Love One Another: I John 4:7-8 Sermon by Pastor J

The importance of showing love in a world filled with hate

How God's love transforms people and gives them a new creation

The story of Ruth and her selfless love for her mother-in-law

The connection between God's love and loving one another

Thank you. And today, of course, is Valentine's Day, and it's a day we celebrate by showing love for our families and our spouses and our friends and all that type of stuff. But we've got to remember the greatest show of love ever was given by God. John 3.16 tells us that. For God so loved this world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That was the point. But when we look at this world, we see a world that's just so filled with hate. So much hate. There's so much hate. It's almost palatable, the hate that when you go out and you're in the world, it's like the old term, the thickest pea soup. The fog is as thick as pea soup, right? And the point is, the hatred in this world is so thick. You can just feel it. What happened to the love? What happened to the concern? What happened to the love that we should be sharing? Jesus Himself was love for us. So where is the love? We need to show love in this day and age. Let's read what it says in 1 John 4, starting in verse 7. It says, Beloved. I like that word, beloved. Much loved, if you will. That's what it comes down to from John 3.16. For God so loved the world. We are beloved by God. He loves us so much. He says, beloved, let us love one another. Let us love one another. In a day when we are so filled with hate, Oh, well, you don't believe the way I believe I hate you. Well, you didn't vote maybe the way that I voted, so I can't stand you. You know? You're a Democrat. I'm a Republican. You're an independent. You know, we have all this divisiveness and strife. If someone doesn't believe the exact same way we believe, we hate. And what it comes down to with our belief system is that everybody has that choice. God gave us that choice. He said you can love me as I loved you or you can decide to do something else. That is every human's choice. I don't hate somebody that doesn't choose to believe the way I believe. I pray for them. I hope they will come around because I know the truth. The truth is that Yahweh God sent His only begotten Son to die for every single man, woman, boy and girl in this world. And I hope and pray that some way, some shape or some form that these people will understand that. But I don't hate them. You want to believe the way you want to believe, that's fine. I believe the way I want to believe. And I don't want you to hate me. So I don't hate somebody the way they believe. It's just I pray for them. I show that love. I love people. I don't want to be a person filled with hate. Because I was a person filled with hate. I was. Now a lot of people look at me and they say, you were a person filled with hate. I was. Before God really got a hold of me and changed me. my mom and my dad and people that knew me could attest to the fact of how filled with hate I was it was perniating my every beam it was so so much that you could just tell it on my face everywhere I went it was the type of thing that if you saw me in the store, if a stranger saw me in the store, the way I walked around, you didn't want to go nowhere near me because you felt like maybe, just maybe if you brushed up against me, I might knock your lights out. I mean, that was how filled with hate I was at a certain point in my life. I'm not proud of that. I'm just saying that is how God has changed me. I've changed because of the love of God. The love of God transforms. If any man be in Christ, what? He's a new creation. Old things are passed away and behold, all things become new. That was the point. Well, we need to love one another. We need to love one another. I love the term love one another because it reminds me of a dear lady in the Bible. You may know this lady. Her name was Ruth. You remember the story of Ruth? Wow. What a beautiful story. Ruth was a Moabite woman. She was not a Jewish woman, but she fell in love with Boaz, who was Jewish descent, and she got married to him, and she took over Her love for God, she became a convert, if you will, to Jehovah God. Boaz sadly died. Now Ruth had one of two choices. She could stay with her love with God or she could go back to the way she was. Ruth at this point looks at her mother-in-law and her mother-in-law says, you need to go back to where you came from. You need to go back to your family. Let them take care of you. Be with them. And she said, no. I love Yahweh. I love Jehovah. Wherever you go, I will go. She followed her mother-in-law and followed God. And she cared for her mother-in-law. She didn't have any reason that she had. She didn't have an obligation to her. She had no reason that she had to do that. but she did it because she loved. Now what a blessing that is. What a blessing it is to see someone that loves so much that she sits there and throws off anything of her own life, anything that would be considered anything to make her happy, to care for her mother-in-law and to love God and to learn of the ways of God. Wow. Now that, that's selfless love And that's the kind of love we need to have in this generation for other people. I love this. Beloved, let us love one another. Why? For love is of God. Let's go back to the beginning. When God created this world, He created this world in six days out of love. And that was the point. He created this world in six days out of love. He said, you know what? I have the angels, but I want to do something else. So he created the world that we