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Loving People the Way God Calls Us To: Biblical Love in Action · Fostering Faith

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  Welcome back to Fostering Faith. And so we are
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  here and we are entering into February. And so
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  it is the love month. And so what better way
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  to start an episode by saying we love you guys.
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  Thank you so much for tuning in. And if you're
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  a return listener, welcome back home. If you
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  are a new listener to Fostering Faith, we are
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  here just walking and fostering our faith together
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  as a community. We don't have it all figured
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  out, but we are walking in community together.
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  And so we do want to make sure that you guys
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  know that we do have a website called Fostering
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  Faith Media. And we do have workbooks up for
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  every month of these podcasts. And so you guys
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  can write down your notes. You guys can go through
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  the questions and go through all of these things
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  that we are talking about. And so we hope that
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  this message inspires you. You're going to call
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  it loving people the way that God calls us to
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  love. And so relationships are such a big part
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  of our lives and we And if you're like me, you're
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  discovering that loving people, really loving
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  people the way that Jesus calls us to love, takes
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  way more than emotion, personality, or natural
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  chemistry. It takes the Holy Spirit. It takes
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  maturity. It takes patience. It takes surrender.
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  It takes a strength that you do not have on your
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  own. And so that's why February, for us, is all
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  about relationships. Not just about dating or
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  marriage or friendships, but relationships as
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  a whole. how we love, how we forgive, how we
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  handle conflict, how we show up, how we reflect
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  in Christ in every place He has planted us. Because
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  the way that you love is the one of the loudest
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  testimonies that you can ever preach. And today
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  I want to do something foundational, loving people
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  the way that God calls us to love them. And so
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  not the way the culture says, not the way that
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  emotion loves. Not the way that convenience loves,
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  but the way that God loves, because God loves
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  looks nothing like the world's love. The world
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  looks like love whenever it feels good, but God's
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  love because He is good. The world pulls back
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  when it's inconvenient, but God leans in whenever
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  we least deserve it. The world says, do what
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  benefits you. God says, lay your life down. The
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  world says, match their energy. God says, match
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  my example. And so first, John 14, 19 says, we
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  love because he loved us first. And so we will
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  plug the t -shirt that we have on sale for on
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  our website too. It says, that's like the scripture
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  that we have. And so meaning, I don't love people
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  because they're easy. I love people because I
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  have been radically loved by God. That's a fuel.
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  That's the source. That's the standard. And Jesus
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  takes it even further in John 13, 34, when he
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  tells us of his disciples, a new command I give
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  you, love one another. As I have loved you, you
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  must love one another. Notice Jesus didn't say
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  love with your version of love. He said love
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  with my version of love, which means our love
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  is supposed to be and look like Jesus. And let
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  me tell you something, the kind of love is uncomfortable
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  because Jesus' love is sacrificial. It's patient.
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  It's forgiving. It's humble. It's consistent.
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  It's holy. It's honest. It's restorative. It's
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  transformational. It stretches your character.
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  It convicts your flesh. Real love is not soft.
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  It is strong. Real love refuses to let bitterness
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  grow. Real love refuses to gossip, to quit, refuses
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  to get petty, refuses to stay offended, refuses
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  to hold grudges. Real love doesn't say, love
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  me back. Real love says, even if you fail me,
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  I won't abandon the posture that God calls me
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  to be. And listen, God never calls you to love
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  that he doesn't equip you for. That's why we
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  have the Holy Spirit. Romans 5 .5 says that God
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  loves, has been seen, poured into our hearts
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  through the Holy Spirit that he has given us.
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  Meaning you're not loving people out of your
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  own strength. You're loving them out of God's
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  strength, working inside of you. And that changes
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  everything because some people demand more love
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  than you feel you have. Some people drain you.
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  Some people disappoint you. Some people confuse
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  you. And some people push every button that you've
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  got, and you know what I'm talking about. And
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  God says, love them anyway. Not because they're
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  lovable, but because I loved you whenever you
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  weren't. And that's where the growth happens,
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  because relationships reveal the places where
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  God is still refining you. People pull out parts
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  of you that you didn't even know you needed to
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  sacrifice. One conversation can expose impatience
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  you thought you outgrew. One conflict can reveal
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  pride you didn't realize that lived within you.
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  One rejection can uncover insecurity that you
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  thought you healed from. Relationships shake
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  you. They shape you. They are also sanctify you.
