What It Really Means to Love God | Loving Others

You're listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.

Visit our website and learn more about Harvest Partners at harvest.org. Listen, if you are not a person who is known for your love for others, you are falling short of what God wants for you as a believer. It almost goes without saying, but successful chefs have to spend time cooking. Successful ballerinas have to dance.

Successful photographers have to take pictures. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out successful believers are those who love. The more love characterizes our lives, the more successful we'll be in so many other areas of the Christian law. And that's our goal today, to show our love for God by loving others by your law.

This is the day, the day when life begins. It goes more toward how we should operate those gifts, and the thing that Paul really underscores for us is we should use these gifts and these abilities God has given us in love. You know, over the years, I have found myself far more impressed with character than charisma, more impressed with persistence than power, and more impressed with faithfulness over fame. And I have found that I think maybe the greatest ability of all is dependability. People that start something and they finish it. Because as the years have passed, I've seen a lot of very gifted people just sort of self-destruct for no real reason that one can understand.

They start well, they have this gifting given to them by God, but then they just go off the rails. And I think the idea is we want to finish what we begin. Finishing well is the greatest thing of all.

Not just starting well, finishing. Years ago, I wanted a bike ride with my wife and some of her friends. She was really into road biking at that point. And so I went out and I got a bike, and I got even an outfit to match it. Because, you know, if you're out there as a road biker, they have these things they wear that, well, I don't know how to describe them.

They're sort of made out of nylon, and they zip up, and they have this padding on the bottom. So when you wear it, you feel like you need your diaper changed a little bit. And then you have these little shoes that kind of go click, clack, and they're made to click into the pedals.

So when you're pedaling, you have greater control. So I had my little clicky shoes and my little outfit, and off we went. And, you know, these are all seasoned riders. And so I thought, well, this isn't that hard.

And I kind of left them all in the dust. We rode around 10 miles. We reached our destination.

Had a cup of coffee. And I realized I have no strength left. And it was so sad, they had to literally push me on my bike back. They took turns pushing me.

Because I used all of my energy on the first leg and had nothing left for the second leg. And that can happen in our Christian life as well. We start off with a bang. But the idea is we want to finish what we have begun, and we want to grow in love. You know, as I've gotten older, I have noticed that everyone ultimately turns into an exaggerated version of themselves. Or maybe I should say a fully realized version of themselves. Weird people just get weirder.

You know? Cranky people just get crankier. And loving people seem to just become more loving. Having spent time with Billy Graham, I saw what a loving man he was. You know, when he first started out as a preacher in Los Angeles, he was full of fire and passion. And he never lost that really. But he talked a lot about God's judgment. And that's an important thing to talk about.

We don't want to neglect it. But as he got older, he just was such a loving guy. Not just publicly when he would speak to crowds and remind them that God loves them. But privately. He would tell people, I love you. I remember having them say to me, I love you. And I would just like sit there like, I don't know what to say. First of all, why would you love me?

And why do you even acknowledge my existence here? But that is what he became. A realized version of himself. Now when I talk about love, I'm not talking about a touchy-feely kind of love. But genuine love. There are some people that will say they love you, but they don't show it by their actions. And 1 Corinthians 13 says, if I can speak God's word with power, revealing all of its mysteries and making everything plain as day. And if I have faith that's so strong I can say to a mountain, jump, and it jumps, that's good. But if I don't have love, I'm nothing.

So it comes down to that. Are you known as a person who loves others? Now, what is love? Well, it's not so easy to define. If you use songs as a guide, you might get very confused. One song says, love isn't any splendid thing. Then there's a profoundly insightful song, yummy, yummy, yummy, I've got love on my tummy. Beyonce has a song saying she is drunk in love.

And Rihanna has a song that's called, love on the brain. Well, real love doesn't make you drunk, and it's not in your tummy, and it's not really all that yummy. It's shown in what you do. First John 3, 18 says, dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other, let's show the truth by our actions. Listen, if you are not a person who is known for your love for others, you are falling short of what God wants for you as a believer.

