5. Pursue Love
As is true with all of His attributes, God is the embodiment of love. He is the source of all of the love that has ever been seen in this world, the means by which any hurt has been healed, the vessel for any comfort, hope and encouragement. Apart from God there is no love; there is only the using and devaluing of life. Within the heart of God are all the things that make us come alive and grow in grace, beauty, and value. When we are loved, all of our lives change. The story of our lives becomes stories of transformation from emptiness to fullness, from darkness to light, from despair to hope. When God loves us, He changes our natures as well as our lives because He gives us His very heart. Now we can love as we have been loved. Now we can be the means by which God touches the lives of others and brings the healing comfort of His love, just as He did with us.
MAY THE LORD DIRECT YOUR HEARTS INTO THE LOVE OF GOD
The apostle Paul shared a very special relationship with the church at Thessalonica. He had given himself freely in the gospel, and the church there had responded to him and to his message with a whole heart. In his first letter, he described his heart toward them in this way:
So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. (1 Thessalonians 2:8)
As Paul came toward the end of his second Thessalonian letter, he shared a closing exhortation with them that reflected not only their relationship but also his great desire for them as a church:
Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, (2 Thessalonians 3:1)
Pray that the gospel of Christ may run freely and win victoriously, as an athlete running his course! The church at Thessalonica was an example of what Paul desired to see in all of his ministry. “Just as it was with you,” Paul says. This is a powerful reminder to us. Modeling responsiveness to the Word of God is one of our most important ministries. God desires that we be examples of what He will do in the lives of those who are watching. Those of us in church leadership must know that a significant stewardship before God and before His people is modeling that responsiveness to His Word.
…that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. (2 Thessalonians 3:2)
Paul asks his brothers and sisters in Thessalonica to pray for him. He was not always surrounded by men and women of faith. Sometimes people would come into his band of ministers and profess commitment while possessing divisive and destructive hearts. Paul asked the church to pray for his protection in this area.
We see the shepherd of the flock as the protector of the sheep, but we must also see the sheep as the protector of the shepherd. Often in our churches, people who profess belief become involved in the work, even at the highest level of leadership. Yet from their hearts pours forth the destruction of the enemy. The destroyer has placed these evil men and women in our churches. His intention is for them to bring ruin to relationships, discouragement of hearts, and distraction of focus. Around them is a force that seems to consume all of the energy that would otherwise go to the work of the gospel and the building of the church.
Sometimes we come in contact with people like this as they make disparaging comments about the leaders or the pastor. They might make negative remarks about his preaching or question his style of leadership. Of course, according to Matthew 18:15-16, we should immediately send them to the pastor or leader with whom they feel they have a difficulty. If there is a problem, the persons involved must deal with it, and anything beyond that is gossip.
At the same time, we must deal with those attitudes quickly as we in the church come in contact with those who tear at the hearts of leaders. We need to quickly confront any negative comments and protect the integrity, reputation, and ministry of those God has entrusted to us. As His people, God raises us up as protectors of our shepherds in the face of attacks from evil men and women who try to destroy their hearts and the work of the church.
But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. (2 Thessalonians 3:3)
Paul not only asked the brothers and sisters at Thessalonica to pray for his protection; he also assured them of God’s protection in their lives. In God’s ever faithful love and power, His people are strengthened in the battles with the enemy of their souls. Satan “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8), but the people of God are protected in His care.
And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. (2 Thessalonians 3:4)
What a wonderful thing for a shepherd to say about a church! Paul was confident in the obedience of his brothers and sisters in Thessalonica. Can your pastor say that about you? If your pastor is away at a conference or involved in a ministry in another place, would he be able to say, “Whatever happens back at home, whatever the enemy brings, whatever temptations or difficulties they face, I know my people will remain faithful to the Lord and keep their eyes fixed on Him”? Paul had that confidence in the church at Thessalonica.
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. (2 Thessalonians 3:5)
We pray often for direction, coming before the Lord seeking guidance concerning our finances, our family needs, our vocational choices, and our ministries. The apostle Paul sets before us here the direction that our hearts need. Our hearts need to be directed into God’s love and Christ’s steadfastness. Paul’s exhortation to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11-12, the key passage from which our study is taken, urges this young man in the ministry to pursue love and endurance. That is where God brings us now in our aggressive walk of obedience as we hunger for Him and for those things that come from Him. We pursue love in all of our relationships and prepare for a life of perseverance.
