Sermon Info
Summary
This Christmas, we want to grow in our love for God and for others. One way people give and receive love is through acts of service. Jesus taught His disciples to serve. Jesus, Himself, took on the very nature of a servant and came down to us. As His followers, we must learn to grow in our love by serving God and others. We serve God in His Church, in our home, in the community, and in the world. And, we love God by serving our spouse, kids, roommates, co-workers, orphans, and more. Let’s grow our love by serving God and others this Christmas and every day of our life.
Content
Love is a Verb
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.
— 1 John 3:18
People say “I love you” a lot. We say it to our close friends and our family at the end of phone calls and every time we part. If we’re not thoughtful, then we might start reciting the phrase automatically, without the weight of truth or action behind it. If saying “I love you” is no more than a formality, then why should we bother saying it? What good is a love like that?
As Jesus shows us, love is not just a state you’re in, but it’s a thing you do. Love is a verb. Saying “I love you” should be like saying “I breathe air.” I did it yesterday, I’m doing it right now, and Lord willing, I’ll do it tomorrow. It’s a part of how I live my life, and it’s a choice I’ve made. Jesus showed His love for us by dying on the cross for His people.
If you ever find that you are lacking in feeling love for someone, that’s not the end of the world. In fact, it’s a great opportunity to pay attention to how you’re living, and how much you’re thinking about Jesus.
The world’s idea of love puts the feeling above the intention. We say we “fall in love,” but that’s the easy part of relationships. We certainly may fall into infatuation, and our emotions can make us more caring and sweet toward someone… but only for a little while.
Our emotions are fleeting. They last only as long as we feel good. When our feelings disappear, we let the acts of love die with them. Ask anyone who’s been in a marriage for decades, and they will tell you that feelings ebb and flow. People are imperfect, and even the ones we’re closest to will let us down and frustrate us at times.
And yet, true love is doing right by someone, even when you don’t feel like it. Yes, even when it doesn’t benefit yourself. Even when you don’t feel like that person deserves it. Because we didn’t earn or deserve Jesus’ sacrifice for us, and because love is about humility: thinking of yourself less, and others more. It’s about doing what the Lord your God commanded you to do when He said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31).
Advice For When You’re Feeling Down
Paul writes, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
— Acts 20:35
When we’re upset about something, the natural reaction is to turn our focus inward on ourselves, searching for a way to solve the problem. If we’re hurt, we put our hopes on finding whatever it is we need for ourselves so that we can be restored.
But is that really our best option?
Here’s some advice: if you are ever feeling down, then go help somebody else. If you do this, you will be forced to shift your mindset from what you don’t have toward what you do have to give. It will cause you to focus on others, which is what God wants for your life. It will mean seeing the bigger picture, and turning your hurt into something good.
When Joseph revealed himself to his brothers as second-in-command of Egypt, he did not take the chance to get revenge on them for selling him into slavery many years before. Instead, in Genesis 50:20, he gave glory to God, saying, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
This is what God does: He takes what is meant for evil, and turns it for good. Whenever someone wrongs us, we have the chance to respond in a way which does not multiply the evil by returning a wrong for a wrong. Instead, we can give grace and make ourselves servants of others, knowing that those who are great in the Kingdom of God are those who humble themselves and serve.
...just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
—Matthew 20:28
