May 13, 2018
So as we go through these next set of passages, please allow the Holy Spirit to reveal where you can grow & develop in. And remember, note it or jot it down and be ready to practice it in your life.
4 Love is large and incredibly patient.
Love is gentle and consistently kind to all.
It refuses to be jealous[g] when blessing comes to someone else.
Love does not brag about one’s achievements nor inflate its own importance.
5 Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect,
nor selfishly seek its own honor.
Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense.
6 Love joyfully celebrates honesty[j] and
finds no delight in what is wrong.
7 Love is a safe place of shelter,[l] for it never stops believing the best for others.
Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up.
8 Love never stops loving…
So keep two things in mind as you PRACTICE loving others.
1. Learn from Jesus.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to me.[a] I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis.[b] 29 Simply join your life with mine.[c] Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle,[d] humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me.[e] 30 For all that I require of you will be pleasant[f] and easy to bear.”[g]
Philippians 2:1-5
2 Look at how much encouragement[a] you’ve found in your relationship with the Anointed One! You are filled to overflowing with his comforting love. You have experienced a deepening friendship with the Holy Spirit and have felt his tender affection and mercy.[b] 2 So I’m asking you, my friends, that you be joined together in perfect unity—with one heart, one passion, and united in one love. Walk together[c] with one harmonious purpose and you will fill my heart with unbounded joy. 3 Be free from pride-filled opinions, for they will only harm your cherished unity. Don’t allow self-promotion to hide in your hearts, but in authentic humility put others first and view others as more important than yourselves. 4 Abandon every display of selfishness. Possess a greater concern for what matters to others instead of your own interests. 5 And consider the example that Jesus, the Anointed One, has set before us. Let his mindset become your motivation.
John 13:1-17
13 Jesus knew that the night before Passover would be his last night on earth before leaving this world to return to the Father’s side. All throughout his time with his disciples, Jesus had demonstrated a deep and tender love for them. And now he longed to show them the full measure of his love.[a]
7 Jesus replied, “You don’t understand yet the meaning of what I’m doing, but soon it will be clear to you.”[d]
8 Peter looked at Jesus and said, “You’ll never wash my dirty feet—never!”
“But Peter, if you don’t allow me to wash your feet,” Jesus responded, “then you will not be able to share life with me.”
9 So Peter said, “Lord, in that case, don’t just wash my feet, wash my hands and my head too!”
10 Jesus said to him, “You are already clean. You’ve been washed completely and you just need your feet to be cleansed—but that can’t be said of all of you.” For Jesus knew which one was about to betray him, 11 and that’s why he told them that not all of them were clean.
12 After washing their feet, he put his robe on and returned to his place at the table.[e] “Do you understand what I just did?” Jesus said. 13 “You’ve called me your teacher and lord, and you’re right, for that’s who I am. 14–15 So if I’m your teacher and lord and have just washed your dirty feet, then you should follow the example that I’ve set for you and wash one another’s dirty feet. Now do for each other what I have just done for you. 16 I speak to you timeless truth: a servant is not superior to his master, and an apostle is never greater than the one who sent him. 17 So now put into practice what I have done for you, and you will experience a life of happiness enriched with untold blessings!”
Don’t consult your feelings when it comes to loving others & Be intentional.