I spoke at a young adult group in Cedar Rapids called “Watershed” this past Thursday and I
wanted to share with you what I wrote.
Of course, a few things
changed in the ‘live’ version of this, but the spirit knew what he was
doing.
Enjoy!!
PRAYER:
God I pray that you would touch the lives in this room today. I
pray that you would open their hearts to the message you have prepared
for me to teach tonight. My prayer is that each person would leave
tonight with a better understanding of love and what that really means.
Speak through me tonight as I try to convey your message
This past year I went on an 11 month Mission trip around the
world called “The World Race”. It is really hard to touch on each
country in just 20 minutes, so, I am going to kind of sum it together
with one MAIN thing that God used throughout the entire trip.
Each country brought new challenges, new disappointments, and
new loves. God taught me a lot of things, but everything that I learned
all had to do with love. Because ultimately, that is what this life is
about.
There were many language barriers, some places we had to have 2
or 3 translators just to talk to one group of people. Because there
were 52 people that did this trip, not everyone could have to luxury of
getting 2 or 3 translators at their disposal. One month, my team did
prostitution ministry, working in the bars, loving on the women, trying
to get them out of this line of work and into something else. Language
barrier was still there, but the language of love is what we used to
share with those around us. It doesn’t matter if it was an orphan, a
handicapped individual, a prostitute, a leper, a gypsy, or just another
missionary. Love translates in every single language and it is SO easy.
This was the biggest thing I learned on this trip. I know it seems like
such an easy thing, but it is really complicated.
So, lets talk a little about
love.
We hear songs all of the
time talking about love. “All we need is love, what the world needs now
is love, I hate myself for loving you, I was made for loving you baby”
and so many more. But, what does LOVE mean?
Can someone here give me a definition of Love?
Here is what Noah Webster says Love means:
1. Strong Affection for a relative, a warm attachment,
attraction based on sexual desire…
Now, here is what the bible says about love.:
There are 3 types of love, which I am sure that most of you
have heard these names before.
Eros- Romantic Love
Phileo- Brotherly Love
Agape- Deepest Love
A scripture that God has placed on my heart and in my life is
one that many of you have heard at weddings many times.
1 Corinthians 13 turn with me. (My team can attest to me being
in this sciprture for a majority of the Word Race)
Can someone read verses 4-13?
Out of this list, let me see a show of hands of those who have
loved like this today?
Were you patient with co-workers?
Kind to that person who cut you off while you were driving
here? (Or irritable because of that)
Rude to someone you can’t really stand?
Envious or jealous of someone or something?
Yikes, that is a tough list to live up to. I really struggled
with this list this year.
Who am I kidding? I still struggle with this daily.
We have high expectations on what love is and how to live it
out daily. I am reminded every single day that I need to love those who
don’t like me, love those who test my patience, love those who tick me
off, and love God during all of those times as well.
It is hard to love that driver that just flipped you the bird
on the interstate, or that co-worker who is doing the best they can to
get you fired.
But, we are called as Christians to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
This is a silly exercise, but I want you to turn to someone who
you may not know sitting behind you or in front of you and tell them
that you love them. You may have just met that person tonight or have
known them for years, but they now know that you are going to practice 1
Cor 13 with them.
This year, I really struggled with loving the team I was placed
with. I didn’t think that I was supposed to be on my team because all
of our personalities were strong and we wanted to choke one another. We
were supposed to act like a family, but we acted like strangers. When
we were in South Africa, God shut some doors. Our transportation was
falling through every time we would try to make new plans, the door
would shut. After a couple days, a missionary heard that we were in town
and came to talk with us. She told us that God wanted us to stay and
become a family as a squad (all 52 of us). She said that God would open
the doors when we became a family. We took her message seriously and as a
squad we fasted from food and from speaking for 24 hours. During that
time, God really pressed on my heart that I needed to reconcile with
team and really show them love.
It was at that time that God pressed 1 Corinthians 13 in my
head. He had me comb through that scripture word by word. I was ‘stuck’
in that passage for 7 months. But each time I read it, I found something
new in it. Each day, the love for my team and others around me grew.
God then asked me to give up sarcasm. Whoa. Sarcasm was my undefined
love language. But, I knew that in order to love more fully, I had to
give up something that was going to be difficult. It was hard at first,
but words of love started to replace the words of sarcasm. Love became
an everyday thing. I wasn’t just giving words of love, but I was acting
out that love in any way that I could.
So,
my challenge to you is to ask God what he wants to show you through the
1 Corinthians passage. How does he want you to love? How can you love
everyone more deeply?
God
I want to thank you for sending your son as the ultimate sacrifice of
Love. Thank you for speaking through Paul in 1st Corinthians in a way
that we can still understand today. Let us love more like you. Let us
see people in the way you see them. Let the words that come out of our
mouth me words of love and not of rudeness or selfishness.
Teach
us to love YOU more intimately. As our love for you grows, Lord, we
know that loving others will get easier. Thank you for loving us when we
are rude, and self serving, we don’t deserve that love, but we accept
it and hold it close.
Amen
