The rest of us, we go to Galatians chapter 5, verses 16 through 24. Galatians 5, 16 through 24. I'm going to read it. You're going to follow along. I'm reading from the English Standard Version. Galatians chapter 5, verses 16 through 24. Galatians 5, 16 through 24. But I say walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. Now, the works of the flesh are evidence, sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I've warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its desires. Stop there. Last Sunday we began a new study and we're looking at fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit on the vine. What does it mean to grow in Christ likeness? And it's essential to remember that the fruit is not a group of moral commands. What you read there, we're zeroing in on verses 22 and 23. All right. Um, it's not a group of just moral commands. Just do better, do, you know, behave better, do hard. You know, no, no, it's not just a group of moral commands. It's not different ways to live a better life. This is not, you know, your best life now, 2.0. All right? No, it's not. It's, listen, it's, it's the reality is that in essence, the fruit of the Spirit is the character of Jesus that God is forming in you. That's the reality. What you see on the screen there, those are aspects of that fruit that is the character of Jesus that God grows in you. When you and I trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God granted us many things. One of those is the gift of His Spirit to come, not only has it transformed us, but now it strengthens us. Now it helps us live, okay? What He commands, He also enables us to do. And it's through the ministry of His Spirit that He develops the character of Christ in us. You'll see there on the screen, the fruit of the Spirit is a beautiful picture or portrait of Jesus. And God wants your life to reflect that beautiful picture. It is the character traits. Again, we're not looking at, do this. do this. It is character traits, and not only character traits of just anybody, but it's character traits of the Lord Jesus Himself. The Bible describes the whole process of growing as a Christian, as becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. Not only in what we do, but in how we think, what we say. It's character traits. I shared this with you last Sunday, but it's a good summary of what it means, what the fruit of the Spirit is. It's from a seasoned pastor and theologian, Alistair Begg. And I wish I had that Scottish brogue, but I don't. Okay, I don't. But he writes, it's on the screen there, the fruit of the Spirit is the character of God reflected in the lives of those who are united with Christ. It cannot be produced by an outward change of habit or a system of self-improvement, but it's cultivated as God works to conform us to the image of His Son. As we consider the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, Scripture guides us to examine our hearts, challenges our progress, and encourages us to trust God's promise that He began this work and will complete it. And that's what it means, and He's right on. In fact, years ago, beloved Baptist preacher Adrian Rogers described the fruit of the Spirit as one fruit with nine flavors. So it's not you pick here and there, it's more like the orange. When you peel it, there's different compartments. That's what we're talking about. You don't get to just be loving and you don't have to be joyous. God is not producing in you one of those facets, He's producing all of that in you. Okay, so it's not like you cherry pick and you go, well, you know, no, no, no. Everything should be bearing fruit and it looks like Jesus the Christ. The presence of all these characteristics or the presence of all these flavors give evidence to the Spirit at work in your lives and in my life. And we begin this morning to look at this nine flavored fruit with the first fruit known as love, the fruit of love. Now, I think you and I can agree that the word love is something that is just, we don't have a really good definition. It's defined many ways by many people. I mean, we love chocolate, we love our wives and we love the Miami Heat. Jimmy Buckets, baby. Not Butler, Jimmy Buckets. All right? All right? But it's different loves. But we still use the same one. So we need a good definition. We need to understand what does it mean? Well, it all depends who you ask. So children are asked. So prepare for this one. Here's some answers. Love is that first feeling you feel before all the bad stuff gets in the way. When someone loves you, this is kind of profound. For a four-year-old, when someone loves you, the way they say your name is different, you know that your name is safe in their mouth. That's kind of profound for a four-year-old, okay? The other one says, love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other. Some others said, love is what makes you smile when you're tired. The other was love is when mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him to make sure that it tastes okay. What Danny doesn't realize is she's getting the first dibs, okay? She's like, oh yeah, honey, hold on. Whoo, here you go, okay? This next one is great. Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My mommy and daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss. Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well. Here's my fave. Love is when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken. That's true. Facts. Facts. All right? And last, for you dog lovers, love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day. A collective, oh, yeah. Oh, I did that on purpose. Well, cute and simple, but is that love? Perhaps adults can help us a little better. Perhaps, let me read you a little part of this and then the last sentence we'll put up on the screen, it's telling. He says, while doing premarital counseling in our church, I asked one young optimistic couple, what vows do you intend to say to one another in the ceremony? As a pastor, I had sometimes permitted couples to write their own vows if they were vows of commitment and honored God's standards for marriage. They said, we have only adjusted the traditional marriage vows to be a little more contemporary. Let us read them to you. The vow seemed fine until they got to the final line of commitment, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until we no longer love each other. I said, hold it. What do you mean until we no longer love each other? They said, well, couples sometimes fall out of love and they should not be required to remain married and unhappy for the rest of their lives. This last sentence is the one that's telling on the screen there. Everyone has the right to be happy. So is that love? Our right to be happy? Well, they didn't help, so we need a better understanding of it. The fruit of love has to do with our attitude towards people. I mean, are you known as a loving person? Are you known as someone who easily forgives? What's your view of people? I mean, we have some folks that are in law enforcement. I was talking to a guy in the gym the other day, he's in law enforcement. 20 plus years, almost 30, I don't forget. And, you know, detective sergeant and all that. And I tell him, bro, when you see people, at least when you're in uniform, but I suspect it carries over to person. You probably see the worst in people. You have to assume at least the worst, because if I'm looking at them, see Maribel, I'm like, what's Maribel? I don't see her hands. What does she have in her hands? She has a different purse today. What's in the purse? It's like, everything's like a paranoia type thing. Not that's paranoid, but it's a state of alertness. I, on the other hand, to serve you well, I have to be the perennial optimist. Because if I start taking you at your worst, I am useless to you. I really am. And the greatest sin, the greatest thing, if you want to pray for me, the greatest thing that I battle with is cynicism, becoming cynical, getting tired of trying to do the impossible for the ungrateful. It's cynicism. I mean, as a pastor, maybe you are the same way, but that's why you have to be perennial optimist. And I got to go, I got to take people at their best. When you see people, do you take them at their best or you assume the worst? You know, what is this? You have to choose to love others when you don't feel like it. Because normally we say we love and we think feelings, we think feelings. But the reality is that the Bible calls it a command and it says that you choose it. So we have to get a better idea of what it means. to love and what the fruit of the Spirit is love. Is it just when I get the spiritual goose bumps and I'm like, oh, I like it? No, that's because the AC just turned on, it hit you and you got some goose bumps on you. All right, so what does it mean? We talk about needing an attitude adjustment. The Bible says we need an attitude transformation. And it begins the day that Jesus Christ made a difference and came and reoriented your entire life. So let's, we need God's help to love other people as God would have us do so. So let's dig in. Two things I want to share with you. Number one, the love of God and the God of love. We want to see what the Bible tells us about love and God. And each of these character traits, we want to work it back to where the Lord is and what God is and what the Bible says about it, because that's our starting point. So let me share with you, number one, God is love and all love comes from God. But remember that love is not God. Why do you think I had to add that last phrase, but remember that love is not God? Talk to me a little bit. I'll come down and see you. By the way, nobody's falling asleep today. I see you, okay? That's not the, okay, that I'll get something softer. I'm not that well represented legally. All right, go ahead, Eddie. Sure, that's correct, because in a conversation like we're having now, in a study of God's Word, you hear, for example, here's the Bible verse on the screen. 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 what? And we take that as love is God. That's the only thing God is. And then how can a loving God do this? And how can a loving God allow the floods? And how can a loving God allow cancer? And how can a loving God take His Son and put Him on the cross? That's the question you should be asking. Everything else is secondary. At best, we're piles of dirt rebelling against an eternal God. But the loving God and the loving God, well, yes, He is a loving God, but He's more than that, never less than that. The Bible says that He is light and He is spirit. And twice here in 1 John 4, it will say that God is love. Countless pages of the Bible recount the outpouring of God's love into our lives. In fact, Romans 5, 5 says, God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Poured. God is no cheapo, cheapskate. He doesn't give love like dribble. Like, okay, hold on. And there's the love. No, poured, freely given. ample. That's the idea. The Lord has poured into our hearts. His love isn't just enough for undeserving sinners to get by. On the contrary, through the Spirit's power, He places under an unceasing fountain of love. Not only is God loved, but all love comes from Him. So we need to understand that that this is a reality, that God is love and all love comes from Him. But remember, remember, that's not the extent of who He is. He's many other things. And that's we keep a healthy balance there. Okay, number two, God showed His love by sending Jesus. The Bible states in 1 John, we're gonna stay in 1 John for a little bit. 