LOVE THAT REVEALS GOD
The love of God is not only an environment in which He heals our hearts, but it is also a place where God reveals Himself to the world around us. In the upper room discourse during those last hours before the cross, the Lord Jesus set the dynamic of this truth before His disciples.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34-35)
After He called His followers to pour out to one another the same love they had received from Him, Christ told them that it is this love that will reveal that they have come from Him. Jesus returned to this theme during His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane:
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:20-23)
This message is the very heart of the gospel! The fact that Jesus has been sent by the Father to bring redemption and that we have come from Christ as His disciples, is revealed through our unity and our love for one another. In the final analysis it is not the persuasiveness of our preaching, the depth of our theology, the beauty of our music, or the dynamic presentation of our programs that communicate the reality of Jesus as the Messiah. The way we walk with one another in the process validates the message we proclaim.
I have had the privilege of visiting Linares, a village in Ecuador, several times. The village is located in the high jungle areas just northeast of Quito. The church there is pastored by Brother Rafael, a wonderful man of God and an excellent teacher of the Scriptures. I remember on one of my visits hearing the church pray with great earnestness that God would give them a deep love for each other and that He would give them hearts of servants toward one another in order that those around them would know that they were Christians.
I learned later that the church in Linares was in a time of heavy persecution from the non-Christians in the area. There were many threats and much pain as a result of their witness. A couple of years after I was there and heard them pray that God would give them His heart for one another, there was a devastating earthquake in the area that killed many people, including one of pastor Rafael’s daughters.
The area of the earthquake was cut off from Quito because the roads were closed and the lines of communication were down. Of course, many in the missionary community in Quito were gathering food, clothing, and medicine to help the victims of the earthquake. By the time they were able to get to the area, they found that the Christians there were already giving to one another out of the small resources they still possessed. They were doing everything they could to help those who had tried to destroy them. When the persecutors saw the love that these brothers and sisters had for one another and even for their enemies, there was a great response to the gospel of Christ in the midst of this devastating experience. Some of the former persecutors were born again.
It is that kind of love that distinguishes us as followers of the Lord Jesus in this world. Whenever our enemies around us see the way in which we serve one another and give to one another, they will realize that we come from Christ. When they see our unity that cannot be broken and the deep commitment that binds us, they will know that Jesus has been sent by the Father. The gospel is at stake in our responses to one another!
During His upper room discourse Jesus defined that serving, giving love when He washed His disciples’ feet. Afterward He said,
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. (John 13:14)
This kind of love is seen in a willingness to take the lowest place; it humbles itself and elevates others. Those who are filled with our Father’s love are willing to pour out life to build up others and to diminish themselves in order to make another person great. John, the great apostle of love, describes their responses this way:
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:16-18)
The giving of ourselves, the commitment of our possessions, the compassion of our hearts, and the actions of our lives—only these cause the words of our lips to be heard. May we reveal the Father as we lay down our lives for one another, even as Christ laid down His life out of His love for us.
GOD IS LOVE
How often have we seen the phrase God is love on a plaque and simply repeated those words to ourselves without grasping the full impact of their meaning? The apostle John, the one whom Jesus loved most intimately among His disciples, included this great truth in his strong exhortation for us to love one another:
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8)
God calls us to love one another because we find our life in Him. He is the source of love. When one is born of God, that person will love with God’s love. If love does not characterize a person’s life, that shows he does not know God. God’s very nature is to love, and for those who share His life, it is their nature to love as well.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9)
How do we know that God loves us? God always defines love as commitment, the giving of life to meet whatever needs are there. We were cut off from God’s life because of sin; that life was in His Son. We know God loves us because He gave us His Son in order that we might have life. We are not confident of His love because of a warm feeling that we have received from Him or from a superficial message sent to us, or because we have earned His favor by doing righteous works. We know God loves us because He gave us the life of His Son. Love must always be defined in terms of the commitment to meet needs, in terms of the giving of life.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)
As the apostle John continues to teach us about love, he tells us that God’s eternal transformation of our lives did not start with us. It was not when we became so sick of our sin that we came running to Him and asked Him to change our lives. It was not that we loved God and gave Him a reason to respond to us. All of this love was born in His heart apart from us; God chose to send His Son to pay the penalty of our sin.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:11)
Now, John continues, if God’s love for us meant the costly giving of His own Son to meet the desperate needs of our lives, and if the initiative for that love was found in Him, our love for one another must follow that same pattern. John tells us never to do anything less than this with one another and call it love. If God’s love is characterized by giving and commitment, even at great cost, so must our love be for one another. The superficial and casual things that pass for love in this world are only cheap imitations of what is real and true. When we, as men and women of God, pursue love, it will be the costly giving of ourselves to God and to one another.
