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Sermons
Pastor's Greeting
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The More You Love Shows How Much You’ve Grown
4th Anniversary speech presented by Rev. Moses K. Ndereva,
Pastor – Lifeline Community Fellowship
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, 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, alwaysperseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Introduction:
Loving is fundamental to Christian living. Human love is sensed at birth bonding a child to its mother. As the child grows, he/she starts bonding with others and separating from others. Soon it becomes clear that the child loves people for what they give rather than who they are. Selfishness kicks in and men develop with a somewhat warped view of what love is. The definition of love as seen from the above passage is the most complete and functional description of love. Let us attempt to review some of the reasons love does and does not work for us.
1. 1 Peter 1:22
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other,love one another deeply, from the heart.
2. 1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
When we find ourselves running short of love, we must ask ourselves; “what happened to our growth”? When people have a problem loving others, there is something fundamentally wrong with their talk, thoughts, and reasoning. Loving is a decision we arrive at all things considered. Paul says when he was a child, he talked, thought and reasoned like one. When he grew up, he put away childish stuff and behaved himself like a man. Children love for what they get; grown men give whom they love. Mature love gives and does not care much about receiving. The child might appear to love the mother but perhaps it is the suckling and nursing that really matter to the child. If another person gives the same care, the child is likely to respond the same way as if it were the mother.
Talking, thinking and reasoning like a child destroy relationships. Paul had to put away such mentality in order to mature in love. The characteristics of a child are impatience, holding back (selfishness), envy, pride, self-seeking, grumbling and temper tantrums. No relationship can grow if it is tainted with a childish mentality. The fortunate thing that we have is that every child has an opportunity to grow. As we grow in Christ, our thoughts get purified and we grow deeper in love.
Loving one another is a commandment. To love we must obey the truth. Loving deeply requires that we purify our thoughts from impure motives. Good thoughts promote good thinking. When we think right, our actions in love go just right. We cover instead of uncovering each other. Deep lone is not moved by superficial winds of misunderstandings. Children are incapable of covering matters. They never consider consequences of uncovering matters that separate friends. Proverbs 17:9; Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. Children dig out matters but grown people seek to cover and avert crisis. When we obey truth, we are able to love deeply from the heart. Superficial love cannot sustain a fellowship. We must love deeply if our relationships will endure. Remember love perseveres and never fails. We cannot allow our relationships to fail if we love deeply.
Our reasoning
Reasoning like children always results in vengeance and retaliation. Love never positions itself first. Love considers the best for the other person. It keeps no record of wrongs and seeks to protect with the hope of redeeming the other person. True and pure love reasons differently from the world. Children think in the short term. When we only consider short-term gains, we are not thinking love. Love remains when everything else fails. When we are misunderstood, the best thing to do is reason differently. The spirit of vengeance is a direct result of pride and its aim is to boast in the end! As Christians, we should shed away pride and boasting. It is virtually impossible to love without humility. Humility causes us to see others better than ourselves. Our reasoning therefore must be in line with the book of Philippians 2:5-8 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Our aim in loving must be the standard Christ Jesus set for us. It calls us to deny ourselves and even die to self in our relationships.
Conclusion:
The next time you find yourself failing sincere love, ask yourself whether you stopped growing. Love remains after everything happens and ends. We love despite faults and mistakes. Love is the solution to squabbles and quarrels. Love is the key to progress. Love is the basis for unity and strength. Without love, we are lifeless like sounding cymbals. Any slight moving or push results in amplified noise. We become difficult to quiet. When the noise rises, listening stops and strife kicks in. the Word is clear; let us love one another deeply, for our God is love. Grown people give love, children receive love. How much have you grown?
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