A good friend of mine compiled this list of "love" characteristics. He compiled them for use in a men's small group setting. I wanted to share them here:
Love must be observable
John 13:34 - "A New command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Continuing, consistent love results in joy
John 15:9-13 - "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command in this: Love each other as I have loved you."
Love admits or takes one another in, includes others
Romans 15:7 - "Accept (receive) one another, then just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God"
Purification precedes sincere love
1 Peter 1:22 -"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart."
Deliberate love does not expose someone else's sin
1 Peter 4:8 -"Above all, love each other deeply (fervently), because love covers over a multitude of sins."
Love includes mutual affection
2 Corinthians 6:11-13 -"We have spoken freely to you Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange I speak as to my children - open wide your hearts also."
Love is not exclusive, our hearts can expand to include others, Love expresses approval, Love desires to be with the loved one
2 Corinthians 7:2-6 -"Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you. I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds. For when we came to Macedonia, this body of our had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn - conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever."
Love is verbalized
2 Corinthians 2:4 -"For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you."
Love worries
2 Corinthians 2:12-13 -"Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia."
Loving the world leaves no time for loving others
1 John 2:15-17 -"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of the eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
Your love reveals your father
1 John 3:10 -"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."
God's presence is in our love
1 John 4:11-12 -"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."
If you don't love your brother, you don't love God
1 John 4:19-21 -"We love because he first loved us. 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. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother."
Love considers how to love even more, Love equals Time
Hebrews 10:24-25 -"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
Love is sincere, committed, humble
Romans 12:9-10 -"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."
Christ bought our freedom to love
Galations 5:13 -"You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another in love."
No comments:
Post a Comment