LOVE THAT HEALS
One of the great difficulties that we as men and women have with love is that often we do not see ourselves as lovable, as worthy of receiving love. Sometimes we do not feel very good about ourselves or about the things we have done. For that reason we have a hard time believing that anyone else could feel any differently about us. Genuine love can never be measured by feelings. Feelings fluctuate greatly. If we take our view of ourselves from how we feel, we will be led from one emotional roller coaster to another. John deals with the need to affirm love as he continues:
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. (1 John 4:16)
John says that we have come to know God’s love and that we rest on, or believe, the love He has for us. These are two vastly different things. It is one thing to come to an understanding of a truth; it is something completely different to affirm that truth within our hearts and minds. All of the effects of God’s love for us bear fruit within our lives as we believe what He tells us and live in terms of what that means. We must believe what God says about how He sees us, how He responds to us, and about all that we have become in Him. When we live in the environment of God’s Person and His love, we share life with Him in a full and intimate way. As John continues, he describes the healing effects of God’s love as it flows out from Him and into our own hearts.
By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 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. (1 John 4:17-18)
The two most crippling forces in this world, and Satan’s powerful weapons against us, are guilt and fear. God’s love deals with those destructive weapons completely in our relationships with Him. God tells us that when we stand before Him on the Judgment Day, we will not shrink back, overwhelmed by guilt, because we believe what He tells us about our sin. Christ took all of our sin away at the cross; He bore our sins in His own body in order that we might be healed and set free. God will not dredge up anything from our past to use against us on the Judgment Day because all of our sin is gone. That is why we can stand before Him in complete confidence. God sees us as fully righteous as His own Son because He has justified us in Christ and has given us His righteousness.
God’s love not only takes away our guilt, it also deals completely with our fear. John says that perfect love casts out fear. Just as we would walk into a dark room, turn on a light, and have the light dispel the darkness, so God’s love dispels all of the fear that has filled our hearts. His love casts it out. Fear cannot remain where love dwells. John tells us that impending punishment is the basis for fear. If you take away the punishment, you remove the fear as well. That is what God’s love has done. When Christ cried out on the cross, “It is finished,” what He meant was that His sacrifice had paid all of the penalty for our sin. With no punishment waiting for the children of God, there is no basis for fear. God has healed us from the most crippling effects of sin and robbed Satan of his most imposing weapons in his war against our souls. Now God calls us to love Him in return and then to give that love away.
We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)
God has created us as vessels through whom He will pour out His love into this world. But before we can love, however, we must be loved. When we are changed by God’s eternal love, we become reservoirs filled with that same love that heals the lives of others. After God loves us in this way, He commands us to love our brother also:
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. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. (1 John 4:20-21)
LOVE THAT MOTIVATES AND TRANSFORMS
In our study of 1 John 4, we read, “We love because He first loved us” (v. 19). Our love for God, and for one another, is a response to His love for us. We have no capacity within ourselves to love the way God has called us to love. He must be the source of that love and the initiator of that response within our hearts. When we see how God has loved us in the giving of His Son, and how Jesus has loved us in the pouring out of His love for us, we are motivated to lay down our lives for Him and for one another in return.