First John 3, 14 says, we know we have passed from death unto life because we love the brothers and sisters. You know, after Jesus rose again, the disciples were off fishing, they caught nothing. Early in the morning, he called up from the shore, hey boys, did you catch anything?

They're probably thinking, who's he calling boys? And they said, no. He goes, why don't you throw the net on the other side of the boat, you'll get a big catch.

And they did, and the catch was enormous. So then they came into land, and there is this beautiful picture of Jesus by the fire, cooking fish, and he says, bring of the fish that you've just caught. So they bring the fish in, and now Jesus has a conversation with Simon Peter. And he asks him a very important question. Here's what he asked him. He says, Simon Peter, do you love me? He didn't ask, Simon Peter, are you theologically correct? Though that's very important. Nor did he ask, Simon Peter, do you have mountain moving faith? Though that's great to have.

No, rather, he said, Simon Peter, do you love me? Why is that so important? Because you can be theologically correct and be an unloving person. There are people that cross their T's and dot their I's. They mark their Bibles, but their Bibles don't mark them. They go through the word of God, but the word of God doesn't seem to go through them. There are people that are hypercritical, always finding faults and flaws in other people.

You could describe them as judgy people, always down on others, and this is not love. And that's the focus that Paul brings us to here now in Romans 12. Now we've already seen in Romans chapters 1 to 12 all that God has done for us, how He forgave us of all of our sins, and Christ died for us and adopted us into His family. Then Romans 12, 1 and 2 starts with these words, I urge you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, present your bodies to Him as a living sacrifice, and don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then Paul goes on to talk about the gifts that God has given to us. Many are one body in Christ, everyone members having gifts that we can use, so let's use our gifts. Now here in chapter 12, verse 9, he shifts gears and shows us how to use these gifts and how to live our lives in a loving way that brings glory to God.

Let's read together. Romans 12, starting at verse 9. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love. In honor, give preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, and be given the hospitality. There's a lot more after that, but we'll just deal with this little chunk of Scripture.

If you're taking notes, here's point number 1. Our love should be real, not fake. Our love should be real, not fake.

Verse 9. Let love be without hypocrisy. Now let's be honest. There are some people that are just, how shall we put it, unlovable. Prickly people. People that always are irritating other folks. And I hate to break this to you, but you may be one of these people.

You know we're always quick to say, well they're very unlovable and they're hard to deal with. What about if you're that person? And it may be that God has placed one of these people in your life. It's possible you might be married to them. It might be a coworker that has their cubicle right next to yours.

Or a student in class that has their desk right next to your desk. You have to deal with this every day. So God says, love this person and don't do it in a fake way.

Do it in a real way. Let your love be without hypocrisy. So you might say, well you know I don't feel love for this person. And it would be hypocritical of me to do loving things for them when I'm not feeling the love in my heart. Therefore I won't do anything loving toward them at all.

Well that is not what Paul is saying. He is saying here that we should be loving to that person while repenting of not being loving. In other words, do loving things for them if you feel it or not. This thing could be applied to marriage. Let's say you feel like you've lost the romance in your marriage. So my advice to you would be, well go back and start doing romantic things again. And you might say, well I don't feel it. And if I don't feel it, I can't do it.

Yes you can. Just start being romantic, saying romantic things, and you'll find the emotions will catch up. You can apply this same thing to giving of our finances. You know the Bible says God loves a cheerful giver. You might say, well I don't feel cheerful when I give, therefore I won't give. Brilliant conclusion. How about repenting of the fact that you don't feel joyful when you give and give and your emotions will catch up with you.

So the idea here is be true in your love. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. You know when you've walked in the very land where Jesus himself walked, you'll gain a whole new appreciation for the truth of scripture. Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here inviting you to the Harvest Ministries Israel tour.

April 9 to 19, 2024. This will be an unforgettable journey through biblical sites and a unique opportunity to grow in your own faith. Listen, spots are limited. Be sure to sign up as soon as possible at Israel.Harvest.org Again it's Israel.Harvest.org Hope to see you there. Well Pastor Greg is warning us today of the danger of being hypocritical in our love for other people.

