Morgan Teruel: Thanks for tuning in to the Sandals Church podcast. Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, God, and others. We're glad you're here, and we hope you enjoy this message.
Pastor Matt Brown: Hi, and welcome to Sandals Church. Man, I am so glad that you are with us today. We're gonna talk about one of the most important things and most controversial things in life. It's not politics. It's love.
Right? Love is one of the most difficult, challenging, controversial issues you will face in your life. You will struggle with it. Your kids will struggle with it. Your family will struggle with it.
Man, everyone you know will struggle with this issue, and that's why we need this series. What is love? And we're in this series called Love Is. And so I really wanna encourage you. Sometimes when I'm preaching, you guys just stare at me.
I want you to get your notes out, and I want you to follow along. Even in the app, I want you to be writing down notes, and I want you to be thinking about this. Because the next time you're fighting with someone you claim to love, this might help you. This might be a life preserver. Amen?
And you're like, you're drowning, so you might need this. So take notes. Take vigorous notes. And I just wanna be honest. As I wrote this, I was so convicted by this.
I was like, Lord, I need to not only preach this, I need to sit and hear this message on love. So number 1, if you're taking notes, I want you to write this down. God teaches me the importance, listen very carefully, of his love, of his love. Now you're like, wait a minute. I thought love is love, right?
Well, we're gonna talk about that today. So in 1st Corinthians 13:1 through 3, the Apostle Paul writes to a struggling church, way worse than Sandals Church. Can I get an amen? They had way more problems than we will ever dream of. Like, if you wanna feel good about your Christian life, read the book of Corinthians.
You'd be like, I'm not doing that bad. So he writes to them to tell them that there's a kind of love that's very different than the love that they're portraying. And so he begins with how important, listen to this, this love is. He said, If I could speak of all the languages on Earth, which would be kinda nice, amen? Not to need Google Translate.
And of angels, but I didn't love others. Listen to this. I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal if I had the gift of prophecy, and listen to this, and if I understood all God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge. And if I had faith, such as I could move mountains, but listen to this, didn't love others, this is really, really challenging, I would be nothing. If I gave everything to the poor and I even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it but if I didn't love others, listen to this, I would have gained nothing.
What kind of love must the Apostle Paul be talking about? Now, in English, we have one word for love. Do you know what it is? It's love. One person God.
It's love. We have one word for love. It's love. In the Greek language, there are 8 words for love. Wouldn't that be so helpful?
So that we could differentiate between when somebody says, I love you and I love pizza, you would know what kind of love they were talking about. Amen, single ladies? Because some guys love pizza more than you. Right? It's true.
And that would have been nice to know that before you started dating.
Morgan Teruel: Hey, guys. Thank you so much for being a part of Sandals Church online today. I do wanna pause and just take a moment to give you an opportunity. If you'd like to be a part of the work that God is doing here at Sandals Church, you can go now to give dot sc. For now, let's hop into the message with pastor Matt.
Pastor Matt Brown: So the Greeks have 4 or excuse me, have 8 words for love. And in the bible, 4 of them are used. 4 of them are used. K? Of these 4, brotherly love it's called phileia.
We get this from our city, Philadelphia. Right? If you've ever been to Philadelphia, not the city of brotherly love. K? It's the city of angry people.
But that's the name of the city, the city of brotherly love. And so we'll see this in the Bible. The Bible will write that we're to flayo each other. We're to love each other with brotherly love. Next, k, if you have a family, you have kids, it's called storge love.
This is family love. Why is it called storge? Because you're gonna go to the store a lot. Amen? You're gonna spend a lot of time in the store.
But storge love is that familial love. And it is different. Right? We have a different love for our brothers and our sisters, for our mom and our dad, and for our children than we have for others. Like, I love your children, but listen to me.
Not in the same way that I love my kids. And that's not wrong. It's just in English, we only have one word to describe the kind of love that we're talking about. And then there's this romantic love or sexual love, depending upon who's writing about it. It's called eros.
