“The first ethic of every Christian should be love… The love of God is how we came to know Him in the first place…
Our invisible God is seen through the actions of our lives…
So we must address the culture we face with love, yes truth is necessary, but it should be given in love and not arrogance…
“God made us in His image, and we returned the favor, and made God into our image.” I believe this includes His character, and His love… God doesn’t love like us… His love is greater and deeper than we could ever imagine…
It’s our privilege, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to imitate that love, not to water it down and make it something more attainable…
Spiritual gifts are meant to be exercised in love…
Love is described in 1 Corinthians 13 with actions and behavior, not with emotions or inner feelings… Love here reflects the character of God…
The greatest in the Kingdom of God are not the most showy, but are those that allow the love of God to saturate and their lives and expressed His love by their actions…
This is not a scripture that minimizes the spiritual gifts, but speaks to what should drive the use of the spiritual gifts…
Those immersed in our culture will not have ears for the truth without first hearing our love… Love transcends and moves beyond culture and our differences…
The first act of addressing the culture around us is addressing our own hearts, that our hearts would be filled with the love of God… Only the Holy Spirit can do this work in us…
She wanted full unconditional acceptance, and her response to those that wouldn’t was entirely conditional acceptance…
Our enemies are not those people with views contrary to God… Our enemy is Satan who deceives hearts… our enemy is hardheartedness… our enemies are not those bound and blinded by Satan… They are the purpose of our calling, they are the ones we are to love, they are the ones God is calling us to snatch from the Gates of Hell…
Arrogance and pride and well-crafted arguments do not win souls, but the love and character of Christ within us, and the boldness to share the simple gospel is what wins souls…
The churches culture should run independent of the world around us. It doesn’t matter what the world says we should do, we are going to love each other… this defining love is more than just squishy good feelings; but delivers truth in love, is iron sharpening iron, is comfort in times of loss, is celebration in times of joy, is faithful and committed when tried, this love reflects the love of Christ we have received…
“We love, because He first loved us.” We can only have this “reactionary love” through the help and work of the Holy Spirit…”