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Love Like You Mean It: The Root of Every Fruit · Fostering Faith

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  Hey guys, welcome back to Fostering Faith. It
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  is October and I'm sitting here drinking coffee
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  this morning as I record this podcast and I was
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  just reading about the fruits of the spirit and
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  that got me intrigued about let's do a series.
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  That's something that we've really never done
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  on this podcast and so let's walk through each
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  fruit of the spirit and we're gonna start with
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  the most important one. And so we're going to
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  call this episode Love Like You Mean It, the
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  root of every fruit. The fruit of the spirit
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  is love. And so hey guys, welcome back to Fostering
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  Faith. I'm so glad that you're here. And today
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  we're going to be diving into one of the most
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  powerful, convicting and world changing fruits
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  of the spirit, love. And we were talking in my
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  junior high group the other day and about how
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  we use the word love. I love my coffee. I love
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  my hamburger. I love my family. I love... you
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  know, roadblocks or whatever have you. And it's
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  not just I love my coffee, I love my car, I love
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  Fridays kind of love. I'm talking about the kind
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  of love that is God. The kind that isn't earned,
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  it isn't deserved, it isn't quiet when people
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  do it. And let's be honest love is easy when
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  people act right. But the true test of spiritual
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  maturity isn't how you treat people who treat
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  you well. It's how you respond when you have
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  every reason not to love, but you choose it anyway.
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  And so we have Galatians 5 22 through 23 that
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  says, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy,
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  peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness,
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  faithfulness, gentleness, and self -control.
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  Against such things, there is no law. And so
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  notice that love comes first. It's not random.
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  It's the root that feeds every other fruit. Without
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  love, there's no joy. There's no peace. Love
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  is the soil at everything else grows in. And
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  so today we're going to be looking at some truths.
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  What is real biblical love? How is it that it
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  shows up in your life and why Jesus said it's
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  the greatest commandment? And so what is real
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  love? In the Greek, agape means unconditional,
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  sacrificial love, the kind that flows from God
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  Himself. 1 John 4 .8 says that God is love, not
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  God loves, but God is love. It's His nature.
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  It's who He is. And that means when the fruit
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  of the Spirit is in you, love isn't just something
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  you do, it's who you become. In Romans 5 .8,
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  it says, while we were still sinners, Christ
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  died for us. That's love. He didn't wait for
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  us to be lovable. He loved us whenever we were
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  in a mess. And that's what the spirit wants to
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  us to grow in. That kind of love that moves first,
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  that forgives first, that loves loud. Love is
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  real life. And so let's read the love chapter
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  because you've heard it at every wedding. First
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  Corinthians 13. Love is patient. Love is kind.
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  It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not
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  proud. It keeps no records of wrongs. We quoted
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  at weddings, but Paul isn't writing this to a
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  bride and groom. He's writing it to a church
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  that is struggling to get along. So Paul says
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  that love is patient. He's saying you don't give
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  up on people just because they frustrate you.
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  When he says love is kind, he means you show
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  grace even when you have the right to be sharp.
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  He says to keep no records of wrongs. How many
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  times have we done that? How many times have
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  you kept that scoreboard and you did this 20
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  years ago and you did this 10 years ago and you
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  did that last week and you did this? That's for
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  all of us to keep in our heads, but love says
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  there's no scorekeeping. Real love doesn't cancel
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  people. It restores them. If you want to measure
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  your spiritual growth, Don't look at how many
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  Bible verses, you know Look at how you treat
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  people who test your patience the most Because
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  love isn't proven by words. It's proven by response
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  And you have the greatest commandment in Matthew
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  22 36 through 40 someone asked Jesus teacher.
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  What is the greatest commandment in law and Jesus
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  replies Love your Lord with all your heart and
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  with all your mind and soul and with all With
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  all your mind and this is the first and greatest
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  commandment and the second is love your neighbor
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  as yourself All the law and the prophets hang
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  on these two commandments Jesus said everything
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  Said everything the law The entire law hangs
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  on love if love falls everything falls You can't
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  truly love people if you don't love God first
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  and you can't say you love God if you refuse
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  to love people that were made in his image. Now
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  hit that home, the people that you don't like
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  right now. He made them. He loves them. How does
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  that make you feel? And this is not about to
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  make you feel bad or whatever, maybe a little
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  bit, but we all have a chance to grow. No one's
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  perfect. But as we, it's about progression, not
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  perfection. It's about wrestling with, man, I
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  really don't like them and you don't know what
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  they did to me. I'm pretty sure that God said,
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  I don't care. Look what you did to me. And yet
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  I still love you. And that's why love is the
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  root of every fruit. Because every other spiritual
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  quality flows out of the heart. That like, that
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  loves like Jesus. And the love that cost you.