K? And eros love is where we get the word in English erotic. It's sexual love, it's an intense love. Right? It's a desiring love.
And then what's in this passage is God's love, and it's called agape. And it's very, very different. And so when somebody says to you, love is love, well, it depends. The Bible says there's all kinds of love. And God wants us to learn to love each other with agape love.
So here's the thing. The world wants to give you and get you to give in to eros. Right? Whatever you love, that's between you and you. They want you to give into eros.
Listen to me. Jesus wants you to give into agape. And it's very, very different. It's very, very different. And we live in a world that tells us we're prisoners to eros.
The Bible says that agape can set us free from eros. And it's very, very different. Next, God explains what love, listen to this, is supposed to be. Anybody been burned by the love? K, if you haven't, it's coming.
At some point in time, someone will break your heart. It's just true. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says this, Love is patient and kind. Like, I'm out the first two. Right?
I was listening to Pastor Fredo's message last week. I'm like, I know nothing about love. I mean, my love is impatient and occasionally kind. Amen? Anybody else?
Love is not jealous, the Bible says, or boastful, or proud, or rude. Some of you already struck out twice. It does not demand its own way. It's not irritable, men. It keeps no record of wrongs, ladies.
You're like, what would I do? What would I do? It does not rejoice about injustice, but it rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith. Listen to this.
It's always hopeful. It endures through every circumstance. Man, doesn't that sound like the kind of love that you want? Man, if you have been invited to Sandals Church this weekend and you're like, well, I don't believe in God, could you at least believe in this kinda love? Could you hope in this kinda love?
Could you imagine if what the world would be like if we experienced this kind of love? You see, that's what Christianity is all about. It's about the invasion of God and his love to a broken world and our broken love. The truth is we've all been hurt by friends. We've all had somebody who said, I'll be there for you.
I'm gonna love you. I'm loyal to you. And then they're not. We've all been hurt by family. I mean, some of our deepest wounds come from family.
So we know that phileo love is broken. We know that storge love is, like man, that that that can be the most hurtful. But then Eros, let's talk about Eros. Oh, just follow your heart. Yeah.
That's terrible advice. What could possibly go wrong? A lot. A lot could go wrong. We've all been destroyed by romance, and if you haven't, you haven't dated much.
When I was in high school, I out punted my coverage. And if you don't understand that reference, ask somebody. But I asked a girl that was outside of my league to to dance. And I don't know why, but she said yes. I wish she wouldn't have.
But she said yes. And I was super, super nervous, and and the whole night was horrible. The entire night was just it was just a disaster. When I picked her up at her house, her her brother had a shaved head. I was like, oh, you're When I picked her up at her house, her her brother had a shaved head.
I was, like, oh, your haircut's like Michael Jordan. And his mom was, like, no, he has cancer. I'm, like, okay. Here we go. That's how the night began.
I put her in the car, broke my finger. My car was in my finger was in the car door. That was nice. Then we got to the dance. I kid you not, She left with another guy.
It was like a bad 19 eighties movie. Right? And here's how we lie to your kids. Oh, you'll get over it. You don't get over it.
You just kinda get through it. Amen? You just kinda get through it. Even though I'm a pastor, if she showed up at our church today, I'd be like, really? Really?
There's a lot of places you could worship. So we've all been burned by this. We've all been destroyed by this. What if there's a different love? What if there's a better love?
Some of you right now are killing yourselves for a lower level of love. Listen to what the Bible says. This is real love. Hold on. A realer love than you'll ever experience, a realer love than you'll ever know.
This is an eternal love. You see, agape love outlasts death. This is real love. Listen to this. And here's the thing.
Right? This is what's wrong with the world. Follow your heart. The Bible says your heart's the problem. 1st John 4:10, this is real love.
Not that we love God. Listen to me. This is where our world has it completely backwards. We think we're the center of love. No, no, no, no.
