The Modeling Love of Christ
1 John 4:19
We all need models of Christ’s love around us so we see demonstrations of how we are to love others. As we learn to love like Christ did, we become models to others in our network of friends and family. They in turn become models of Christ’s love to others. Let’s look at examples of this process from God’s Word and then talk about Why, To Whom and How to model Christ’s love…
Ephesians 5:12, 1 Timothy 4:12, 1 Timothy 5:1-2
We see this process in the lives of Paul and Timothy.
Timothy saw this model in his grandmother and mother. (2 Timothy 1:5)
1 Corinthians 1:11, 1 Corinthians 4:16-17
We need to be this kind of interconnected group:
- Fellow believers Modeling His love to us
- We go out and are sharing this love with others
This leads us to ask three questions:
- Why do we model Christ’s love?
- To whom should we model Christ’s love?
- How do we model Christ’s love?
Question 1: Why do we model Christ’s love?
1 John 4:19 He first loved us!
Switchfoot sings, “we become what we believe in” in the song Who We Are and in The World You Want:
You start to look like what you believe…
What you say is your religion
How you say it’s your religion
Who you love is your religion
How you love is your religion
All your science, your religion
All your hatred, your religion
All your wars are your religion
Every breath is your religion…
We are the “diorama” of Christ to this community…
Question 2: To whom should we model Christ’s love?
Our brothers and sisters in Christ (John 13:34)
Our neighbor – that is everyone else who is not a believer. (Matthew 22:37-40)
Our enemies! The unworthy… Even those who have deeply hurt us. (Matthew 5:43-48)
An act of love changes us. And God can use it to change them, too.
Romans 5:6-8 He died for us while we were yet sinners.
Example: Mike dressed in black and had a blue mohawk haircut. He went from judged and rejected to youth pastor because someone modeled Christ’s love to him.
Question 3: How do we model Christ’s love?
We love others by our actions. (1 John 3:18)
We love others by serving them. (John 13:12-17)
Jesus, the creator, washed filth from his disciples’ feet.
Jesus got dirty as he served others in this broken world. We will get dirty as we serve others!
Example: Kevin’s story about falling into a mucky pond and the love his grandfather showed to help Kevin get cleaned up.
“Loving others is a dirty job, but someone has to do it.”
We are called to lay down our lives for others that God cares about. (John 15:12-13)
We lose so they can win… we are to die to ourselves so that others can live!
Jesus died for us. (1 John 3:16, Mark 8:34-35)
We die to our desires so we can love others. So others can experience God’s love. (Philippians 2:3-5)
Do you have a reputation for loving others, for putting them first?
“Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12-13)
There is no greater love than to lay down your life for another.
Love Week 4: Listen to it here.
You can watch the video HERE.
