Galatians 5:22-23 - Love is More than a Verb - (2021-09-19)

Galatians 5:23-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 1 Corinthians 13:13, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” What is love? Is love an emotion? An ocean of emotion, quiver in my liver, knot in the stomach Is love controllable? I just fell in love * O can’t help myself, I’m in love Is love an action? I do the things I love I believe love contains all three if properly understood. * Love is a choice (Head) - Col 3:14 * Love is a feeling (Heart) - 1 Cor 13:1-3, Rom 9:2, 10:1 * Love is an action (Hands) - 1 John 3:18 God models these 3: * God chooses to love us (Eph 1:4-5) * Feels love for us (Mark 10:21) * Shows His love (Rom 5:8) 5 Conditions of Love 1) Be filled (with Christ) - Eph. 3:17-19 2) Be forgiving (of Others) - Col. 3:13 Listen: It is difficult to love someone and hate them at the same time. Holding bitterness in your heart against someone, you rehearse the offense, the pain, over & over, you only hurt yourself. HURT people HURT people. Ernest Hemingway “Capital of the World.” Story of a father & son named Paco “Paco, All is forgiven! Meet me at the newspaper office at 9 am tomorrow. Love, your Papa.”  The next day at noon, there were 800 young men named Paco wanting forgiveness from their father. 3) Be focused (on Others Needs) - Phil. 2:1-5 Hachiko. 4) Be first (to love) - Luke 6:27-28 Rom 5:8, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 5) Believe - 1 Cor. 13:7-8a The love that has been poured into our hearts by God is to be a love that bears all things from others… believes all things in others…. Hopes all things for others…. And endures all things of others. Can you love someone who is seemingly unlovable? Can you believe with all your heart and hope with certainty that the other person can be loved and changed by God? We act as if love is a 50%-50% agreement. That is a worldly perspective. God is love… and we will only find true love in Him He did not love us with a 50%-50% agreement… but He loves us 100%