We're the problem in love. It's not that we loved God, but listen to this. It's that he loved us and sent his son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. You see, sin is a spiritual disease that affects physical physical, relational, and emotional love. It destroys love.
It wrecks love. Man, that's that's what kills me in our church when I see somebody doing something in the name of love that destroys their kids, destroys their marriage, destroys their life, all in their pursuit of love. Everything behind them is a disaster. Well, I'm just following my heart. Well, you're hurting a lot of people.
Next, this is so important. God shows me what love isn't. And and and one of the things I want you to do this week is spend some time in 1 Corinthians 13, and I want you to just look at all the negative things that love isn't. It's not just pointing to the goal of love. It's saying, hey, hey, that's not love.
That's not love. Raise your hand if you're a parent. Raise your hand. Parenting is super fun. K?
Super fun. But junior high takes it to another level. Like, when you get a junior high kid, you just you go varsity parenting. It's super fast, and it happens overnight. But but junior high is fun because, you know, your your kids that really aren't sexual at all.
Right? They're just they're just kids, and it's great, and it's wonderful, and they're innocent. They become aware. You know, Timmy's body is changing. You know, you remember the old videos?
And I remember in junior high, one of my kids fell in love. I mean, you know what I'm saying? In love. This was deep, real, eternal love, lasting love. But you see, this kid had a cell phone with text messages that their parents could read.
Right? Praise God, old people. Our parents couldn't, They didn't have digital proof of our stupidity. Amen? Like, that's what I love about being in the eighties.
Whatever stupid thing I did, it's just a rumor. Like, you have no proof. You have no proof. With my kids, it's like, well, is that your text message? But this is what my kids said.
I totally love you. Capital l, capital o, capital v, capital e. Next sentence. What's your last name? Right?
Isn't that I mean, come on. Do you remember how intense love was for, like, till Thursday? But can I just say I was just as dumb? I was just as dumb. But it wasn't paraded in front of my parents as a text message.
It was passed as a note in class. See, here's what's wrong with the world. The world defines love by love. Have you noticed that? The next time you see a protest march, love is love.
That's not helpful. You see, you need to know what love is. The world defines love by itself. Listen to this. God does not define love by itself.
He defines love, listen to this, by himself. Very, very different. Very, very different. 1st John 416. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
How different would your life be today? Instead of trusting your heart and following your heart, you trusted God's heart and you trusted his love? Those are completely two different outcomes. Those are 2 different destinies. Listen to this.
God, the Bible says, is love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God. Now you gotta be careful with this because it's agape love. All who live in agape love. It doesn't say, all who live in eros love.
It doesn't say, all who live in filet o love. It doesn't say all who live in storge love. It's not what it says. It says all who live in God's dynamic, eternal, real love, they also know God, and God lives in them. And see, this is where our English really, really trips us up.
Now some of us have experienced this. And praise God, man, once you get a glimpse of God's love, you're never gonna wanna go back. Once you fall in love with God, there's no turning back. You realize how insignificant everything else is. Now some of us aren't there yet, and that's okay.
That's okay. Some of us are learning about this, but some of us have been hurt in the name of God's love. I want you to know just because somebody uses his name, just because somebody uses the word love, doesn't mean it had anything to do with love or God. It just means they were using those words. And you gotta be really, really careful.
And I just wanna say this. Stop saying I got hurt by God, or I don't trust God, or I got hurt by the church. Use the name of the person who hurt you, and don't just sell out or give up on the church because of a person or God because of a person. And I want you to remember, it was religious people it was religious people who killed Jesus. So we're gonna dig into really 3 categories today of what love isn't.
K? The first one is love is not jealous. It's not jealous. And and you would think we would all, Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. We would get that.
But do you know, even in the context of marriage, I have been at dinner with couples who compete with each other? I mean, they they think it's an NBA finals game. And the husband's like, slam dunk. I'm like, Yeah, but you're divorced now. And let me say this to anyone who's married.