Let's continue now. To be a hypocritical person in the way that you love could be illustrated by Judas Iscariot. This is a guy that appeared so devout.

He appeared to be concerned for the needs of the poor on one occasion when in reality he was pocketing the money that they carried together. And then of course how did he identify Jesus? He told the temple police, ok I'll get Jesus for you and he'll be the one that I kiss. Why did he need to identify Jesus? Well because Jesus didn't stand out from the crowd as we usually think he does in religious art. I mean whenever there is a piece of art with Jesus in the scene he is very easy to spot. He's got the robe and he's got the lamb wrapped around his neck. And you know Judas could have said just find the guy walking around with the staff you know. Or go get the guy that glows in the dark.

He's easy to find. Well Jesus was ordinary in appearance so Judas said I will identify him for you. He could have done it with a handshake. He could have done it by pointing to Christ saying that's him. But instead he did it with a kiss. And not just one kiss because in the original language it could be translated he kissed him repeatedly.

Ironically at the moment that he seemed to be the most about he was actually the most devious. That's the clearest example of loving with hypocrisy. It wasn't love at all. I can deal with a person who would say to my face I don't like you actually Greg at all.

I don't like anything about you. I'll say well ok I know where I stand with you. It's far easier to deal with that person than it is for the person that puts their arm around you and says, Oh I love you so much bro and let me pray for you. And then they stab you in the back. And they actually hurt you. That's loving with hypocrisy. So we don't want to do that.

Point number two. If you really love God and you love others you will hate evil. If you really love God and you want to love others you'll hate evil. We might think that love and hate cannot coexist. But hatred of evil is the other side of love. If I love what God loves I will hate what God hates. Psalm 97 verse 10 says, The fear of the Lord is also to hate evil.

And the word that Paul uses here for hate is be horrified. Be horrified by evil. My concern is we're not horrified by evil anymore. We see certain things and we say well you know what can you do.

There it is. And we become somewhat tolerant of it. And I think of the words of Jeremiah when he said to the people of God, You've forgotten even how to blush. Not only should we hate evil but we should go to great lengths to even avoid the very appearance of evil.

Number three. If you really love God and others you'll be glued to what is good. You'll be glued to what is good.

Verse nine. Cling to what is good. The word cling can be translated be glue. I remember as a kid we had this little thing we would say if someone was insulting you. You would say well I'm rubber and you're glue.

Everything bounces off me and sticks to you. Do you remember that? Did any of you ever say that? Wow just me huh. I'm going to take credit for that saying then. I just invented it.

No. I'm rubber you're glue. Everything bounces off me and sticks to you.

Hey man you're an idiot. I'm rubber you're glue. Everything bounces off me and sticks to you. But the idea of being glued to something conveys holding onto it willingly. It's not reactive.

It's proactive. It's something that we choose to do. Sort of like if you were climbing up the face of a cliff you're holding on. So we should cling to what is good.

Hold onto that thing. But then at the same time abhor that which is bad. A preacher named Thomas Chalmer from the 1700s called this the expulsive power of a new affection.

I like that phrase. The expulsive power of a new affection. The idea is if I love God more than anyone or anything else that new affection overpowers my former affection for things that were destructive to me. Psalm 1 tells us of the happy man. The blessed man. And it tells us that his happiness is derived from what he does not do as well as it's derived from what he does.

So the happy man. The blessed man of Psalm 1. Does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful. He does not do those things. But then it goes on to say but his delight is in the word of the Lord and in it does he meditate day and night.

So he stays away from evil influences and embraces what will strengthen him. You know I think sometimes after church I might go out and get lunch afterwards and someone says, you know I was really blessed by this point in the message and they dared to literally pull a Bible out and put it on the table. You are like, dude we already paid our dues at church.

What are you doing? We are going to have a Bible study? Well why not? I love this verse.

What do you guys think? We have had enough of that. We already went to church. Why are you doing this?

That person has it right. Because the man of God, the woman of God, the happy person meditates in God's word day and night. Great encouragement from Pastor Greg Laurie toward taking positive steps forward in our walk with God and our love for other people.