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. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation, that atoning sacrifice, that wrath averting, wrath satisfying sacrifice for our sins. Love is an action more than just a feeling. It's an action that flows by a fixed attitude. For God so loved the world, He took a position. He chose to love and His love is seen not in the little yibbies or whatever, it's seen in that He gives. He gives. Love is an action. He showed us He loved us by sending Jesus Christ. And that reminds us that true love involves sacrifice. It involves sacrifice. Whether it's in any relationship where love exists, it's going to demand sacrifice. True love doesn't ask, what can I get out of this situation? It doesn't worry about the ROI, the return on investment. True love, God-produced love, the love that flows out from us is a love that doesn't ask those questions. It asks, what can I give? How can I serve? Thirdly, God wants to develop His love in our lives or in your life. The Bible states 1 John 4 again, Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected or made complete in us. The fruit of the Spirit is part of our witness to Jesus Christ. You and I as followers of Jesus are either the best or worst advertisement for Christianity. Have you ever thought that? Next time you go, or tomorrow when you go back to work, or later on today when you go back to work, when you go back to your neighborhoods, when you re-enter all that web of relationships, please remember, child of God, you are the best advertisement in favor or against Christianity. Because many people will never read the gospel according to Matthew and Mark and Luke and John, but the gospel according to Lewis, they read it. They read it, and they read your life, because you're the one that's professing that you have the answer. You're the one that's professing that Christ makes a difference. So you need to see that. We've said it here before, borrowing from Piper, you and I are the telescope that God uses, and He places in front of people, specifically, and not only, but unbelievers, that through our lives they can see a great God. That's who He uses, you and me. So your decisions matter. My decisions matter. You being here matters. This morning as we gathered together, you're sending a message to those who know you, to those who love you. I had a parent on the way in tell me, man, it was a heck of a morning. These kids didn't want to come and go, yeah, listen, I'm a PK buddy. There were many days I didn't want to go to church. They didn't give me, they didn't give me options, like, Luisito, pobrecito. Te pasaste tan bien. Ay, pobrecito. Are you kidding me? Like, boy, come on. Son, if not being tired is a criteria for getting anything done, you wouldn't be alive. You wouldn't be alive. Do we give our kids options on, well, you know, if you don't want to go to school tomorrow, uh-uh. I don't care how tired you are. So here's the catch, you and I, it's the fruit, it's what your decisions, my decisions, how we live our lives. And God wants to develop that love in our lives. In fact, from the lips of Jesus, it's His last day, it's His last night. He's huddled with His family, with those He loved, His followers. And right before He goes to that bloody cross and suffers that horrible death, He tells them these revolutionary words, John 13, 35. By this all people will know that you're my disciples, that you belong to me. By this. By your PhD in theology. Because you have resolved the problem between free will and God's sovereignty. No. For your love for one another. Your love for one another. This is how people are going to know. So if that's important, then we should be so connected to the vine, because outside of Him, I am the true vine and you're the branches. You can't do anything without me. A degree of separation means big time. So because the life of Jesus is flowing through me through the ministry of the Spirit, then I should be bearing that kind of love. The love that people see and they go, yeah, that's a different love. It's just something different. And that's what you and I need to be bearing. So you see the love of God and the God of love are there. And God wants to do that and produce that in our lives. Why? Because number two, the preeminence of love in Scripture and in the life of the Christian. And what do I mean by that? Why is love such? Why did they say the fruit of the Spirit is love? Now, why did he start off with love and not the fruit of the Spirit is joy? Or self-control? Why love? Well, because, let me give you three thoughts to think, to ponder. Love is the greatest commandment. We sang it. Matthew 22, 37 through 39, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like, like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love is the greatest commandment because it's the basis for all of them. Even, even, listen, even the 10 commandments. Remember when we studied those? We studied under the 10 words. Now, you know, you're in trouble because I got off the pulpit. All right. Remember 10 words. So let me see. Anybody want to volunteer and tell me the 10 commandments? Like back to back to back to back to back? You got him? Ronnie got him? Give him to me, baby. Yeah, PK. So, you know, of course you do. Go ahead. Yeah, I wanted more from 1 to 10, not 3, 7, 4, 1, 6. Okay. Hey, take it easy. Okay. Hi, Aliyah. Nobody asked you anything. Okay. You don't even sound like him. Okay, go ahead. Okay. So that means his last name is not damn, right? Okay, go ahead. Right. No, no, you skip one. Hialeah just said it. No, the fourth one. Yeah. Okay. Uh-huh. Right. Right. Uh-huh. Yeah. And last but not least, Amen, brother. Amen. That was good. That was good. Okay. Don't cover it. Don't cover it. So the reality is, listen, you look at it and