When you argue, if your desire is to win, you both lose. If I fight with Tammy and I win, did I win? No. No. Love's not trying to win.
Love's trying to love. You see, true love, listen to this, does not compete, it compliments. It says, hey, there's room for your beauty. There's room for your talent. There's room for you.
You see, jealousy must be first. It must be first. Love is okay being last. It's okay. It's okay.
Jealousy needs all of the attention. And some of you are like, yeah. That's my friends. Get new ones. Jealousy needs all the attention.
You see, love is okay with sharing the attention. Man, isn't that incredible? When you look at Jesus, what does he say? Don't look at me. Look at my dad.
When the father shows up, what does the father say? Look at my son. When the spirit is moving, what does the spirit say? Look at Jesus. Look at Jesus.
And we see that perfectly in the gospels. Next, love is not humiliated at the success of others. Why am I always the prize made? Never the pride. It's not humiliated by the success of others.
Listen to me. It celebrates it. It celebrates it. You see, jealousy says I have to be the prettiest, the smartest, the greatest. I have to be the center of attention.
Galatians 526, probably one of the most challenging passages for Christians who've been a Christian for a long time and the most least understood and least read. Galatians 526, let us not become conceited, focused on self, or provoke one another, listen to this, or be jealous of one another. Think about that. Love is not jealous. It's not.
You want friends that are not jealous of you, you want friends that celebrate you, You want friends that compliment you. You want friends that are okay with the attention that you gain. You want friends that celebrate you, that are genuinely happy. You know what a real friend is? A real friend is someone you can tell really, really bad news to, and a real friend is someone you can tell really good news to.
Man. And some of us, if we're honest, we don't have friends where we can share our deepest joys because we're worried that might make them feel less or them not feel blessed. You know, some of you, you're like, well, why does he gotta win the lottery? You don't even play the lottery. That's how hard it is for you to celebrate someone else.
Next, love is not arrogant. Okay? It's not arrogant. Love has to make room for others. Can I tell you why you can't be arrogant and experience love?
Arrogance takes up all the space. Have you seen me? Have you seen I? Have you seen this? Oh my gosh.
Like, we've all had that friend. Right? No matter what story you're telling, theirs is better. You know? I don't know if you know this, but I was an astronaut.
Okay. Yeah. You win. I've never driven, or a Land Rover, you know, up on space. You know?
I saw a Land Rover one time at a, you know, at a a car lot, but that's it. You know? But yours is a lunar rover, so, you know, you win. But, like right? Love cannot be arrogant.
It cannot be. Philippians 23 says this. Do nothing from selfish selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourself. You see, what arrogance says is I'm more significant. I'm more important.
And let me just say this. I I I don't mean to just be harsh with you today, I do wanna be real with you. If you are full of pride, you are empty of love. And let me say this. This this is really You know, they don't let me do counseling anymore because I'm not that good at it.
But if I were to counsel you in your marriage, this I can't stand this. It'll be a wife or a husband and they'll say things like this. Well, I just wish my husband would fight for our love. Like, okay, Tyson. You know?
Can I tell you this? You will never fight for love, but you will fight for pride. I've heard this so many times. He's not willing, she's not willing to fight for our marriage. You wanna know why your marriage is on the line?
Fighting. Oftentimes. Love doesn't want you to fight for your marriage, but it may ask you to die for it. I know that's You're like, okay, pastor. That's varsity level Christianity.
Let's bring it down. Let's bring it right back down. Because that's the key. You know? I mean, think about it.
A lot of our marriages look like politics, fighting over who gets what, when, where, and how. Love love is about, how can I love you? How how can I care for you? Love is love is about something other than yourself. And I can't I can't tell you how many times in in counseling I've had a husband or wife say, I just wanna know whose side you're on.
And I'll say the marriages because no one seems to be. You know? The marriage. Next, this one, man. If you weren't convicted yet, just, like, just put your seat belt on.