stand upon. He created this beautiful world Yes yes there is a lot of wickedness in this world Yes there a lot of stuff we don like in this world But the point is this is still a beautiful world It's a beautiful creation. All you've got to do is when spring begins to spring, you know, when it begins, the flowers begin to bloom, and you begin to see the things, you can look around and you can say, wow, look at how beautiful it is. Even in the winter, we hate snow. Some of us, most of us probably. But we hate snow, but even in the snow, the snow is beautiful when it falls. Now after it lays for a while, it's not as beautiful. It gets a little more dirty and a little more disgusting looking. But when it first falls, a first fallen snow, it's beautiful. It's gorgeous. We see the magnificence of God's creation. How He created this world with love. He created the animals. And what a magnificent thing to see all the animals, all the different creatures that God created, from the birds singing in the trees to the deer that come down out of the woods and begin to look for something to eat, to the cats and the dogs and all the beautiful animals. It's just amazing. We see God's creation and then God's greatest creation, His masterpiece, which is mankind. Now mankind has took God's greatest masterpiece and perverted it, of course, but it's still God's masterpiece. It was all done out of love. God came down in the cool of the evening to spend time with Adam and Eve because He loved them. Because God is love. Love is of God. just a few verses down in 1 John 4 and verse 19. It says, we love Him. Why? Because He first loved us. And that's the point. God so loved that He gave. And that's the point. I love this. He says, and everyone that loveth is born of God. I love that. Everyone that loveth is born of God. Why is that the key? Because God is love. That's the point. If God is love and we show love, that means we are born of God. That means we are one of His creations. We are part of that glorious family. We are part of that elected few. I love that. Everyone that loveth is born of God. But John 15 and verse 12 tells us this, that this is my commandment. These are the words of Jesus. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. I love it. It's so beautiful. Because God is love. It's what it comes down to. And he continues here in this passage here that we're reading. It says, and knoweth God. If we are loving, we are born of God and we know God. We know God. I'm going to tell you, there is nothing in this world better than knowing a God that cares about you. There's nothing better than that. Knowing that when you pillow your head at night, that He is watching over you. there's nothing better than that. There's nothing better than you can put your head down on the pillow at night and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He's loving on you and He's protecting you. I'm going to tell you, because sometimes night time can be so difficult for people because it is the darkness and it's the unknown. And it's like someone, my dad used to say this, that most of the time bad things happen at night. Most of the time, bad things happen at night. You'll get that phone call. Someone got sick. It usually happens at night. It's usually that. And so, night time can be so difficult. But here, when we know God, we can pillow our head and realize God is in control. And God loves. And God cares. and when you know you have one that cares, that's all that really matters. That's all that really matters. I love it. Then he says, He that loveth not... Oh boy, here it is. There's always a good part and then there's a bad part, right? But here it is. He says, He that loveth not... What? Knoweth not God. So what we're seeing is in a world that is so filled with hate And we're seeing people filled with hate We see it in our politics We see it in Hollywood We see it in everyday life We see it all over the board I mean, all you gotta do And that's why I kind of stay away from social media as much as I possibly can Pick up your phone go on Facebook, go on Twitter, go on Instagram, go on a different place and just look. Nine times out of ten when you're looking through somebody's feed or trending topics or whatever, you'll find something there that's bad. Maybe somebody that just doesn't like somebody and they're sitting there bad-mouthing them. You know, I learned a long time ago and this is true if I got nothing good to say about somebody you know what I do? I don't say nothing I don't sit there and bad mouth them if I ain't got nothing good to say I don't say nothing why do I do that? first of all that's not love if you do that and number two you know what's going to happen? it's going to blow up in your face that's what's going to happen because not only is that person going to get mad at you, but then they'll get all their other cronies to come around and start jumping on you, and then you've got all this big, huge war going on. So it's better to just keep it silent and not say nothing. Just be quiet. That's what I learned a long time ago. Because let me tell you, there are things that happen in this world that I want so bad to weigh into. I mean, I really do. I mean, I see things, and it's like, oh, no, don't do that. You know, you just start there, and it's like, ooh. Coach Herm Edwards, many of you that are football fans would know Coach Herm Edwards. Herm Edwards was an amazing guy. He was mentoring the young guys, and I remember at one time, he said when they had social media, when Twitter was coming out and all, and they were all getting into trouble, he said, I told my boys this I told