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  Jesus isn't saying that it's gonna be convenient.
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  It cost him everything. He left heaven endured
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  humiliation and Carried a cross for you to prove
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  to you. That's this is what love is I think there's
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  in there a song that says that this is this is
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  what love is I think so But first John 3 16 says
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  by this we know love that he laid down his life
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  for us if you Think about it If your love never
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  cost you anything, your comfort, your pride,
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  your time, it's not agape. It's convenience.
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  And sometimes love looks like you're biting your
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  tongue. Sometimes love looks like forgiving without
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  an apology. Sometimes love looks like showing
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  up when you'd rather stay home. And it was funny
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  that anyone that knows me knows that I am in
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  bed 9 o 'clock, 8 45. Um, and, uh, we had went
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  to one of our best friends basketball games,
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  uh, her daughter, uh, shout out to Adele, uh,
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  and the, uh, New Horizon Crusaders. They're crushing
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  it. Um, and their game started at eight o 'clock
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  one night this week. And, um, they're like, oh
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  my gosh, I can't believe you came. I said, I
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  know this is love because this is super inconvenient
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  for me, but I'm going to show up. Um, and it's
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  something silly, but still it's you're showing
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  up. And you know what? That's what the Holy Spirit
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  works best is when you're loving beyond your
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  limits. And so how do you, how to grow in love?
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  You can't fake this fruit. You can't grow it
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  on your own. Love is not a personal trait. It's
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  a result of abiding in Christ. And so John 15,
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  four through five says, abide in me and I in
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  you for apart from me, you can do nothing. And
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  if you want to grow in love, what are you gonna
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  do? You gotta spend time with love Himself, Jesus.
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  You gotta let go of bitterness. You can't grow
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  in fruit if you have poisoned soil. Love is not
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  gonna grow in that. No, it's gonna be choked
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  out. And ask the Spirit to give you His eyes
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  for people and practice it. Love is strengthened
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  through use, like with anything. It's like a
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  bicep curl. You can't expect to have amazing
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  arms if you never work at it. And so the more
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  that you love, the more capacity that you're
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  gonna have to. And so one, spend time with them.
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  Two, you gotta let go to that bitterness. You
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  cannot, you're not gonna have any room for anything
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  else if that bitterness is crowding out the space
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  for love. And three, ask that Holy Spirit to
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  give you His eyes for the people. Let me see
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  them how you see them. And you got to practice
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  what you're preaching. You got to, you actually
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  got to do it. And so love like you mean it. Friends,
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  love isn't a feeling. It's a decision. It's a
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  way of living that says, God, I'm going to respond
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  like you would. Is that going to happen right
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  out of the gate? No. That's why we walk with
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  Christ and that's why he matures us. In the world
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  that screams me first, love worships you first.
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  In a culture that cancels, love restores. In
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  relationships that break, love builds. And in
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  the moment that hurt, love heals. And when you
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  walk in the spirit, love isn't an option, it's
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  evidence. John 13 35 says, by this everyone will
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  know that you are my disciple if you love one
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  another. And that's how the world will know that
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  you belong to Jesus. Not by your church attendance
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  or your playlist or your post, but how you love
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  people who are hard to love. So maybe this week
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  instead of asking God to change someone else,
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  ask him to change your heart. Because whenever
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  you grow in his love, Everything changes around
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  you. And so we would love to pray for you guys.
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  Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for today.
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  Thank you so much for yesterday. Thank you for
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  these listeners. Thank you that you show up for
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  us and you show us what real love is like. Thank
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  you for loving us whenever we were unlovable.
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  Teach us to love like you, to forgive, to be
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  patient, to be kind. Let the Spirit fill us so
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  completely that love becomes our natural response.
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  Help us to love with all of our heart, soul,
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  and mind, and to love others as you have loved
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  us. Let your love be rooted in everything that
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  we say or do. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. If
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  this message helped you, if you know someone
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  that it's hard to love, if you know someone that
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  is really angry or bitter or is just going through
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  a really rough time, send this episode to them.
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  Make sure that you comment, make sure that you
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  share it, and help our little podcast grow. We
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  hope that you guys have an amazing week. We love
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  you. Have a great week. Bye