CHAPTER
4
PART 5
GOD LOVES YOU
“[No]….greater love…than this…”(John
15:13 KJV)
*
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| MATTHEW 20:28 |
God considers
those he chooses and draws as more important than himself. He loves you so
deeply. Even though he is the Almighty God he serves his love ones his blessings
in the same manner as a committed servant.
God is the only
one who truly has a right to think highly of himself, yet he is willing to
serve in the most menial position for you. God’ love is not boastful but
modest.
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| 1 CORINTHIANS 13 |
God’s
love is not prideful,
but humble. Pride linked to love describes a person who is selfish.
Jesus was a
perfect example of an authentic, humble love. He came into the world with all
the rights and support of heaven yet he became a servant out of his love for “…the world” (John 3:16 KJV).
Jesus previously
knew the unlimited freedom of the Holy Spirit, but humbly put on the limitation
of the flesh for love (Philippians 2:6-8).
Jesus could have
been prideful and choose not to be obedient to God’s will, but his love for sinners
made Him stay, “…obedient unto death –
even the death on a cross…” (Philippians 2:7 KJV).
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| JOHN 3:16 |
Jesus
demonstrated his love by not thinking of himself and becoming a humble servant
through his death on the cross for “..the [whole] world..” (John 3:16 KJV).
Pride is not a
holy characteristic and “…is not from the
Father [above]…” (1 John 2:16 ASV).
Pride is concerned
about pleasing oneself, while humility is concerned with benefiting someone
else.
Humble love
primarily looks out for the needs of the one loved and is focused on loving his
or her neighbor as they love themselves.
God greatly
opposes the prideful, but supports the humble with abundant grace (James 4:6).
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| ROMANS 12:3 |
The bible warns
“…not to think more highly of …[yourself]
than [you]… ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment…”
(Romans 12:3 ASV).
Pride exalts
itself with its own self-applause and makes love focus on self more than on others.
God says, “…everyone who exalts himself
will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted…” (Luke 18:14
ASV).
Remember,
however, God tells you not to be selfish, not selfless. God loves out of his
abundance and wants you to follow suit. God’s love is not prideful.
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| 1 CORINTHIANS 13 |
God’s
love is never rude,
but polite or courteous. God treats those he loves with the utmost respect and
dignity.
God always
demonstrates good manners, even if you make mistakes or are rude towards Him.
God’s love does not treat a person according to their wrongs towards Him. Instead
of rudeness, God reacts with grace instead.
Therefore, God’s
behavior is always honorable and respectful. God’s love will never be
experienced as mean, vengeful, manipulative, cruel, or resentful.
Even if you do
something that deserves a rude response, God’s grace will always direct him to
treat you with politeness.
Grace is a core
characteristic of God. Many people do and speak to each other insensitively or
thoughtlessly, but God’s love language is deeply, immutably considerate
(Philippians 2:2-6).
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| GOD'S ONGOING TRAIT |
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God’s love is
polite because he is the absolute expression of politeness. God’s ongoing
desire to be courteous and utterly mannerable - is unchanging.
God’s politeness
demonstrates how important you are to him personally and therefore, God’s holy
manners are constantly in action at all times.
Mankind often treats
each other rudely based on what they feel at the moment. Rudeness can be seen
through the fruit of unforgiveness, holding onto anger, ongoing resentment,
unfaithfulness, projecting your wrongs onto others, excusing bad behavior, through
criticism, abuses of any kind, all unkindnesses, and other fleshy behaviors
that can potentially diminish another person’s spirit.
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| USUALLY A FIRST RESPOND |
Mankind’s love
has a tendency to react with rudeness first - or putting down another’s
character - instead of respect or honor.
Human nature
doesn’t immediately take the high road of good-manners, but will often choose
rudeness as an initial response.
When something
happens to cause conflict between two people, the one who feels they have been
done wrong will be concerned with his or her feelings instead of the other
persons.
The first
response to conflict or misunderstanding is usually criticism, rudeness,
arguments, or tearing the other person down.
This behavior is
not a demonstration of Godly love and totally misrepresents the ongoing
politeness of God’s ways. Rudeness is NOT and is NEVER an example of true love.
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| ITS SELF-SACRIFICING |
God’s
love is not self-seeking,
but self-sacrificing. God gave his only begotten Son to save your life from the
destruction of sin (John 3:16).
God’s self-sacrificing love
demonstrates the way God intervened and manifested himself through Christ and
changed everything for your salvation.
When you give up your life through
the “…death…” of self, like Christ’s“…death of the cross…” it’s the truest
example of self-sacrificing love (Philippians 2:7 KJV).
Jesus abandoned any personal
interest of his own for your well-being, which meant more to him. The bible
says, “….For Christ pleased not himself;…” (Romans 15:3 KJV).
Evidently, God was committed to loving you, on
the deepest level, no matter what it cost Him to do it.
“Greater love hath
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13
KJV).
Jesus’ self-sacrifice,
death on the cross, - to redeem sinful humanity - was an overly generous
performance of an undeserving love.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23 KJV).
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| LOVE IS COSTLY |
Love is always costly and therefore, self-sacrifice
will challenge you sooner or later. Self-sacrificing behavior will make you put
aside your own feelings, your wants, your needs, your interests, and your
desires for the benefit of the object of your love.
God, through Jesus, literally laid down his entire
life for you. You were the object of his love and sometimes the object of God’s
love will not reciprocate that love and will reject it instead.
Yet, God is willing to risk his heart, anyway,
through self-sacrificing love. God’s self-sacrificing love respects your wishes
and gives you over (not up) to your own desires; even when they don’t include Him.
The Old Testament records stories of God’s wrath and
judgment
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| I STILL LOVE YOU |
regarding continuous sinful behavior. God gets angry at sin, but not
YOU and continues to love you even when you shut him out of your life.
However, it appears that God ran out of love with
sinful Israel over and over, when in fact he didn’t.
EXCERPT FROM THE CHAPTER
"GOD LOVES YOU" FROM THE
BOOK TRANSFORMING LOVE
everlasting one. “[No]….greater love…than this…”(John
15:13 KJV).