Here it comes. Love is not rude. Really? Really, God? You had to slip that one in there.
Like, I was already feeling just like and then God's like, it's not rude. Can I just tell you my sinful default is rudeness? Amen? Anybody else? Like like I just I just wake up rude.
Like that's how I wake up in the morning. My wife and I, we went to a party in LA, and we were super nervous about going to this party. And we literally knew 2 people in this party. And we didn't wanna go, but we said we would. And so, you know, we're Christians, so we have to follow through on what we say.
And so we go to this party. We're super nervous. We're super anxious. It's in LA. And there's, you know, there's a a celebrity there that we we both really, really kinda worshiped when we were kids in an inappropriate way.
And and she was there, and it was just awkward. And the whole thing were uptight. And finally, we got to escape, amen, because you finally met the people that you were there. You made an appearance. Now you can go.
And we were on the way to the car, and my wife, she she walked past our car. And I go, where are you going? Just like that. And you can imagine that didn't land well. You know?
So we get in the car, and it's just it's just quiet. You know? And that's you guys that's when the missile has been launched. That's when you don't that's when you don't know. It hasn't hit yet, but it's been launched.
And it's in the air, it's going into space, it's tracking the car, it's coming down. And this is why guys never get it, because you don't know when the missile was launched because it hits later. So I'm just driving out on the highway and thinking we're having a conversation, not knowing, you know, a drone strike is headed straight for us. And, I mean, we just we just erupted, just absolutely erupted. And here's the thing is, I said something that she respond, and I'm like, what's your problem?
You know, which helps. That always helps. You know? Like, if you're ever looking for, like, some spice in your life, just say, what's your problem? And this whole fight erupts and we're trapped in the car in LA traffic for hours.
Like, the worst place to be is stuck in a car. It's like, we're not soulmates. We're just cellmates. Amen? Like, we're trapped in prison.
And and and it took an hour for us to finally work through to what happened and what set her off, and it was my rudeness. It was my rudeness. And here's the thing is I'm not even aware of my superpower of rudeness. I'm so good at it. Sometimes, I'm not aware.
You know? I'm just like, what's your problem? You know, I don't know why that would affect you. Huge fight. Love is not rude.
Love is not rude. Colossians 3:19, husbands, husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. One translation says never be harsh. Never be harsh. And my favorite one is, I'm not being rude.
You know, you think this is rude. I'll take it to another level. Oh my gosh. Never be never be harsh. Why would the Bible say that, guys?
Well, that's just how I am. That's how I roll. I'm a dude. That's how dudes are. Well, you didn't marry a dude.
And some are like, oh, yeah. She's she's a girl. She's she's a woman, and she's different. And you gotta learn to talk to her differently. You gotta learn this.
And all the single guys are like, okay. You know? Punching the girl sitting. Alright. I'll be I'll be nicer.
Proverbs 15:1, a gentle answer turns away wrath. A gentle answer. I could've said, hey, babe. The car's right here. Instead, what came out of the computer was, where are you going?
Pray for your pastor. Like, you ever wonder, guys, how did that come out? Like, I just wanna have a conversation with the dudes in the back. Like, what are you guys doing back there? You know, I'm searching for a word, searching for a word.
What comes out is, where are you going? Oh my gosh. What I could've said is, hey, babe. The card's right here. It's right here.
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word, listen to this word, stirs up anger. Oh. Oh my gosh. Man. And, ladies, it's not just guys that are rude.
You have superpowers too. Yes. I know. I've met a few women in my life. I I was snowboarding at Mammoth with a couple guys from our church, and I don't like sharing stories where I'm the hero, but, you know, unfortunately, I got this one right.
But we were in line at Mammoth, and we were snowboarding. And you guys know, if you ever been to Mammoth, it's a bunch of people from LA, and they think no one should be there, and it should just be us in the snow. And so everybody gets there, and they're irritated. It's just like so people in SoCal, like, stop complaining about the crowds. You live in SoCal.
