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In this episode of 'Joy in Every Step', Sarita explores the themes of love and joy, particularly during the holiday season. She discusses the importance of finding joy in small moments and human connections, emphasizing two types of love: agape (unconditional love) and phileo (brotherly love). Through biblical references and personal insights, Sarita encourages listeners to practice love in all its forms, highlighting the physical and spiritual benefits of loving others.
Takeaways
- Finding joy in small moments is essential.
- Agape love is selfless and unconditional.
- Phileo love represents deep friendship and loyalty.
- The story of David and Jonathan exemplifies brotherly love.
- Love is a commandment, not just a suggestion.
- Demonstrating love can have physical health benefits.
- We should love through all seasons of life.
- Compassion defines who our neighbors are.
- Acts of kindness stimulate positive hormones.
- The greatest virtue is love.
Creators and Guests
What is Joy In Every Step?
Each week, Sarita shares heartfelt messages rooted in the Word of God, filled with wisdom, joy, and the gentle reminder that God cares deeply for you.
Whether you’re walking through the valley or dancing on the mountaintop, Sarita’s voice will guide you back to His promises — step by step.
Welcome to a place of peace, hope, and divine encouragement. This is Joy in Every Step with your host, beloved preacher, retired teacher, and faithful faithful servant of the Lord, Sarita Bernadette. Each week, Sarita shares heartfelt messages rooted in the Word of God, filled with wisdom, joy, and the gentle reminder that God cares deeply for you. Whether you're walking through the valleys or dancing on the mountaintops, Sarita's voice will guide you back to his promises step by step. So open your heart, settle your spirit, and take the next step in faith with Joy in Every Step.
Sarita Bernadette:Hi, I'm Sarita Bernadette, and welcome back to another episode of Joy in Every Step. I'm glad you're here. In our last two episodes, we talked about some of the issues that arise right around this time of year. We zeroed in on shifting focus from all the shopping and the big events to finding joy in the little things, the small moments. We also shared some thoughts on the joy that comes with human connection.
Sarita Bernadette:We're aware that this time of year can be very lonely for some of us. So let's share more about how we can counter anxiety and maybe disenchantment and sorrow and yes, even loneliness. There are so many verses of scripture about love, love, love, love in the word of God. God is love, and we see it as a theme throughout the word. He lets us know how he defines love.
Sarita Bernadette:He lets us know what it looks like in human form, and he reminds us that we have the ultimate example of how it should be demonstrated. We're going to focus on two types of love for today. First, agape. Agape is a Greek term which primarily refers to a selfless, unconditional, divine love, the kind of love that's described in one Corinthians chapter 13. I'll come back to that in a little bit.
Sarita Bernadette:Agape love is what the Father demonstrated for us through Christ's sacrifice on the cross. And here it is, first Corinthians 13 verses four through seven. It gives us a detailed description of agape love. Love is patient, love is kind, love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way.
Sarita Bernadette:It is not irritable. It keeps no record of wrongs. It does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. That's agape.
Sarita Bernadette:And the other is filio. Filio is a Greek term for brotherly love deep, affectionate friendship that we demonstrate through trust, loyalty, mutual respect, and companionship. It's that steadfast enduring bond between friends who support one another through the various seasons of their lives. Anybody out there grateful for the love of good friends? Yeah.
Sarita Bernadette:So let's dig into agape love first. In Psalm 86 we find a prayer that David wrote to the Lord. In verse 15 we read, But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. This verse describes the very character of God. Knowing this should move us as believers who were created in his image to be more like him.
Sarita Bernadette:John three sixteen is a very familiar passage of scripture. Most of us know it by heart. It's one of the first pieces we learn as children brought up in the faith. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. God loved us so much that he made a plan of reconciliation for us, and the plan involved him sacrificing his only begotten son for us.
Sarita Bernadette:Now that's love. Romans five:eight says, But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. His love for us has been proven through the ultimate act of love. Why are we sharing this here today, just days before Christmas? We're sharing because this is the reason for all of it.
Sarita Bernadette:Let's focus on the fact that God's plan of redemption for us began with the birth of a savior. Yes, Jesus is the reason for the season. I believe having a real sense of God's love, agape love, helps us practice philia or brotherly love. Brotherly love. Brotherly love was demonstrated throughout the Bible but one such relationship is the one between David and Jonathan.
Sarita Bernadette:Their story is in the Old Testament and it's a powerful, rich example of a friendship that crossed over a political divide. Imagine that. They had a deep bond. Jonathan was the eldest son of King Saul, the first king of Israel. Yes, that's Saul, the one you're thinking of.
Sarita Bernadette:Saul the warrior. Jonathan was heir to the throne, but because he loved his friend David, he protected him, even though he knew David was destined to be the next king instead of him. First Samuel 18 verses one through four: After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan the king's son. There was an immediate bond between them, for Jonathan loved David. From that day on Saul kept David with him and wouldn't let him return home, and Jonathan made a solemn pact with David because he loved him as he loved himself.
Sarita Bernadette:Jonathan sealed the pack by taking off his robe and giving it to David together with his tunic, his sword, bow, and belt. My Lord. Later in chapter 20 verse 17 we read that they affirmed their vow to remain faithful in their friendship. And then in verses forty one and forty two we see a description of their tearful farewell. Jonathan says these words: Go in peace for we have sworn loyalty to each other in the Lord's name.
