LOVING BROTHERS AND SISTERS

Lesson 8 for the 22nd of August, 2009

THE ORIGIN OF THE LOVE

Love has its origin in God; He proved it sending his Son to the world in order to save us.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”

John, 3: 16

ACHIEVING LOVE

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love”

1 John, 4: 7-8

We can only achieve love by knowing God and being born of Him.

GIVING LOVE

Doing anything to help others, even if it means to make sacrifices.

Forgiving and forgetting the past.

Denying ourselves for others good.

Love involves:

We love God

We love our neighbour

We have life

God abides in us

We don’t love our neighbour

We don’t love God

We don’t have life

God doesn’t abide in us

“If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is made complete in

us” 1 John, 4: 12

LOVE GENERATES CONFIDENCE

We must be confident of God’s forgiveness, even if we are aware of our mistakes.

He knows our hearts and His forgiveness is at our disposal, because He loves us.

This love gives us confidence to overcome in the Judgement.

“This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our

hearts, and he knows everything. Dear

friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence

before God”1 John, 3: 19-21

When we love God and our neighbour, we must have confidence in God’s omniscience, either our conscience is at peace with Him or it scolds us.

Love must be shown in specific actions in favour of our neighbour.Theoretical love is good for nothing. Those who don’t love their brother actively can’t really love God.

“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with

actions and in truth”1 John, 3: 18

LOVING OUR NEIGHBOUR IN

PRACTICE

Loving God must be shown in specific actions, too.Theoretical love is good for nothing. Those who don’t keep His commandments don’t really love God.

LOVING GOD IN PRACTICE

“This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome”

1 John, 5: 3

“"Let us not love in word," the apostle writes, "but in deed and in truth." The completeness of Christian character is attained when the impulse to help and bless others springs constantly from within. It is the atmosphere of this love surrounding the soul of the believer that makes him a savor of life unto life and enables God to bless his work…”

E.G.W. (The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 54, page 551)

“Supreme love for God and unselfish love for one another--this is the best gift that our heavenly Father can bestow. This love is not an impulse, but a divine principle, a permanent power. The unconsecrated heart cannot originate or produce it. Only in the heart where Jesus reigns is it found. "We love Him, because He first loved us." In the heart renewed by divine grace, love is the ruling principle of action. It modifies the character, governs the impulses, controls the passions, and ennobles the affections. This love, cherished in the soul, sweetens the life and sheds a refining influence on all around”E.G.W. (The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 54, page 551)