Love One Another

Transcript

Rob McFarlane: 0:58

The title of my sermon today is Love One Another. Throughout the New Testament, we find numerous one another commands that guide us in how to live as followers of Jesus. The phrase one another is a reciprocal pronoun, signifying that the responsibility, action, or feeling is shared among all members of a group. One another highlights that each and every person is both a giver and receiver, and it emphasizes the mutual care and commitment we should have for one another. One another's tell us how we should live in a local church. Today we're looking at love one another. Let's read John chapter 15 verse 12 from the English Standard Version of the Bible. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. We're going to look at three things today. Number one, the command to love one another. In John 13, verse 34 and 35, we read, A new commandment I give you that you love one another just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. Jesus said that we should love one another just as I have loved you. Our standard in showing love for others should be Christ's love for us, not how well we're doing in comparison to somebody else. We should compare ourselves to Jesus Christ. I also want you to notice in verse 35, he says, By this all people will know that you are my disciples. The sign or distinguishing mark of a disciple of Jesus Christ is that we love others as he has loved us. The Christian life is defined by a love that mirrors the love Jesus has for us. This love is a testimony to the world that we are his disciples. Number two, let's look at the source of our love for one another. In 1 John chapter 4, verse 7 and 8 we read, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. We see that love originates from God. In fact, it tells us that God is love. And our ability to love others is a reflection of our relationship with God and evidence that we truly know Him. We see a positive and a negative in the verses we've just read. It tells us that if we love others, we show that we have been born of God and we know him. We also see the negative, which is if we do not love, it's evidence that we do not know God. We know in John chapter 3, verse 16, the Bible says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. We also know in Romans chapter 5, verse 8, the Bible says that God demonstrated his love for us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Before we earned or deserved anything, he sent his son Jesus Christ to show us his love. Love originates from God. Our ability to love others is a reflection of our relationship with God and evidence that we truly know him. Number three, the practice of love for one another. What does love look like? In particular in a church family, what does love look like? Romans chapter twelve and verse ten says, love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor. Love is demonstrated by showing genuine affection, honoring others, and treating each person with the care and commitment a beloved member of God's family deserves. We need to understand that in our churches there are people who are different to us. Some are extroverts, others are introverts. Some people have a particular way of doing things that might irritate us or we might find difficult. But as we love those people with Christ's love, we grow in our relationship with God and we become more spiritually mature. Loving others is showing genuine affection. It says in Romans 12 verse 10, show brotherly affection to one another. And we need to encourage one another, show appropriate affection and love with our words, with our attitudes, and with our actions. Also, look for ways that you can honor others. Honoring someone is speaking well of them, encouraging them, catching them doing things right, looking for opportunities to speak God's blessing over them. And I would encourage us to develop a culture of honor in our local churches where we can show people his love and speak words of life over others. So in summary, today we've seen three things. We've seen we should love one another as Christ has loved us. Follow his command and demonstrate his love as he has loved us, and this demonstrates that we are Christians. This shows the world that we are truly disciples of Christ. The second thing we've seen is that love originates from God and our relationship with him empowers us to love others. And finally, we saw we should practice love by demonstrating family affection and honoring one another. Take time this week to examine your heart and your relationships. Are you loving others as Christ loves you? Consider practical ways that you can demonstrate this love in your family, in your church, and in the community at large. Let's pray. And as we do, I invite you to ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you and show you what he wants you to do as a result of what you've heard in today's sermon. Let's pray. Father God, thank you that you demonstrated your love for us when we didn't deserve it or earn it. And we thank you that we can love others because you loved us first. We take seriously your command to love others as you have loved us. And we know that this demonstrates to the world around us that we are truly your disciples. As we grow in our relationship with you, our capacity to love others becomes greater. We want to know you and we want to make you known through our lives. Thank you that we can show affection and honor to others in our church family, in our families, in our sphere of influence. And we ask, Lord, that you would shine through us and you would show others your love through our lives in Jesus' name. Holy Spirit, speak to us now and show us what you want us to do as a result of what we've heard in today's sermon. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you so much for joining us today. If you're in our area, we invite you to join us for our in-person meetings. Please visit our website for more details. As we close, I would like to speak the blessing over you from Numbers chapter 6, verse 24 to 26. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Thank you. God bless you. The best is yet to come.