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Standing on the back porch of my parents house after a few months of dating my high school sweetheart who is now my wife, I was ready to take that relationship to whole “nutha” level.  You know what I mean, I was ready to say “I Love You”.  It’s a big powerful phrase that can change the dynamics of any relationship. And now my wife and I can attest to the power of that phrase carrying us from that back porch in 1995, through the ups and downs of married life with kids, we won’t let one night go by without saying those words to each other.

 

Truly, love has become a passion for a thing, a deep affection for something that makes us feel alive and happy. Like reading a good book, watching a movie or just some easy listening music that moves our emotions.   Love like this is not necessarily bad, but love defined in this way is driven by emotion.  Its this type of love that drives romance, which is where we get the phrase “I’m falling in love with you”.  The problem with this is that love becomes something we can fall out of.  

 

Love is also defined as tolerance.  Instead of “judging” people we need to “love” people.  So in other words, as long as nobody is getting hurt, why should we call out something that is wrong, who are we to judge.  As long as people “feel” loved, accepted as though they belong, leave the issues of right and wrong alone.

 

According to a Psychology today article, “self-love” is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support our physical, psychological and spiritual growth.  

 

Self-love can be a natural and healthy appreciation of self, but also has the potential to easily become excessive, narcissistic, and selfish!

 

The bible assumes that we as human being love ourselves, which is why Jesus commanded  us to love our neighbor as our self.  The bible doesn’t ever tell us to love ourselves, it just assumes it.  The problem with self-love is not the lack of it, but the fact that we love our selves too much…self-preservation, self-pity, selfishness has become who we are … we live in the land of “selfies”.  

 

Most sins stem from love of self and a lack of love for God and others. Think about it: hate, greed, envy, murder, strife, gossip, slander, arrogance and pride all result from a love of self. 

 

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.People will be lovers of themselves…” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

 

Love has been defined in so many ways, its as though we have a junk drawer of definitions and we truly have a meaning of “I love you” that nobody really understand and in some ways we’ve lost the power of love in our society and in human relationships…and based on the scripture today, if we’ve lost the meaning of love, then we’ve lost the reality of God and being able to love God.

 

So according to Christian faith, the scriptures contain everything we need to know about life and especially love.  As we look at 1 John 4, God is defined as love.  And He showed this love by sending His son Jesus.   

 

JESUS STEPPED INTO THE STORY OF HUMANITY. (v. 9-16)

 

God said I see you. I accept you. I forgive you. I am here for you.  Just think how many times Jesus reached out to the isolated and invisible people of this world.  The Samaritan woman, the Leper, the blind beggar, the woman with the issue of blood, and the woman caught in adultery, even the criminal on the cross.  Jesus was the divine hug to a world who had lost its true meaning of love. He was the divine stamp that said “I AM NOW IN YOUR STORY”.

 

JESUS BECAME THE INSPIRATION FOR US TO LOVE OTHERS (v. 11-12;20-21)

 

Basically John is saying the greatest take-away from a life spent with Jesus…the validation that you’ve been with Jesus, is not the miracles, not the power, not the knowledge…but the love you show towards others.  

 

The patience, kindness, gentleness, the ability to take down the score board, the willingness to lay out the welcome mat after you’ve been hurt, 

 

God is the source of love, Jesus is the proof of love, 

and believers must be the agents of love in this world.

 

FINALLY, JESUS MOTIVATES OUR OBEDIENCE IN FAITH (v.17-19; 1 John 5:1-5)

This is God giving us eternal life, the hope in the promise and that motivates us to live obedient lives, placing our faith in the One who loves us like no one else can.

 

This is why Paul says “I forget everything behind me, and I press on towards the prize of Jesus Christ”

 

Jesus told his disciples in John 14 — in this world you will have trouble, sorrow, pain, … there will be times of uncertainty, worry, fear, anxiety… BUT TAKE HEART! … I have overcome the world and I go and prepare a place for you…

 

Even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death…neither death nor life, nor angels, nor demons, nor anything will be able to separate us from the love we have in Christ.

 

This is what should drive us to obey His commands, to live by faith and not by emotions.

 

Love is not passive, its not something that happens to you, its something you choose to do.  You choose to love God, You choose to love others…that’s why this statement says 

“I love…” I choose, I willingly and joyfully sacrifice, laying my life down because “I love YOU!”  That you is God, is others…

 

Jesus said everything hinges on this phrase, those words “I love you” matter!

 

So let me leave you with three action steps.

 

First, “I Love You” is meant to be PROCLAIMED.  Speak it, say it, share it, tell it, let your kids know, let your spouse know, let your neighbor know… 

 

Second, “I Love You” is meant to be PROVEN.  Don’t stop with words, back it up with action.  Show some compassion, share some time, listen, pray, be a shoulder someone can lean on.

 

Our love must be sincere, not out of reluctance or dead works, but out of deep hearted action and in truth. Godly compassion, authentic devotion, and real love are best demonstrated in the storm, not in the sunshine.

 

This Divine Love is meant to be the true reality of our faith in Christ…finding its expression in service to our neighbor, by clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, and ministering to the sick, the imprisoned and the “least of these”.   

 

Lastly, “I Love You” is meant to be PRACTICAL.  Its not an event, Its not a program, Its not a celebration, its not an achievement. It should be a part of who you are, a sense of your character, it should flow from your life to everyone around you.

 

In the great classic Disney film,  Mary Poppins measures out the children Michael and Jane then measures herself and reveals that she is practically perfect in every way…isn’t that what we wish, to live in a perfect world where everything just works out, where everyone is practically perfect in every way…the reality though is that this world is not perfect, there is hate, injustice, fear, worry, anxiety, and lots of trouble…but JESUS who is not just a created character on a screen HAS truly come to PERFECTED US IN EVERY WAY…driving out the fear and given us the power to overcome the world … today let the power of His love inspire, motivate, drive and compel you to be practically perfect in every way … until you come to the full measure of who God created you to be!