Trust in Jesus
1 John 4:18-21
If Love describes what God is like (& Jesus), and I am wanting to be more like God.
Then I should want Love to describe what I’m like more and more as I grow.
Love is / does | Love isn’t / doesn’t |
Patient | Does not envy |
Kind | Does not boast |
rejoices with the truth | Is not arrogant |
bears all things | Does not insist on its own way |
believes all things | It is not irritable |
hopes all things | Is not resentful |
endures all things | It does not rejoice at wrongdoing |
love covers all offenses (multitude of sins) | no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear |
Gives yourself up for another | |
Evil in our world and what we do about it.
Problems: Observing the evil around us causes fear.
& The love of many to grow cold (Matt 24:12)
John 18- 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
Romans 13 - All leaders/rulers/authorities were appointed by God. Even evil ones or ones you disagree with.
We are not responsible for removing evil from the world. Jesus will do that when the time is right. It will keep getting worse and more evil before he stops it for good.
We are of the truth if we listen to Jesus.
So, we do not join in evil. We say no. But we do not fight evil with another form of evil.
2 Thessalonians 2
6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
The Holy Spirit is holding back evil from doing its full will in our world. Because of this, we do not give in to fear and we do not let our love grow cold.
Instead we lean into that same power to perfect/complete us more in love so we do not fear and our love does not grow cold.
1 John 4
18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4
20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
1 John 4
21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Love requires
Trust in Jesus.
John 6
28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
believe : trust ; to think to be true; to be persuaded of; to credit, place confidence in;
John 6
30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
Love’s requirement
Trust in Jesus.