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  God uses people. difficult people, amazing people,
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  draining people, surprising people to grow you
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  in the image of Christ. And now let's talk about
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  some boundaries for a second, because loving
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  like Jesus doesn't mean becoming a doormat. Even
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  Jesus set boundaries. He withdrew to rest. He
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  walked away from some crowds. He confronted manipulation.
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  He refused to let people misuse him. Love doesn't
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  eliminate boundaries. Love sets holy boundaries,
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  and here's the difference between loving someone
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  and letting them control your life. Godly love
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  is compassionate, not co -dependent. It's patient,
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  not passive. It's forgiving, not foolish. It's
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  sacrificial, not self -destructive. You can love
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  people deeply without abandoning your God -given
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  peace, identity, and calling. And let me say
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  this generally. Some of the most Christ -like
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  moments you will ever have will be in the moments
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  no one sees. The apology no one knows you made.
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  The patience no one applauded. The forgiveness
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  no one expected. The restraint no one recognized.
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  The kindness that no one thanked you for. That's
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  love. Love isn't loud. Love isn't looking for
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  credit. Love isn't keeping score. Love is steady.
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  Love is honest. Love is reflective of the God
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  who never quits on you. Here's a passion that
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  I think about often, 1 Corinthians 13, not the
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  wedding verse, the Christian verse, the disciple
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  verse, the sanctification verse, the verse that
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  tells you what God expects from your heart. Love
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  is patient. Love is kind. Love does not envy.
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  does not boast, it is not proud, it is not rude,
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  it is not self -seeking, it is not easily angered,
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  keeps no wrongs of record, keeps no record of
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  wrong. And listen, we don't read this verse and
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  think, oh, how cute. We read this verse and think,
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  God, transform me, because every line exposes
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  something in us. Every line says, are you willing
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  to love like this? Are you willing to be shaped
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  into this? Are you willing to surrender the parts
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  of your personality that contradict this? Loving
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  people the way God calls you to love them is
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  not easy, but it is freeing. It frees you from
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  bitterness. It frees you from offense. It frees
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  you from pride. It frees you from needing to
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  be right. It frees you from keeping score. It
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  frees you from revenge. It frees you from insecurity.
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  Because the second that you begin loving people
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  with God's love, you start living with God's
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  peace. And I want you to hear this. If you're
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  struggling to love someone right now, you're
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  not failing. You're growing. If someone is stretching
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  you, God is shaping you. If relationships feel
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  heavy, God will be maturing you. And if God brought
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  someone into your life who is difficult to love,
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  maybe it's not about them. Maybe God is using
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  them to pull you into a deeper dependence on
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  Him. And so let that simmer. Who in around you
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  is getting on your nerves? Who in your life is
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  so hard to love? Who in your life has God put
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  at the workplace, at school, on a team, on a
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  council? Who has it been, and like, oh my gosh,
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  they don't deserve anything. Did we? Did you
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  deserve to be loved whenever you walked away
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  from the umpteenth time, whenever you came back?
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  Didn't we deserve it? No, we didn't. But that's
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  why we love, because He loved us first. That's
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  why we forgive, because He forgave us. Who are
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  we? Who are we not to love someone that He made?
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  Who are we? Because if we look at that person
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  and we see that He's the son of daughter of Christ,
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  who are we not to love on the person that was
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  made in God's image? Are some people difficult?
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  Yeah. But what's in our hearts that makes it
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  difficult? Because we don't hold offense. We
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  don't hold grudges. We don't judge. That's God's
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  job. And so we hope that this message encouraged
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  you. I would love for you to take these simple
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  steps this week. Choose one person in your life
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  and intentionally love them God's way. Ask God
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  to show you who that person is. And then show
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  up for them. Encourage them. Pray for them. Bless
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  them. Love them. was love that looks like Jesus.
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  We would love to pray for you guys. Dear Heavenly
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  Father, thank you so much for today. Lord, help
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  us love people the way that you love us. Not
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  the easy, casual, surface type of love that promotes,
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  but deep, sacrificial, patient, steady love that
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  reflects the heart of Christ. Stretch us, shape
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  us, grow us. Give us the courage to love beyond
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  our own strength. Fill us with your spirit so
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  that we can love out of your power and not our
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  weakness. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen and
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  amen. We hope that you are encouraged by this.
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  Send it to somebody. Write a comment. Leave us
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  a message. Make sure that you print out your
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  February homework book and that way you can walk
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  through this with us together. We hope this message
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  encouraged you. We love you guys. See you next
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  week.