Love Audit

2 Tim 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."

I talk to so many people who have a warped sense of what it means to love someone. For some, love is simply a romantic feeling...for others it is a deep understanding of a person's needs or wants. Still others see love as a withholding of aggression or disagreement...for example..."I love him so much I just put up with him..." While each of these instances might be an example of a type of love...Jesus defined love best. When asked what the two most important commandments are, the Savior told us that we need to love God first and then love everyone else like we love ourselves.

Love is an action...a verb.

One of the things that holds many of us back from totally selling out to God's will for our lives is our misunderstanding of love. I know that might sound like it is meant for somebody else...but I invite you this morning to go on a little spiritual audit. Start with answering these questions in your journal:

1) Do I see myself as a loving person?
2) Is the love I show for others for their benefit or mine?
3) How much do I love God?
4) What priority does God have in my life?
5) What did I do yesterday to demonstrate my love for Christ?
6) When was the last time I showed love to someone that didn't deserve it?
7) Do I know the difference between the feeling of love and love itself?
8) How much does God love me?
9) How do I know that God loves me?
10) Do I have anyone in my life that I love unconditionally?

I know these are tough questions...but if we are going to move from the land of "hold out" to the land of "sold out" we need to understand what love is. God IS love...He wants us to love Him and others with a selflessness...a sense of sacrifice... a realization that the love that we receive from Him is also meant for us to share with those that He places in our path.

See you tomorrow,
Pastor Brian