why did Jesus summarize the commandments with love, not why do? Why love and not duty? I'm sorry? Oh, you're right. Bad people do good all the time. Okay. You might have an accountant or a lawyer that way. All right. But I'm just, I'm painting with a broad brush. All right. Don't sue me. I'm not well represented. All right. So listen, I am the Lord your God. That's the preface. Because I am the Lord your God, you won't have any other gods before me. Because I'm the Lord your God, no more idols. Not a false god or not an idol of the true God. I'm the Lord your God, because of that you don't take my name in vain. And I am serious when I say His last name and not damn. Because from the lips of sinners, hey, what can you do? But from the lips of saints, watch it, you're insulting your daddy. Because I'm the Lord your God, you honor the Sabbath, you understand the rhythm of work and rest and worship. Because I am the Lord your God, you honor your father and your mother. Because I am the Lord your God, you don't murder, you don't commit adultery, you don't steal. Because I am the Lord your God, you don't tell lies about others, you don't bear false witness. And because I am the Lord your God, you don't covet. Now, we look at that and we think, I gotta do. Do's and don'ts, do's and don'ts. But listen, if I love the Lord, I will not have another God before Him. Because I love the Lord, I will not make an idol. Because I love the Lord, I don't take His name in vain. Because I love the Lord, I'll honor the Sabbath. Because I love the Lord, I'll honor my parents. Because I love the Lord, I won't murder, I won't commit adultery. Not because I love my wife, I don't commit adultery. Ultimately, I love the Lord. Bigger picture here. Because I love the Lord, I'm not going to steal. Because I love the Lord, I'm not going to bear false witness. Because I love the Lord, I'm not going to covet. You see, even the 10 commandments, those rigid tablets that you and I consider are not as rigid as you think, because Jesus himself said, it is the greatest commandment. Love God, love people. You fulfill the commandments. You see, that's why the fruit of the Spirit, the first one is love. It's the basis. It's the basis. Number two, love is a preeminent Christian virtue. Love is ultimate. Love is ultimate. The Bible states, if I speak in the tongues of men, 1 Corinthians, and of angels, but have not love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, look at the hyperbole, okay? I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge. If I have all faith, such to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Verse 13, So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love. We can say and do a lot of things, but without love means nothing. It doesn't matter, even your exploits, even your great faith, even what you accomplish, if there's not love, if there's no taste, If that's not in there, it means very, very little. Expressing back to God and to others the love that He has so mercifully poured on our lives is evidence, it should be our singular priority. Because I have received this love, I give it freely received, freely given. Love is greater than faith or hope. Faith has to do with the present, hope with the future. Love, eternal. You see it right there. Number three, love is the fruit which binds all others. Love is the fruit which binds all others together. This is the flavor that, it's just gonna ride. It's gonna ride, it's an expression. It's there all the time, all the time. 1 Corinthians 13, again, love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It's not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice a wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hope all things, hopes all things, endures all things. And even between the two chapters of how to minister through your spiritual gifts, there's love because that was the problem at Corinth. They were proud. They thought because I can speak this and I can do that, I can name this and can claim that. But there was no love because we already saw it in 1 Corinthians 11, when it came time for the love feast, hey, everybody on their own. You don't show up late, too bad, so sad. I mean, I'm burping up so much food I'm eating, but too bad, it stinks to be you. That was not loving. So in the midst of how to worship the true God, the true way, and how people minister the spiritual gifts, he's saying love. But we can take from that. And if you see it there, it's on purpose that I put the yellow. Why? Because that's where you see the fruit of the Spirit, even in there. Need some help with it? The next slide. Love, that's the whole description, verses four through seven. Joy, love rejoices with truth. Peace, love does not envy. Remember, love is patient. The subject here is love. Love is this, love is that, love is not this. So peace, love does not envy or boast. Patience, love is patient. Kindness, love is kind. Goodness, love does not rejoice a wrongdoing. You find yourself, ha ha, I knew it. I am so glad that person's eating crow now. Ha, serves them right. You're rejoicing in wrongdoing. I may feel good, guilty as charged, but is it loving? Is it the fruit of love flowing through my life when my coworker, my neighbor, my spouse, my family member, whatever, okay, what goes around comes around and all that foolish talk. Faithfulness, love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Gentleness, love is not arrogant or rude. I put love is. And that's the same one with the other one. Love is not irritable or resentful. Sorry for that. So you see it there that even in that great chapter, okay, even in that great chapter, that you and I always turn to, you see the fruit of the Spirit interwoven. Why? Because love is there. There's a shorter list in Colossians chapter 3. We read