saying:
I personally like it when people put a fish symbol on their cars and wear crosses and put “Hope in God” signs in house windows – but if you ask Jesus: What’s the mark of a Christian that will set them off and help the world know that they are your disciples, His answer would be – “By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Love for each other in the church is the badge of Christianity.
I believe this is the very same reason why the apostle Paul prayed for the Philippian believers. Since they were active supporters of the apostle Paul in his missionary endeavors, he wanted them to grow in their love for one another continually. So let’s examine our text and discover at least three significant descriptions of a loving person:
I THE DECLARATION OF LOVE (v. 8)
When you begin to read verse 8, it reads – “For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” With these words, the first we can notice is the apostle Paul calling on God as a witness to how much he, as a servant of Jesus Christ, loves the believers in Philippi. What does it mean to call God as a “witness”? Well, knowing that there is nothing hidden from an omniscient God, He is the only one who can indeed confirm the love Paul has for the church in Philippi.
I’m sure on many occasions, we also have said to someone, “I love you.” Unfortunately, many people nowadays can use these words superficially. But, how many of you would be bold enough to add those three solemn words, “God is my witness,” every time we say, “I love you” to someone? Perhaps, if we do, there will be greater accountability every time we say those words.
Going back to Paul’s statement, He did not only seek confirmation from God but also provided a comparison to his love by saying, “with the affection of Christ Jesus.” So what makes the love of Jesus Christ different from the love we see in the world today?
In the Bible, every time “love” is applied to God, the Greek word used is “Agape.” It is the selfless, sacrificial, and purposeful love exemplified by Jesus Christ. This love was clearly explained by the apostle Paul when he challenged Christian husbands on how they should love their wives in Ephesians 5:25-27 (ESV):
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
When you examine these words, the love of Jesus is selfless and sacrificial because “He gave himself up” for the church. And it is also purposeful because His end goal is to present a glorious church without blemish or sin. But, of course, in the world we live in, the love we often see is self-centered. When people say “I love you,” they mean “I love you” because of what they are doing for me. You make me feel good. What you are doing right now is working for the person significant to me, “me.” Or what you are doing is working because you make me feel good or important. However, if you and I build a relationship based on what we are getting out of it, our relationship will be in so much trouble. Why? What if that person stops making you feel good or important? Then, it will make the relationship so vulnerable.
So, if we decide to be loving people, we must imitate the love that Jesus has exemplified to us. If we are faithful followers of Jesus Christ, this attitude is not only being suggested to us; it is being commanded to us. Listen to these words - Ephesians 5:1-2 (ESV):
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
You know, I really believe that our Christianity will have a much greater impact on the world if we begin to love like Jesus Christ. I remember the story about Calvary Church in New Mexico, Albuquerque. At one time, they sent 20 thousand shoeboxes Christmas gifts (in cooperation with Samaritan's Purse Ministry) to the children in Baghdad, Iraq. When the Pastor and his people were distributing these boxes, the Pastor was approached by one of the government officials who told him, “I’ve always thought that the Christians in America hated us. But with these gifts, I realized that Christians in America love us.”
II THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOVE (v. 9a)
The second truth that I want to emphasize comes from the first part of verse 9 – “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more.” So as the apostle Paul prayed for the Philippian Christians to be loving, he also prayed for their love to keep developing or growing.
The obvious implication is that Paul acknowledges that love was already present, but the challenge is that it should not be stagnant; it should continue to increase in its expression. So, for example, is your love for your spouse or children, it is improving? Is it getting better? It should not deteriorate through time, but it should keep growing.
One of the most beautiful passages in the Bible about love is 1 Corinthians 13. We often hear this passage read during a wedding ceremony. Here are descriptions of love we find in the passage - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (ESV)
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends.
Dr. Charles Hodge, a theologian, and Bible commentator pointed out that Paul provided these descriptions of love because the Corinthian believers were impatient, discontented, envious, inflated, selfish, rude, unmindful of the feelings and interests of others, suspicious, resentful, and critical.
Because of their situation, the Holy Spirit was able give us a more practical list of what it means to be a more loving person.
Now, consider these descriptions one by one. What would be the areas where we find ourselves struggling? Is it in patience or kindness? It would help us a lot if we will target those areas and do our best to make an effort to improve them intentionally.
One important reminder when we talk of love is that in the Bible, love is always connected with actions. So John, the beloved apostle, said in 1 John 3:18 (ESV):
18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
In other words, it is not enough to have affectionate terms; it should be manifested in actions and activities. So, the question now is: What are you willing to do to prove your love to the person you say you love? Please take note that in the Bible, Agape love is an action-base-love. As we all know, God loves the world, so He gave us His one and only Son.
III THE DISCERNMENT IN LOVE (vs. 9b-11)
Lastly, when the apostle Paul prayed for the Philippian believers to keep growing in their love for others, he also emphasized that their love should be discerning. What does it mean?
First, let me explain the last part of verse 9, “with knowledge and all discernment.” The apostle Paul is trying to help us understand that as our love grows into maturity, with more excellent knowledge of the truth of the Bible, we should be able to discern between truth and error or between good, better, and best.
For example, when Jesus exemplified love while He was here on earth, it was not all emotions. He preached repentance and led people to a life of righteousness. When Jesus hung out with the tax collectors, it was not to tolerate them for their sins. He hanged out with them so that He could lead them to a life of holiness and righteousness. That’s Christ loving them.
So, if you are a believer and have a friend who has a drinking or drug problem, not telling him what is wrong with his life because you are afraid that he might reject you is not Biblical love. Biblical love will speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
Discernment is necessary for us. Do you know why? Verses 10 to 11 give us these words – “so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” I believe the critical phrase here is “you may approve what is excellent.”
Jim Collins, the author of the popular book, Good to Great, wrote, “The enemy of great is not bad, the enemy is good.” John D. Rockefeller almost said the same thing, “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” In other words, often, we miss out on experiencing the great things in life because we settle for the good things. For example, you settled on simply being a supervisor when you could have been a manager if you were only willing to do more work.
Going back to Paul’s sentiment, if you and I would have a discerning love, it can lead us into a more excellent life that will bring more incredible honor and glory to God.
I trust that each of us will desire to be a loving person according to the love we have experienced in Jesus Christ - the kind of love that is not always thinking of ourselves but the ones we need to love. Once we decide to have this love, let’s also ask the Lord for grace so we can continually grow in this love to the point that we can truly discern what is excellent in our lives. Let me close with these statements of C. Neil Strait:
“Love is the one ingredient of which our world never tires and of which there is never an abundance. It is needed in the marketplace and in the mansions. It is needed in the ghettos and in the governments. It is needed in homes, in hospitals, and in individual hearts. The world will never outgrow its need for love.”
-Bishop Jeremiah Lepasana