Sermon Central
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What Do You Truly Love In The Midst Of Covaid-19
Contributed by Rick Gillespie- Mobley on Apr 25, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: Our circumstances may have changed, but the issue before is still the same as Jesus asked Peter, "Do You Love Me More Than These?"
What Do You Truly Love?
Do you love your favorite food? Do you love going on vacation? Do you love your car? Do you love your pet? Do you love your children? Do you love your parents? Do you love your job? Do you love your freedom? Do You love your career.
Do you love your spouse? What is it about these things that cause you to think, yes I do love that, or this, or them? Is it a feeling they give you inside? Is it a desire to just go all out and do whatever you can for them? Or is it a mixture somewhere in between.
We all are able to say what we love, but what do our actions actually indicate we love. If somebody were given an assignment to follow us around for a year and they were totally invisible to us, what report would they given on what our actions say that we love?
Have any of you ever felt or said, “if you loved me, you would not have done that to me or said that to me.”
One of the things being stuck in our homes has done, has tested our love for each other, when tempers have flared, or things were not done in the way we expected or some family members have just been a lot lazier or a lot bossier that we had imagined.
That’s when we need to remember what love truly is. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV) 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
Some of us being home alone has tested our commitment to purity in what we watch and whom we have invited over to spend time with us.
That’s when we need to recall Jesus’ words when He said, “if you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
Sometimes, because of our own actions, our love for God can at times seem all over the place and out of focus. How does my sin, my repentance, my love for God and God’s love for me all relate together?
We recently celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. God demonstrated His love and His power in a remarkable way. Jesus Christ had been murdered on a cross, buried for three days, and had now risen from the dead.
He promises salvation and eternal life to all who will believe in him. It would have been great if the moment we got saved, we were instantly changed into perfection and taken straight to heaven.
But that was not God’s plan. God planned for us to do some plain ordinary living, being slowly transformed right where we are, so that others could see Christ in us and believe.
Often times, the times we blow it has more of a lasting memory in their minds, than the times we do what God intended. Peter had seen the resurrected Christ, but like us, he still had to live in an ordinary world.
Let me introduce you to Peter. When Jesus was alive, he chose 12 people as his special disciples. Out of the 12, he chose three disciples that He truly invested himself in, and provided them with spiritual experiences that the others did not have.
One of the inner three was Simon Peter. Jesus went even further with Peter and told him he would be the leader among the 12. Peter would be crucial in the establishment of the church.
Peter was proud of Christ and committed to him. Then one day Jesus told Peter, “when I am arrested, all of you will run and turn your back on me.” Peter’s response was, “not me Lord, I’ve got your back no matter what.
Even if all the rest run away, if they take you to jail, they’ll have to take me. I am ready to die for you if that’s what its going to take.”
Jesus responded, “Brother I feel you, but before a rooster crows three times you will deny me.” In others words, your love for me is not as strong as you desire for it to be.
Sometimes when we make our commitment to follow God, we do not understand that God’s way of doing things are not our way of acting in a given situation. We might find ourselves saying, “to do that would be stupid. Noboby is going walk over me without a fight.”
The night came when the mob arrived at night to arrest Jesus and everything was about to go down. One of the disciples said, “Lord should we fight back with our swords.” Before Jesus could answer, “Peter must have yelled out “it’s on”, because he quickly drew his sword, and cut off one of the guy’s right ear.”