my players this Before you hit send Think Because that's the point We don't think before we hit send We don't think before we hit send We just hit send and then afterwards You know what? You can't take it back Oh you can delete the tweet But if somebody saw it It's already too late You know? It's already too late If you posted something on Facebook and you deleted it, that doesn't mean somebody didn't see it. And that's the point. So we've got to think before we act. We've got to think before we speak. Don't just let the words come out. Think about it. Because we never know what words we using and how it going to affect somebody else There an old statement it true and it false Now I know everybody going what But it is. In one way it's true and in another way it's false. You all probably have heard it. I know you probably have. There's an old statement that says sticks and stones can break my bones but names will never hurt me. That's true in a lot of ways but it's also false in a lot of ways. Because words can hurt very bad. They can break your heart. But if you think about it words are not going to physically damage you. No, of course not. But they can emotionally damage you. And that's why we've got to live by the golden rule. What's the golden rule, Pastor Jay? Well, the golden rule is do unto others before they do it to you, right? Is that what it says? No, no, no, no. It says do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And if we all live that way in this world, if every single person will live that way in this world, we wouldn't even need heaven. Now, we all want heaven, of course, but I'm saying we wouldn't need it because this world would be heaven on earth. It really would. If everybody lived that way, I'm not going to hurt you because I want you not to hurt me. Wow. Wouldn't that be amazing? Wouldn't that be an amazing world to live in? Now, let's be honest. Do I think that's ever going to happen? No, not in this world, sadly. But we can be like that. And we need to be like that. Because if we know God, then we show love. But if we don't know God, then we don't show love. That's what it comes down to. Interesting. We're living in a selfish world. Everything is about us. Our desires. Our wants. Our wishes. We need to think about what is God's desire. What does this say? It's not about what we want. It's about what God wants. What does God want for my life? Oh, I have my plans. I have my desires. I have the things I want to do. But does my desires match up with His? see my desires my wishes and my plans didn't work out said that many times would never have dreamed here I'd be standing behind the pulpit doing this my English teacher in my Christian school knew apparently I've told that story but it's so true I look back on it now and I think, man, people were speaking it in my life long before I even realized it. Because we had competition, you know, among the Christian schools, right? And they needed a preacher for the competition. And my English teacher, who happened to be the pastor's wife, came to me and said, you're preaching for us in competition. And I went, who's she talking about? and this was in the middle of the whole school. She pointed at me and said, you are going to preach for us in competition. I looked around. And she went and pointed right at me. She said, Jason, I'm talking to you. And I went, I declined. And she said, no, that wasn't a request. I was telling you you're going to do it. And I went, I went home that day, and I went to Dad, and I said, Dad, I need your help. And he said, okay, what can I do? And I said, Miss Best asked me, she told me, actually, she didn't ask me, she told me I'm going to preach in competition for the Christian school. And he said, okay. And I said, I need you to go talk to her. He said, no. Pardon me? He said, no. Do it. And I said, I don't want to do it. And he said, I don't care. Well, I've got them all loving all over me here, don't I? You know? And I fought that for years. I fought that call for most of my life. And I can't believe it, but it's hard to believe ten years later, here I am. I've been doing this for... Mind-blowing. I've been doing this for 10 years. Can you believe that? It's unbelievable. 10 years later, I've changed a lot. My hair has gotten a little longer and a little grayer and I'm getting a little older. Body's not as good as it used to be. Bad knees, shoulders getting bad, arthritis kicking in. But ten years later, here I am still doing this. And God has blessed. God has blessed me. And it all started from a time when I said, God, I'm sick and tired of being filled with hate. And I need to stop the hate in my life. I need to stop the hate in my life because it is killing me. and at that point God came in and began to change me. Did it happen overnight? No. But as I look back on it, now ten years later, and every day I look back on it and I think, when did it stop? When did that hatred, when did that thing finally leave me? I can't tell you. Because it was a process. It just came one day where all the hatred was gone, all the divisiveness, all the strife, all the thing that was inside of me that was keeping me so filled with rage, I just look back and I go, I don't know when it stopped, but it stopped. And you know what? It has changed my life. It has made me a much happier person. And it's made me a lot better person to deal with, I'm sure. Amen? Amen? I got it. because she knows. She knows. It's made me a lot easier to deal with. And that all comes from God. But it comes down to this. We need to show love. In this day and age, we need love. This world needs love. We need to show