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The Greatest Love Story Ever Told! · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey, you guys, it's friendly. Welcome back to In the
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  Stillness. Thanks for joining me on another
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  episode on the pod. Happy Monday.
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  Here we are starting a new week and we get a new opportunity to
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  learn more and to walk even more closely with the Lord.
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  I'm so thankful that you are joining me.
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  Whether you're getting ready for the day, maybe you're driving on
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  a walk, whatever you're doing, let's just posture our hearts to
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  receive and to go even deeper with God.
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  Today we're stepping into what is truly the greatest love story
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  of all time. It's not just one written in a
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  novel or in a movie. It's one that defines all of
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  eternity, the love of Jesus. And so we are going to be
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  reading from first John chapter 3, verses 16 to 19.
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  This is how we have discovered Love's reality.
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  Jesus sacrificed his life for us.
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  Because of this great love, we should be willing to lay down
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  our lives for one another. If anyone sees a fellow believer
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  in need and has the means to help him, yet shows no pity and
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  closes his heart against him, how is it even possible that
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  God's love lives in him? Beloved children, our love
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  cannot be an abstract theory that we only talk about, but a
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  way of life demonstrated through our loving deeds.
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  We know that the truth lives within us because we demonstrate
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  love and action which will reassure our hearts in His
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  presence. OK, this is the truest, purest
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  real estate demonstration of love that the world has ever
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  seen and will ever see in the person of Jesus Christ.
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  The greatest love story of all time.
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  Now, our culture loves love stories.
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  We see it in romance movies and books.
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  But if we're honest, those stories pale in comparison to
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  the depth of love displayed in the Gospel because this love is
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  not built on feelings or convenience.
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  It's rooted in sacrifice. And it's been challenging me to
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  ask, am I allowing other quote UN quote love stories to impact
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  me more than this one, More than the story where God gave his
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  everything? Because the gospel is wholly
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  about sacrificial love, not a love that gives to receive
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  something back in return, but a love that gives knowing it may
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  not be returned. Think about this.
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  God saw us fully in our sin, our mess, our brokenness, and still
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  admired us with marvelous love. He called us valuable, His
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  treasured possession, and He didn't want to just be near us
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  like in the Old Testament sacrifices in the temple.
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  He wanted union. So not just proximity, but His
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  spirit living within us. And that's what makes this love
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  story even more powerful because Jesus did not just die and rise
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  again. He then ascended.
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  He is alive, seated at the right hand of the Father.
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  And before he left earth, he told his disciples something
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  that sounds kind of surprising when you first read it, but he
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  said that it was actually better that he goes so that the helper
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  could come. The helper being the Holy
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  Spirit, meaning we don't just look at Jesus from a distance.
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  We don't just study his love like it's a story from the past.
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  We have His very Spirit living inside of us if you proclaim Him
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  as Lord of your life, and if you're a believer, the same
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  spirit that empowered Him now empowers us to love like Him.
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  So when we discuss sacrificial love, this isn't something that
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  we just try to force in our own strength and ability.
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  It's something that we walk in through His spirit on our own.
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  It's hard, it's unnatural to choose others over ourselves,
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  but with Him, we're actually able to live this out.
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  And Jesus knew. He knew it all as he was being
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  whipped, mocked, spit on, insulted.
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  He knew the very people that he was suffering for would still
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  walk away, chase idols, choose other things over him, at least
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  for a time. But he still remained, and he
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  stayed. He persevered through the trial.
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  He chose the cross anyway. It reminds me so much of this
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  book called Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, and it's now a
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  movie, but it's rooted in the story of Hosea from the Bible.
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  And it shows this relentless, pursuing love that doesn't just
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  give up even when it's rejected, even when Hosea's bride runs
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  from him, he keeps going after her.
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  And that's us. We were the ones wondering.
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  We were the ones choosing lesser things.
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  But still, God's love kept pursuing, redeeming, calling us
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  back to him. Jesus's death cleansed and
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  purified us. His resurrection gave us new
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  life, rebirth, and his ascension made a way for his spirit to
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  dwell within us. So now we don't just know about
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  love, we've received it and we're empowered to reflect it.
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  Because love is not just a noun, it's even more so a verb.
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  It's not just something that you feel, it's something that you
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  do. Anyone can say I love you, but
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  the question becomes, what are the lengths that you're willing
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  to go to show it sacrificial love?
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  It just looks different. It looks like dying to yourself
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  in the everyday moments, choosing others over
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  convenience, giving without expecting anything back.
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  So I just want to go into a list of things that I was really
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  trying to think through as I was thinking, OK, what does this
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  actually look like in the modern day in an everyday schedule and
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  routine? So this is obviously not an
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  exhaustive list, but just ideas that the Lord brought to my
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  mind. Taking time, even if it's just
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  an extra 5 minutes to serve someone.
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  So sending an encouraging text, mailing a letter, sending a
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  voice memo telling someone that you're thinking of them.
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  Maybe it's praying intentionally for someone in your own time and
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  letting them know. Ask your server at a restaurant.
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  How can you pray for them? Pay for the person behind you in
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  the drive through line. Be extra patient and gracious in
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  traffic. Y'all.
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  This is a hard one for me. I'm not the most patient driver,
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  but just letting someone go ahead of you Send something
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  thoughtful just because maybe you know that your friend loves
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  flowers or loves a specific food from a restaurant.
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  We literally have Uber eats. You can send that right to their
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  doorstep. Or maybe it's as simple as just
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  smiling and disarming someone with kindness.
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  These things seem small, but they carry a lot more weight
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  than you realize. Because when you love with pure
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  motives, people notice something different in you.
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  They encountered Jesus through you.
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  When I think back to times that I have felt the most loved, it
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  wasn't just words. It was when someone actually
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  showed it selflessly and honestly, unexpectedly.
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  Scripture tells us that there is no greater love than laying down
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  your life for your friends. That's John 15 and 1st
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  Corinthians 13 tells us that faith is made visible through
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  our love. So just some questions that I
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  want to leave you guys with. Are you loving others
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  sacrificially or is it when it's just comfortable for you?
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  Are you all talk when it comes to love or are you actually
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  walking it out in your daily life being intentional?
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  What are some creative, personal ways that you can reflect Christ
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  right where you are, in your job, in your school,
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  relationships? Maybe the most honest question
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  of all is this. What do your actions communicate
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  about how you truly love others? Because loving when it's easy is
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  one thing, but loving when it's hard, when people are difficult
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  or sometimes rude when it costs you something, that is when
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  Jesus shines the brightest through you.
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  So let's move into prayer now. Dear Jesus, thank you for
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  showing us what love authentically looks like.
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  It's not just in words, but in action through sacrifice,
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  pursuit through grace that we in no way deserve.
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  Thank you that you didn't just leave us with an example, but
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  you gave us your spirit to live within us, to help us live it
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  out in the way that you love. Would you help us to walk in
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  that every single day of our lives?
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  Stretch us beyond the comfort, make us look more like you.
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  Jesus, I pray that our lives would radiate your love so
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  clearly that people encounter the person of Jesus Christ
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  through us. We love you, Lord, and we praise
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  you. We honor your name today.
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  In your son's name we pray. Amen.
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  OK guys, well, that's today's episode.
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  Praying that this will just bless you and teach you new
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  things as you walk with the Lord this Monday and rely on Him for
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  strength, for power and not in your own ability.
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  I will see y'all on the next podcast episode.