Digger Deeper Day 14

Barrier: Hate
Breakthrough: Love

Love sums it all up. “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) God created the world. God created us. Therefore, it was love that created the world. Love created us. We were created in the “image of God.” Therefore, we were created to love. That is why we are here: To love God and to love one another. Love is THE breakthrough. For every barrier listed on this calendar you could say the breakthrough is love.

The Law of Moses was summed up by two commandments: “4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) “Love the Lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love you neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40) (Also see Galatians 5:13-15 and several others)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love....” (Galatians 5:22a)”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

When talking about love I could bore you with what you have heard a million times. You know words like the word translated love in the New Testament is actually three Greek words: Phileo, Eros and Agape, yada, yada, yada... But I am not going to do that... Let’s just get practical today... So here it goes...

The statement before “God is love in 1 John is--- “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” “If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20)

The word “hate” in Hebrew literally means “whatever.” Now isn’t that interesting considering the slang of the last couple of decades? “Whatever!” Think of the context of that statement. “Whatever!” In other words: “Who cares...” If I may be allowed to stretch your thoughts for a moment let’s run with that... I know, the New Testament is written in Greek but just humor me for a moment because I believe there is a biblical basis for this. John says “if anyone says, “I love God, yet “whatever’s” his brother, he is liar.” “If anyone says, I love God, yet “who cares” his brother, he is a liar.” I don’t know about you but I don’t like where this is going. Do you know where it is going? Exactly the same place the sermon on the Mount went. (Matthew 5-7)

How many times have you said these words: “I don’t hate anyone.” By that we mean detest, despise, want to kill or make them an enemy. I would say that is true of most of us. But how about this? Is there anyone you don’t give the time of day? Is there anyone that you don’t care one way or another about what happens in his/her life? Is there anyone you are just kind of like, whatever? I don’t know about you but for me the answer would be a lot of people.

I would say that is what John was talking about because look at what he said in chapter 3 verse 17 of the same book: We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
But whoever * has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Okay, that is just a thought and I will not go any further than that... Check out the following verses about love just from 1 John...

1Jo 3:1 - Show Context
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
1Jo 3:10 - Show Context
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
1Jo 4:8 - Show Context
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1Jo 4:9 - Show Context
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
1Jo 4:10 - Show Context
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1Jo 4:12 - Show Context
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1Jo 4:16 - Show Context
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
1Jo 4:20 - Show Context
If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
1Jo 5:2 - Show Context
This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
1Jo 5:3 - Show Context
This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,

Now let’s end this by taking the familiar chapter in 1 Corinthians known as the "love chapter." It is Chapter 13 and you might want to read the whole thing. Go ahead and read 1 Corinthians 13, it is not that long. I’ve got time ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




Okay, you through yet? That’s okay, take your time...




I believe verses 4 -7 provide us with the most practical definition of love there is... “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres”


Are you patient?
Are you kind?
Do you envy?
Do you boast?
Are you proud?
Are you rude?
Are you self-seeking?
Are you easily angered?
Do you keep a record of wrongs?
Do you delight in evil?
Do you rejoice in the truth?
Do you always protect?
Do you always trust?
Do you always hope?
Do you always persevere?

One of my favorite bands from the 80’s sang one of my favorite songs. The band was Foreigner and the song was “I Want to Know What Love is...” Well, I just showed you. Let me put it another way so we can include the children of the 90’s: “Whoop, there it is!”

I think it is safe to say: Love Wins!