love. So how do we show love? I'm going to share with you three quick ways to show love in this generation to other people. And then we're going to pray. But hopefully you'll get a blessing from this. Three ways we can show love. First one is found in Ephesians 4 and 32. Ephesians 4 and 32. We can forgive. It says, be kind to one another. Tender hearted, forgiving one another. as God for Christ forgave you Why do we not want to forgive Were we not forgiven Of course we were So why do we harbor bitterness towards someone that has maybe done something bad to us? I've told this story, but I'll tell it again because it's something I can relate to. And that is simply this. I had someone that hated me very bad and treated me very bad. But there came a point where that person said to me, I'm sorry. Now, I had one of two choices at that point. I could sit there and say, no, I'm not going to accept your apology. No, I'm going to harbor this bitterness for the rest of my life. And I will never speak to you again. And I will keep hating on you. And you know what would have happened? it would have drug me down to a point where I wouldn't have been able to survive and I would have been dead probably a long time ago because hatred will kill you. It will literally destroy you from the inside out and it will destroy your body. But I've come to a point now where that person forgave, asked for me to forgive them and I've forgiven them and I can fellowship with that person and it's amazing. And it's an amazing thing to see how that has all changed. We need to forgive one another. No matter what that person does. No matter what that person did to you. Don't let what someone did to you destroy you and your here and now. Because that's what happens when we harbor that. It destroys us. So we've got to learn to forgive one another. Number two is found in 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 11. 1 Thessalonians 5 and 11. A very simple word. Comfort. He says, wherefore, comfort yourselves together and edify one another even as also ye do. We need to comfort ourselves and also comfort one another. Someone's going through something, going through something difficult. You know, in this day and age it's very difficult. It can't, it's difficult. You know, COVID's happened and it's difficult because you can't hug one another. If somebody's going through something, you can't sit there and say, love you. Can't do that. Can't even reach out the hand and shake somebody's hand. Can't do that. But we can say, I love you. I'm praying for you. And you know what? And when you do say that, make sure you do it. don't just say the words, make sure you do it but when we do that that brings comfort to that person going through such a difficult time so comfort that's a way to show love and kind of piggybacking on that is found in Galatians 6 and 2 it says bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ So bear that person's burdens Bearing someone's burdens Is much more than just saying I love you It's being there for that person It's being there for that person When that person is going through a difficult time You're maybe not hounding them But you're calling them on the phone Maybe every so often, text them Sit there and say, hey, how's things going today? You okay? Everything cool? anything I can do, let me know. I'm here for you. Those are the ways we bear one another's burdens. We make another person's burden a little bit lighter. You know what I'm saying? That's the point. We need to make someone's burden a little lighter. Reminds me of Jesus as Jesus was carrying the cross to Calvary. The cross became so heavy that He fell. And the cross fell down upon Him. the Roman soldiers pointed to a man in the crowd and said, come here, carry his cross. Picked it up, carried it to Golgotha's hill for Jesus. Sometimes we need to help pick up somebody's cross that they're bearing. And when we do that, you know what happens? It makes that person's burden a little bit lighter. Just a simple word of, I love you. I'm praying for you. you know it's something because God just told me something in my ear it's something I've been struggling with and yeah God's saying go ahead and do it okay I have a difficulty sometimes saying I love you I really do I'm just not a I have a very difficult time with that. I don't know why. I mean, it's not that I don't, but to say those words is very difficult for me. I have a lot, I mean, some of you will notice that. You'll text or you'll message or something and you'll say, we love you and whatever. And it's like, it's so difficult for me to say it back. It's not that I don't. I don't, it's just those words to actually say them. And God just whispered in my ear, he said, don't be afraid to say I love you. Because those words has nothing to do with anything that, you know, sexual, anything like that. That's not what that is. That words is what I said to you. I love you. So men, don't be afraid to say it to another man. Because it doesn't mean anything. It's just meaning you care for somebody. Men, women, don't be afraid to say it to somebody else. Of the opposite sex is not a major deal. You're not going to get into trouble. Nobody's going to sit there and say, oh, maybe you're... No, it's just we love one another. Like brothers and sisters, that's the point. You love your brothers, you love your sisters. Yeah. Well, that's what we are here. We are family. Let's love one another. Let's pick up those burdens for one another. And let's care for one another. Because that's what God told us to do. Thank you. Thank you. you

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