REAL LOVE: PART 1

Apr 22, 2019

WHAT IS REAL LOVE?

Today we are going to talk about how LOVE FORGIVES

1 Corinthians 13:1-7, “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”(NLT)

We all need forgiveness, and we all need to extend forgiveness!

Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”(NIV)

  • We are all born sinners.
  • Bad things have happened to us
  • And we have done bad things to others.

When you have received forgiveness and you are walking in forgiveness of those who have hurt you or things you have done, you will experience healing and freedom.

There are seven qualities I'm going to cover this week and next week of Walking in Forgiveness. So, today, we're starting with the first four:

  1. LOVE IS NOT RUDE

Have you ever met someone who claims to be a Christian and they are rude?

  • Ignorance and Pride lead to Rudeness
  • Wisdom and Humility lead to Respect

Proverbs 18:2, “A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions.”(NIV)

Have you ever met someone who was opinionated and proud of it?

That’s not a fun person to be around.  

And rudeness can be very contagious!  

Just because we may be right doesn’t give us an excuse to be rude or mean.

Rick Warren says, “If you’re right and rude you are wrong.”

Truth without Grace is Mean

  • Grace without Truth is Meaningless
  • Truth and Grace is Healing

Proverbs 15:33, “Fear of the Lord teaches a person to be wise; humility precedes honor.”(NLT)

  1. DOESN’T DEMAND IT’S OWN WAY

Real love doesn’t demand its way.

The remote control at the house is a true test of love demanding its own way. 

  • Selfishness leads to Demanding our way
  • Generosity leads to Serving others.

Matthew 20:28, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”(NLT)

Jesus came to serve and to give.

  1. IS NOT IRRITABLE– oh. This is a tough one. How many of you when you are tired or not feeling good can be a little irritable?

 

Pet Peeves are a good example of what can irritate us the most.

Do you have any pet peeves?

Some of mine are typos, bad grammar, and close talkers.

I asked my friends on Facebook and here are some of the answers:

  • Mouth noises and slurping
  • People who are habitually late
  • People who don’t signal on the interstate or slow drivers in the left lane
  • Rude, inconsiderate and arrogant people
  • Not responding to an email, text or phone calls
  • People talking loud on their cell phones in public
  • Close talkers
  • Facebook polls
  • My pet doesn’t talk so I don’t know what peeves her
  1. KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONG

Jesus set the example of this.

Jesus forgives and forgets!

Isaiah 43:25, "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”(NIV)

It can be challenging to us!

When we get hurt we can tend to live in the past and keep bringing it up.

The devil wants you to hold on to the past, to hold on to unforgiveness, to hold on to that hurt, but in Jesus' name you can let go and let God set you FREE!

One thing Martha and I do to apply this is we write letters that the other person will never read and then burn them. The letter is where we let out all our anger and frustration, rather than taking it out on them. Then we write in a thankful journal 10 things we appreciate about the person we wrote to in the burn letter. 

We need to forgive and put it in the past.