The apostle Paul focused on this same theme as he wrote of our calling to be ministers of reconciliation:
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; (2 Corinthians 5:14)
The love of Christ compels us! What motivates us is not our past, our sin, our fear, our guilt, or a need for others’ approval. What motivates us is the love of Christ. God’s love for us and our responding love for Him have become the primary moving forces in our lives. God’s love has such integrity, character, and purity that He would never manipulate us with guilt or fear or by withholding His approval in order to get us to perform as He desires. He moves us by pouring out His love to us and calls us to pour out our lives in return:
He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Corinthians 5:15)
Our goals and priorities are transformed as we respond with whole hearts to the love of Christ. Before we came to know Him, we lived for ourselves. That was our nature, our way of life. Now that there has been a turning point in our life experience, we no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died and rose again for us. All of our resources, desires, and energies are poured out for Him and for the building of His Kingdom:
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)
Christ’s love controls us, transforms our life pursuits, and gives us the ability to see people in a completely new way. We used to look at people “from a worldly point of view” or “according to the flesh,” as the New American Standard translates this phrase. We viewed people in light of fleshly evaluations such as color, finances, position, or physique. We looked at people in terms of how we could use them or benefit from them. We often saw them, as we saw ourselves, in light of their past. This is the way the world around us teaches us to see people. Now, with the love of Christ compelling our responses, we see people as valuable because they are made in the image of God. All of their worth flows from the eyes of the Father. We look at people in terms of who they will become in Christ, and we give ourselves as their servants to bring them into relationship with Him.
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
“All this is from God”! He is the only source of love, transformation, and reconciliation. God is the only means of wholeness for hearts, for relationships, and for churches. Our Father is the initiator of reconciliation. From pursuing Adam and Eve, hiding in their sin in the Garden of Eden, to pursuing you and me in the cross of Calvary, wooing us in His love and drawing us by the Holy Spirit, God has initiated reconciliation. Now God’s love moves us to bring the wholeness of redemption to those who remain alienated from Him. We plead in His place with men and women, begging them to be reconciled to God:
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)
LOVE AS A SANCTUARY
In Romans 12 the apostle Paul calls us to present our bodies as living sacrifices, and then he links our entire transformation to the renewing of our minds. After teaching us to give the life of God to one another through spiritual gifts, Paul begins to show us what the love of God looks like as it comes alive in our relationships:
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans 12:9-10)
Our love for one another must be genuine and wholehearted. It must never be characterized by the imitations of the world; it can never be superficial in its responses. Love is decisive and strong; it is extreme in its commitments, expresses hatred for evil, and holds tightly to what is good. The love of God is filled with devotion toward our brothers and our sisters. It elevates others above ourselves and looks at them with esteem.
Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. (Romans 12:11-13)
Love is passionate in its responses and zealous in its pursuits, seeking every opportunity to serve. It delights in the times that bring joy; it remains constant in times of pain; it endures in prayer. God’s people are givers, looking for opportunities to share or to welcome those from outside:
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. (Romans 12:14-16)
Even as Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34), concerning those around the cross who sought to destroy Him, and Stephen said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60), concerning those who were stoning him, we return the forgiving, life-giving love of God to those who persecute us. We identify intimately with our brothers and our sisters in their sorrows and in their laughter. We pursue peace with one another in the love of God and do not exalt ourselves. In the humility that only God can give, we reach out to those the world rejects. We do not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (Romans 12:17-18)
As in the examples of Christ and Stephen, we do not return to others the pain they inflict on us. We see God’s mercy toward us, which keeps us from amplifying hurts in the lives of others. Love seeks righteousness and justice in all situations and seeks peace wherever it is possible. We do all that we can to bring harmony and wholeness to our relationships:
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” (Romans 12:19-20)
There is only one judge, and that judge is God. That leaves only one role for us, and that is servant. It is never in our hands to take revenge; that belongs only to the righteous One who is the only standard for justice. We leave vengeance to Him. Our responsibility is to extend mercy, to care for even our enemies. We meet their needs in the name of God, warming them with His love. In this way we are overcomers, destroying the evil that fills this world and revealing the heart of our Father. The love of God not only becomes a refuge for our brothers and sisters but a place of healing and redemption for those outside the fold of His church as they come to know Him through us!