there, "...put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. Above all these things, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." You cannot forgive if you're not loving. You can't. You can't be compassionate if you're not loving. If it's not being produced, excuse me. Jonathan Edwards, the great 18th century theologian, wrote the following, all the fruit of the Spirit which we are to lay weight upon us as evidential of grace, yeah, that's how they wrote that back then, all right, are summed up in charity or Christian love because this is the sum of all grace. Maybe we need somebody a little more contemporary to help us out. fully understand this. Preacher of old Donald Barnhouse wrote the following. You're going to want to keep this one. It's on the screen there. Love is the key. Joy is love singing. Peace is love resting. Patience is love enduring. Kindness is love's touch. Goodness is love's character. Faithfulness is love's habit. Gentleness is love's self-forgetfulness. Self-control is love holding the reins. He was right on. He was right on. What can you and I take with us this morning? Let me give you something, one sentence to take with you. Here it is. We are called to love the way He loves with the love He provides. Okay? We're called to love the way He loves We are called to love the way He loves with the love He provides. How can we do that? How can we create that? How do we develop that in our lives? That is the challenge. For me to love you and for you to love me. The way God loves us both with the same type of love that He provides for you and me. How can we do that? Let me just give you some thoughts. Number one, consider God's love for you in Christ. Consider, consider. Have you taken a moment lately to just see how much the Lord loves His own, specifically you in Christ? The Bible states in 1 John 3.16, by this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. We all know John 3.16, for God so loved the world that He gave, right? So that's the father's position, but here you have the son's disposition. In this we know love. He laid down His life. Nobody took it. It wasn't a mistake. It wasn't a surrender. It was intentional. It was a disposition. It was love. It was an action because rooted in a fixed attitude. I love my own and the good shepherd dies for his sheep. And you saw it there. So consider that child of God. Next time you think that God is unfair. Next time you think that God doesn't know what He's doing. Next time you think that this world is out of control. Next time you think your life is in control. Next time you doubt that God is in control. Listen, He sent Jesus Christ for you and Jesus willingly died for you, for His own. And you and I need to understand that. Number two, choose to forgive others when they wrong you. Now here's where, this is me asking you to swallow this rock. Choosing to forgive when others wrong you. Here you go, catch. You also catch and swallow this bad boy. Because love is a feeling. It's not an action of the will. So until I don't feel better about this person, I am not gonna forgive them. The Bible commands you, you forgive. Ephesians 4.32, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you. Colossians chapter 3, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, tweet it, put it on your social media page, let everybody know. Don't start a prayer chain. Why don't you just talk to people? Forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Love is more than a feeling. Does it affect your feelings? Of course. I'm not telling you to be just this robot. I love you. You love me. That's fine. No, but the problem is we swing to the opposite end of the pendulum. And if it's not, ooh, if I don't get all the goosebumps in my, oh, the butterfly, it's not love. Get married for a while, you'll figure it out. Yeah, that's the word, okay? Whereas the Mandalorian would say, this is the way, all right? So listen, that's the reality. Listen, when you choose to forgive someone, you're choosing God's way of loving someone. And again, you do it even for your own reason. Let me see. Let me pick on somebody. You're right here, you're a front row Baptist. I usually pick on back row Baptists, but you're a front row. He's a front row Baptist, but I'm picking on you, okay? So I go out and I mean, I trash this guy for some reason. And I say this thing, and who would, Pat, give me a break, he's a saint, okay? St. Patrick even. So you have a day named after him. But the thing is, so I trash him. His responsibility, It's to forgive. It doesn't mean we're reconciled. To forgive, why? Because until He doesn't forgive me, I'm having power over Him. See, when you lack forgiveness and you just want to live in bitterness, I tell this to my wife when she gets a little uptight, I say, honey, don't take the poison pill and expect someone else to die. You can't. So He forgives because even though I have gone against Him and transgressed and violated Him, His sin against the Holy God is much greater than my little nothing with Him. Again, He chooses. Now to reconcile the situation, we need to then deal with the truth of the matter. So don't think that just because I say forgive the one who wrongs you, means automatically that that relationship was reestablished the minute I forgave. I have forgiven people in my life and reconciliation has never happened. Because the person has not wanted to deal with the truth. They have chosen to stay there and to live their lives. Well, I can't do anything about that. What I can do that the Bible tells me is you forgive. You forgive because your sin against the Holy God, this pile of dirt has sinned against the Holy God a lot greater than whatever that was between two people. Again, I don't want to take away the pain. I don't want to minimize it. I don't want to