Like, this isn't Wyoming. So we're in Mammoth. People are upset, and so we had a large group from Sandals. There's about 10 of us. And so 5 of us got in line.
And so a snowboarder you gotta wait for snowboarders because we have to drag the board to get in line. And so I was with the group. I was with about 5 of us that didn't make the line, and so we cut in line. I kid you not. We our group was second to last, and there was an older lady and her husband who were last.
So we cut in line, and she was cool, you know, with the first person and then the second person and then the third person. You can see the smoke. You know? Like, she's starting to lose her mind. And so I'm aware of this.
So I say, hey. Why don't you cut in front of us? I'm sorry. We we cut we so many people cut in front of you. It's it's our bad.
I said, why don't you cut in front of us? You know what she said? No. She's gonna prove a point. No.
I will not have this wrong righted. And without even thinking, I kid you not, without even thinking, this is what I said. It's okay. I love you. Now, guys, I don't recommend saying that to a random woman.
Like, don't just run around to women. I love you. Like, you could end up in the back of a police car. I don't know why I said it. I don't I don't I don't know where it came from.
The same same same, you know, basement where it came out, you know, where are you going? They there's another guy over there. He's like, I love you. You know? So that that guy won.
And I just I said, listen. I said, it's okay. I love you. Do you know what happened to her sour face? She smiled, and she said thank you.
And she moved in front of all 10 of us. And all my guy friends are like, did you see her face change when you said you love her? What is this ninja technology? And my friend who's a psychologist says, what made you think to say that? I was like, you're the shrink.
I don't know. You know what? I just literally I I said I said, it's okay. I love you. Come on.
And she smiled. It's amazing what love does if it's just thrown out. And I don't even know why I said it but I did and it fixed the situation like that. Ephesians 4:15 says this, speak the truth in love. With my wife and my kids, I'm trying to begin my apologies with I love you before I say I'm sorry.
Matter of fact, sometimes with my wife, I put my hand on her knee gently, and I say I'm so sorry I love you. So sorry I love you. Sometimes when we're fighting, I'm saying that for my benefit to remind myself that I love her. That's helpful. You know, guys?
When you're about ready to lose it. Here's the thing though. This is why you need this series. This is why I need this series. God reveals to me how much I still need to learn about love.
I could write a book on love and still be in 1st grade when it comes to love. Why? Because love is patient and kind. How we doing? It's not jealous.
It's not boastful. It's not proud. It's not rude. Like, your pastor's already out. Listen to this.
It does not demand its own way. This series gets worse. It's not irritable. It keeps no record of being wronged. Like, what am I gonna do with my list?
Throw it away. It does not rejoice about injustice, but it rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Agape love, agape love, not your love, not my love. God's love never gives up, never loses faith. It's always hopeful, and it endures through every circumstance.
I don't want you to feel defeated today. I want you to be encouraged. I want you to say, you know what? I'm gonna learn to love. And you know what learning to love is like?
It's like learning to roller skate. Anybody ever done that? And I don't mean, like, the cool skaters from the seventies, you know? You guys are cheaters. You you grew up with that.
But, like, if you've never put roller skates on, you have just put your life in your hands. Right? Roller skating is dangerous. Do you know that at Sandals, we used to rent out a roller skating rink in Riverside? We'd rent it out and everybody in there was sandals.
You know, you know why we quit doing that? Because every single time, church members went home in ambulances. I'm not kidding you. And it was always sweet old ladies and nice people and single moms. But this is the thing.
We quit going roller skierings because because people went home in an ambulance. That's how love is. That's how love is. It's why when your teenagers fall in love, right, parents are like, Oh, here we go, here we go. Somebody's going to the ambulance.
And parents, it might be you. Amen? You're like, oh. And here's the thing. Some of you are like, oh, love's not that dangerous.