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)
LOVE AND OBEDIENCE
Jesus fully defined the love that He was seeking from His disciples. Just as our study has revealed that God’s love is filled with the commitment to give, so it is with Christ as He seeks that same response from His followers:
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)
The Lord Jesus clearly links love to obedience! Obedience characterized Christ’s response of love toward His Father; that love moved Him to submit to His Father’s will in the giving of His life:
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8)
As Christ summarized His message and ministry to His disciples in those last hours before the cross, He called them to respond to Him with that same heart of love characterized by obedience:
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. (John 15:9-10)
Hearts of loving obedience flowing outward as a result of our inner transformation express love in our relationship with Christ. Out of our love for Him, a consuming desire to please Him and to do His will pours from our hearts.
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:11)
Joy is the fruit of love. God calls us to obedience in order that we might share His joy! The joy of Christ, who delighted in doing His Father’s will, overflows in our hearts as well, as we delight in His will. This verse is a great encouragement to all of us who are seekers of pleasure. Joy overflows in our lives and to the point of complete fulfillment as we come before our Lord with hearts of obedience. For His glory and for the sake of our own joy we obey Him!
[Jesus said] “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12-13)
Jesus’ love for us meant laying down His life. Only through His sacrifice do we share in the life of God. We are reconciled through Christ’s death on the cross. Our love for one another now follows His example. We lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters:
You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:14-15)
Friendship in the Scriptures is a deep level of intimacy. We were slaves of sin, but now we have become enslaved to God. We desire to serve Him because of all He has done for us, but He invites us beyond the place of the servant to the oneness of friendship. We were His enemies, but now He calls us friends!
In an intimate friendship there is deep sharing. We hold nothing from one another. Jesus reveals to us all that He has learned from His Father. He invites us to know Him, even as He desires to know us. Christ calls us to a life of obedience in an environment of freedom, giving, knowing, intimacy, and commitment. That is love in the context of friendship. It gives, and invites giving in return. He died for us; now He gently, firmly calls us to live for Him:
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:1-3)
REFUGE, AND A LONG LIFE
The psalmist gave a vivid word picture of the security of those who have fixed their love on God:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. (Psalm 91:1)
God is a shelter in which we live, and we find rest in His shadow. He is a refuge to which we can run from our enemies, a secure fortress in which we can hide. When we claim the Lord of creation as our God, our hearts can trust in Him:
I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” (Psalm 91:2)
After the psalmist vividly describes God as the One who covers us and becomes our shield, our protector and our deliverer, he quotes God’s own words concerning those who are the recipients of His love and who love Him in return. The intimacy of His care, the promise of His presence, the power of His protection, the honor that only He can bring and the satisfaction of a long life are ours. The salvation and deliverance of our God will be the hallmarks of our lives. This, and all of eternity, are for those who are beloved of God and who love God in return!
Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:14-16)
GROUP STUDY GUIDE AND PERSONAL APPLICATION
1. Do you have difficulty believing that God loves you as He says He does? Why do you feel this way? Has that affected your ability to love others?
2. How can you more effectively function as a “protector of the shepherds” at your home church? Why is this so important to God?
3. List the things that happen when our hearts are “directed into the love of God.” What are the effects on us as well as on the gospel?
4. How would a “love that serves” transform the relationships in your church? Why is it so difficult to love one another in that way?
5. When the apostle John says, “God is love,” what does he mean? Isn’t God many other things as well? Why would John focus on love as a definition of God?
6. Why would God not use guilt or fear to motivate us when we have seen how effective they are as motivators in the world? Why does He use love instead to motivate us in life and ministry?
7. Put in your own words what it means for the love of God to become a sanctuary for His people.
8. Are the relationships in your church characterized by the love that Paul describes in Romans 12? What needs to change for that to be the norm in your responses to one another?
REFLECTIONS, COMMITMENTS, AND PRAYER
Spend some time in personal worship, thanking God for His faithful love to you. Praise Him for His unchanging love when your own love for Him has wavered again and again. Pray for the pastors and elders at your church, and ask God to protect them from the evil one. Ask God to make your own heart sensitive to opportunities to encourage them. Thank God for His promise to protect you from Satan as well.
As you pray for yourself, ask God to direct your heart into His love and to enable you to experience all of the healing and motivation for ministry that flow from a heart loved by Him. Thank Him for removing the guilt and fear from your heart and for setting you free to love Him in return. Pray, too, that your relationships in your church will be characterized by Paul’s description in Romans 12 and will cause you to be a witness to the world in your relationships with one another.
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
Hebrews 12:3