Sarita Bernadette:The Lord is the witness of a bond between us and our children forever. In second Samuel one twenty six, we read about David's lament: How I weep for you, my brother Jonathan! Oh, how much I have loved you, and your love for me was deep, deeper than the love of women. When Jonathan was killed in battle, David mourned. He weeped for his good friend.
Sarita Bernadette:In brotherly love David and Jonathan found loyalty and an unselfish love that enriched both of their lives. It was a God ordained relationship. I pray that each and every one of us will seek out those God ordained relationships. In Romans twelve and ten Paul the Apostle urged the early church to practice brotherly love. He told them, Love one another with mutual affection.
Sarita Bernadette:Outdo one another in showing honor. Outdo one another, he said. The surrounding community of non believers was amazed by the way the Christians showed their deep affection for one another. It served as a testimony of their deep abiding faith in God. That scripture reminds us as today's church to love deeply and to put the needs of others before our own needs.
Sarita Bernadette:That isn't very popular these days, understand that, but I found isn't that as I put that scripture into practice, God takes care of my needs. And beloved, we have to be clear: to love one another isn't just a suggestion. John thirteen thirty four-thirty five reads, I give you a new commandment that you love one another Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. Those verses clearly demonstrating love is mandatory.
Sarita Bernadette:Children of God are to move and act with love. Listen to first John four verses seven and eight: Beloved, let us love one another because love is from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God is love.
Sarita Bernadette:And we're not if we're not moving and acting in love, that means we don't know him. They'll know we are Christians by our love. We're instructed to love at all times, beloved, through all the seasons, not just this one. We love winter, spring, summer, fall, year round. And we love through all the seasons of our lives.
Sarita Bernadette:We love in the spring when things are new. We love in the summer when life heats up and things get really super busy. We love in the fall when the storm comes and challenges arise, and we love in the winter when things slow down and we have time to reflect. We love through it all. In the book of Mark chapter 12 verses thirty and thirty one we read, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
Sarita Bernadette:Verse 31, the second is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. So simply put, love God and love people. When we give of ourselves out of love, when we love people, we are doing what God has called us to do. Romans thirteen ten drives the point home with this: Love does no wrong to a neighbor.
Sarita Bernadette:Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Love is the law according to God, beloved. Jesus tells a story in the book of Luke. The parable has come to be known as the Good Samaritan. The story is shared in response to a question, that's put to Jesus about his his use of the term neighbor.
Sarita Bernadette:And the question was, Who is my neighbor? And so this question is asked by a lawyer, and Jesus responds by telling about a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. He says on the way he's attacked by bandits, stripped, beaten, and left there by the roadside for dead. A priest comes along and he sees him, but he crosses over to the other side. He ignores him.
Sarita Bernadette:Then a Levite, a member of the tribe of Levi, one of the 12 tribes of Israel, the tribe who was assigned to assist the priests, does the same thing. He also passes by the wounded man. A group of Samaritans come along. Now Samaritans were not liked by the Jews. The Jewish people viewed the Samaritans as a group who practiced a half pagan religion, so they shunned them.
Sarita Bernadette:Jesus tells the group listening to this story that one of the Samaritans shows compassion by cleaning the man's wounds with oil and wine, putting him on his donkey, and taking him to an inn where he pays for his care. When Jesus finishes the story, he asked the lawyer who he thinks acted as a neighbor, And the answer is the one who showed mercy. Jesus illustrates brotherly love through this story, once again showing us how we should behave as Christians. The parable lets us know that a neighbor isn't defined by religious affiliation. It isn't defined by race, ethnicity, or country of origin.
Sarita Bernadette:Being a neighbor is characterized by showing compassion towards anyone in need. And we know that Jesus Christ himself is the ultimate Good Samaritan, right? He's the ultimate who saves those battered, bruised, and left for dead every day. Thank you, Lord. Beloved, one last thing.
Sarita Bernadette:Do you know that demonstrating love through acts of kindness and support stimulates those good hormones like oxytocin? Yep, here's another thing that God gives us. The good hormones get stirred up like oxytocin and dopamine and serotonin. We know this reduces stress or cortisol. It lowers blood pressure.
Sarita Bernadette:It boosts the immune system immune system, excuse me. It improves our mood and can even speed up the healing process. Yes. And as our bodies respond in this way, it then serves to stimulate our desire to serve and support others. God has designed us so that when we put his command into practice, when we love others with the love he has given to us, we not only benefit spiritually, but we reap physical benefits as well.
Sarita Bernadette:Wow. So beloved, why not turn up the love during the next couple of weeks? Turn it up. Receive the love from God and give it to your brothers and sisters. First Corinthians thirteen thirteen, And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three.
Sarita Bernadette:And the greatest of these is
Introduction:love.
Sarita Bernadette:I love you and there's nothing you can do about it. You've been listening to Joy in Every Step. I'm Sarita Bernadette and I'm grateful you chose to spend some time here with me. Feel free to share this episode with someone you know would appreciate it. You can find Joy in Every Step wherever you listen to your podcasts and give us a follow there.
Sarita Bernadette:Do check out the website at joyineverystep.org. See you next time!