Okay. Well, ask Jesus. Come on now. Just ask Jesus about love. It got him crucified.
I know. But here's the thing, as painful as the cross was, he would say it was worth it That's right. Because you were worth it. Amen. Amen.
So why do you need this series? The same reason I need this series, because we all need to grow in love. I was at the grocery store this week with my wife because I'm a loving, kind husband. And we saw a couple in our church that had just had a newborn, and and the gal used to work for me. And I was like, hey, didn't you used to work for me?
And she's like, yeah. We go to your church. I was like, great. And, I would say the guy was holding the baby, but nobody holds babies anymore. They're just strapped on your chest.
I was like, where was this in the nineties? That would have been so cool. You know, you don't have to you just got loose hands. You can do whatever you want. The kid's just right here.
So he's got the kid on his chest. And you know what she told me? I said, how are you doing? She said, it's really hard. Listen to what this honest, authentic, real mom from Sandals Church said.
She said, I did not think I was a selfish person. I said, oh, but 3 AM changes that, doesn't it? You know? Because you're because an infant's not like, mom and dad need to sleep. It's all nope.
Diarrhea. Poof. That's what it does. It doesn't care about your needs. It doesn't.
And she said, I just I just didn't realize how much I needed to grow in love. And I don't want if if she's listening right now, I don't want her to feel convicted. I'm gonna celebrate you. I wish we all had that attitude. Listen to what the Bible says.
These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands. An older lady needs to adopt Tammy. Amen? Right now. K?
Just just think of me like I'm at the pound. I'm just a little puppy wanting to be loved. I wanna be taken home and loved. Older women, their job is to train younger women to love their husbands. Why?
Because husbands are hard to love. What? And their children. And if you don't think that, it's because you don't have kids. You don't have kids.
And one day, you will. In first Timothy 1:5, what is the purpose of going to church, of studying your Bible, of learning about God? The apostle Paul wrote half the New Testament. Think about that. Half of everything we know about Jesus comes from this guy.
Listen to what he says. When he's writing a letter to you, I wish I could just fast forward this to every bible study in America today. What is the purpose of bible study? Here you go. The purpose of my instruction, that's Bible study.
That's reading your Bible. That's going to church. The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love, agape, that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and, listen, and genuine faith. Genuine faith. Now most of the world's religions talk a little bit about love.
I was just curious this week. I wondered, how many times does the Quran talk about love? I'm not an expert on the Quran, but I looked it up 80 times. I wonder how many times you think the bible mentions love. I got the answer.
580 times. 2 different religions that see 2 different problems, that have 2 different solutions. Right? The Quran says you need to get it right because sin is the problem. The Bible says love is the problem and the solution is Jesus.
We need to learn to love 580 times. Depends on the translation that you pick. 580. So if God, 580 times, challenges you to love in a different way, what do you need to be doing as a Christian? Loving in a different way.
So this means something for us as married people, single people. This means something for us as parents, as kids, as friends. This means something very unique for us as church members. How are we loving each other? This series will challenge everyone.
I promise. Let's pray right now. And here's my challenge. Let's all end today, just with a confession. God, this is not me.
I do not love this way. And if you think you love this way, go back up to the arrogant point, and then come back down and meet me right here. All of us need to grow in this. All of us. So let's just bow our heads, let's close our eyes, and just just say let's just say in your own words, God, your picture of love is not how I love.
I don't love my friends this way. I don't love my family this way. Let's be honest, I don't love myself this way. And just ask him right now, Lord Jesus, would you help me love like you love? Would you help me be better at this?
Wherever you are, young or old, single or married, kids or no kids, we all need to love. Let's just invite the Holy Spirit right now. Holy Spirit, we need you to empower us. We need you to grow us. We can't do this without you.
The good news is we don't have to. So we ask, Holy Spirit, that you would strengthen us, that you would change us, that you would teach us to love like Jesus. Change us today. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.