trivialize it. But please, when we say forgive, choose to forgive, it doesn't mean automatically it's reconciled. It's that you're choosing the way of love. Reconciliation can only happen when you deal with what caused the rupture, the separation. So that means that love takes the initiative. Love takes the initiative. God's love took the initiative. God shows His love for us and that while we were still sinners, He didn't wait for reformation to happen. He didn't wait for us to stop rotting spiritually. He took the initiative. He took the initiative. Christ died for us. Is taking the initiative in love easy? No, it's not. Is it impossible? No, it's not. You need to be walking in the Spirit, being led by the Spirit and in the character of Jesus. who when he was pushed, he reviled not. He gives us the pattern. Number three, seek to honor other people above yourself. Above. This is counter-cultural, okay? It says here in Romans 12, love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor. In a day and age when we wanna one up everybody, well, why don't you one up serving one another? Why don't I do it? Instead of one-ing up this and that, you think you had a good time. Never be the first guy to tell a joke. Because you know you're gonna get one up. Oh, you think that was funny? Let me tell you about this. Never be the first person to tell a joke. I usually try not to, all right? Philippians chapter two, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others. Can you imagine this is from the first century and it applies in the 21st century. Are we looking out for one another? Our natural attitude is to honor ourselves. We want, I mean, our social media is about that, right? It's like, hey, it's all about me, whatever. Okay, hashtag how great I art, okay? So that's the thing. But to go counter-cultural, to go counter, okay, is to say, no, no, I'm not. I'm not, I'm gonna look out for others beyond how I look out for myself. Tim Keller writes the following, it's on the screen. Love, it means to serve a person for their good and intrinsic value, not for what the person brings to you or brings you. It is the opposite of fear, self-protection, and abusing people. It's counterfeit, a false version is selfish affection, where you are attracted to someone and treat them well because of how they make you feel about yourself. That's, I think he's spot on there. So what does it look like? To honor. Well, two ways and we go home. One, love meets real needs. Love meets real needs. 1 John 3, 17, 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? How can you know, how can I know if you're going through a trouble and I don't contact you to say, hey, how can I help? How can I help? I may not have all the money, but I maybe know somebody who does. I may not have the answer, but I can, I can point you in the right direction. How can I just passively know? The minute you are aware of someone's problem, that's God's invitation to you to enter the scene. Enter the scene. You don't have to take it to the pastor, you don't have to take it to the elders, you don't have to take it to the church council, you don't have to take it... You take it to prayer and then you take it on to the best you can. And then you may end up bringing it to the church. You may end up bringing it to the pastor. You may end up bringing it to elders. But take the initiative. Love meets real needs. And John here speaking about material needs. But you know, sometimes people, all they really need is a listening ear, an encouraging word, time, that which is so precious to you and me. And lastly, love acts. Love acts. Okay? Love should be a servant of our wills, not a casualty of our emotions. Okay? And you and I are called, Colossians 3.14, put on love. So love takes the initiative, love meets real needs, love forgives, love acts. And I leave you with the last thing that I told you already, just for you to take it with you. We are called to love the way He loves with the love He provides. Amen? Let's bow our heads and close our eyes for just a moment. And I ask you to ponder, to consider that sentence. We are called to love the way He loves with the love He provides. Guilty or not guilty, child of God? Are you doing it or you're not doing it? Or to what extent are you doing it? Are you being selective? Because only certain people merit, warrant me loving them like God loves me with the love that He gives me. Or is this your general disposition, child of God? Just a few moments, we're gonna sing the, come thy fount of every blessing. And one of the things it says is, I'm prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above. Are you drifting, child of God, are you drifting? The word of God today and the Lord himself through his word and through the ministry of his spirit calls you to repentance, calls you to say, yes, I haven't been loving the way I should be. I am not loving others like God loves me and with the love that he provides. You, my friend, if you're here this morning, you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It starts there. It starts right there. Stop the delusion. Stop the worship of yourself. You're not all that. You're gonna fall short. You know it. Cry out to the Lord. So Lord God, we're before you. Your people can be stiff-necked. You call them that in your word. We can be so proud, so reluctant to show weakness when wronged. Lord, help us. It's not that you're asking us to not have a spine or to throw out truth. You're asking us to display the character of your Son. So do your work, O Holy Spirit, and impress upon our minds, people and situations, and how this can be true in our lives. Help us to answer the call to love others the way you love us, with the love that you grant. We ask this. Help us now as we sing to reorient, to refocus. In Jesus' name, amen.