Good insight today here on A New Beginning. You know Pastor Greg, our radio program has heard on hundreds and hundreds of stations across the country. And I have had the privilege of getting to know a number of the station managers of those radio stations. And I have gotten to know a gentleman named Rick McCleary quite well.

Rick just retired just recently but he was the general manager of a couple of stations in Minnesota that carried our radio program. And he sent me an email after watching Jesus Revolution and I wanted to share it with you. He said, please pass on to Pastor Greg how much I appreciated the movie Jesus Revolution. You might remember when the book came out, I was also intercepted during the Jesus movement. I wound up helping to run a Jesus people home in Fargo, North Dakota. I was baptized in a lake with a dozen other ex-hippies. It was an incredible experience.

Anyway, during the baptism scene in the movie, I cried. It brought back so many memories of that time. Eleven years later, the Lord led me into broadcasting and then I retired 40 plus years later in 2021. Please thank Greg for his obedience in following the Lord these many years later.

Wow. Well, thank you very much for that and God bless you. And the Jesus movement went all across the country.

It wasn't just in Southern California. But so many people say their favorite scene is when my character Greg, a very young Greg, played by Joel Courtney, powerful performance, finally accepts Christ and is baptized. Now I know this is radio and I can't show you how powerful it is visually. But I think as you just listen, you'll be able to see it in your mind's eye.

So let me set the scene. Greg and Kathy are at Pirates Cove, which is a little beach in Newport. Kathy has just been baptized. Greg has heard the gospel at this point, but he hasn't made his commitment to Christ. So he a bit reluctantly walks out into the water and there he is greeted by Lonnie Frisbee, played by Jonathan Rumi, best known for playing the role of Jesus in The Chosen. And they have some words together and a prayer takes place.

Listen to this. Craig, right? Yeah.

I've been praying for this moment since I first met you. Have you decided? I don't know. You want to decide right now? Yeah.

Yeah, I do. Then pray with me. Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. You are the Savior of the world.

You are the Savior of the word. I ask you to come into my life. I ask you to come into my life. I repent for my sins. I repent for all my sins. And I accept you as my Lord and Savior, my God and friend. And I accept you as my Lord and Savior, my God and my friend. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. Amen. Greg, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen. I want you to see that scene, and here's how it's going to happen. I want to send you a DVD of the Jesus Revolution movie. You'll see that scene and many others that will move you in a significant way. I've seen this film with many audiences around the country, and individuals sitting in my front room and elsewhere, and so many times people tear up. It's a flashback for some. They remember their baptism. But we've had other people say, I want to be baptized. I heard one story of when this film was shown in a theater. Some people wanted to come to Christ and be baptized, and they literally baptized him in the fountain outside of the theater. So these stories are crazy that we're hearing.

They're amazing. And so I want to send you a special edition of the Jesus Revolution on DVD. It has bonus content, including a custom message that we shot on the beach as the sun was setting in Newport Beach where I present the gospel, and it even has a prayer that a person could pray to accept Christ.

And there's some other special features on this DVD. We'll send you for your gift of any size. Now I'm going to ask you to be more generous than normal because we do have to pay more for this resource, and so we're trusting that you will send a generous gift to us so we can continue to preach the gospel and teach the Word of God right here on A New Beginning.

Yeah, and we do appreciate your partnership with us that makes these daily studies possible. So get in touch today for your DVD of Jesus Revolution, and we'll also include a free streaming code. Call us any time at 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org. Hey, everybody, what are you doing this weekend? I'd like to hang out with you at Harvest at Home. When is Harvest at Home? It is a time of worship and Bible study exclusively designed for people that are viewing in from all over the place so you can be a part of our extended congregation at Harvest at Home. Join us this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, for Harvest at Home at harvest.org. Well, next time, Pastor Greg brings us more valuable insight on walking closely with God and showing love to those around us. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins A New Beginning is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. If this show has impacted your life, share your story, leave a review on your favorite podcast app, and help others find hope.