To change the way we think about our main goals in life.
Outline
A New Commandment
A New Revelation
Working it out in practice
1. A New Commandment: John 13
A new commandment I give to you,
that you love one another:
just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
Relationship to the Old Commandments: Romans 13
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
For the commandments,
“You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment,
are summed up in this word:
“You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”
Outline
A New Commandment
A New Revelation
Working it out in practice
A new revelation of what God is like: Heb 1
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son...
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the and the exact representation of his essence...
The core nature of God
is to give himself sacrificially to others, even when the cost is so high.
When Jesus died on the cross, it was a declaration to the universe of what God is like.
Not just another aspect of God, but the very essence. The part of God that he himself most delights in.
Luke 6
But love your enemies,
and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return,
and your reward will be great,
and you will be sons of the Most High,
for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
1 John 3
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we should lay down our lives for each other.
Outline
A New Commandment
A New Revelation
Working it out in practice
Listening
“The essence of good listening is… suspending our preoccupation with ourselves and entering into the experience of the other person.” The Lost Art of Listening Michael P. Nichols
Real listening is dying to yourself
Listening
“Of course suspending your needs in order to listen means more than just allowing the other person time to talk. It doesn’t mean just letting a certain amount of time elapse while that person has his say, only to leap in with your own agenda when he’s finished.” The Lost Art of Listening Michael P. Nichols
What will serve this person best?
Am I truly dying to my own desires in this conversation?
1 John 4
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
In this the love of God was revealed among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we may live through him.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, then we also should love one another.
Conclusion
Is the main goal of your life to be a person who loves (that is God’s goal for you)
Love and be God-like!
If God is in you, he will want to show himself in this way, so let him.