Charles Stanley - The Positive Power of Love (02/02/2024)
In this powerful message, Dr. Stanley explores the parable of the prodigal son from Luke 15 to show how God's unconditional love empowers us to love others. He highlights the father's patient, forgiving, and restoring love as the model for believers, concluding that true godly love—agape—enables us to forgive deeply, wait patiently, and restore those who fall, transforming our relationships and witness.
The Awesome Power of Love
Every emotion that you and I experience in this life, somewhere in the Bible you’re gonna find someone there who experienced the same kind of emotions. Sometimes it was hatred, sometimes it was love. It just went from one gamut to the other. So, all through the scriptures you’re gonna find people experiencing all kinds of emotions. Somewhere along the way, God has intended that you and I would understand that the emotion that He has for us that supersedes all the rest of them, the thing that probably most of us have the most difficult believing is that God really and truly loves us.
Now, sometimes we can know it in our mind, but the truth is can we sense it in our emotions? Can we feel God’s love? Oftentimes we have difficulty loving other people. We say some people are very lovable, some folks are not so lovable. And so, we ask the question: Well, how can I love people who are unlovable? And what is my responsibility? Am I to treat everybody alike? And so, we have all kinds of emotions that we come up with in our own feelings toward other people. Well, when I think about the emotions that probably diminish people’s witness and hinder them the most, like anger and bitterness and unforgiveness and hostility and all the rest. Then you can turn around and look at all those that are so happy and joyful and those emotions that give us a sense of real living and a sense of real joy and contentment and peace and happiness in life.
You and I could just run the gamut of all those emotions. The most powerful positive emotion a person can experience is the emotion of love. And yet probably that’s the emotion that most people have the most difficult really and truly experiencing. Now, we’re not talking about a Hollywood kind of romantic love that just lasts till the next person comes along. We’re talking about godly love. And what I want to do in this message is this. I want to take a passage of scripture that Jesus Christ gave in a parable and demonstrate the awesome power of love. Because it is a powerful and positive emotion that affects us and that affects all those whom we love. And oftentimes those who love us, we are greatly impacted by that love.
If I should ask you: Do you enjoy being loved? Yes, you do. How many of us enjoy not being loved? None of us. We all want to be, desire to be, would like to be loved. And yet some people seemingly do not have the capacity to love. They sorta mix up love with other feelings that they have. In the scripture, there are two primary words for love. One of them is «agape,» which is God’s kind of love, it’s characteristic of God, it’s sacrificial love. And that’s the love we see on the cross. And then there’s «phileo» love, which is affection and friendship and admiration that we can have toward someone. So, the kind of love we’re gonna talk about is the kind of love that God has placed in the heart of every single believer. You recall the Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is love. That’s not phileo love, that’s agape love.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son – Luke 15
Where in the Bible is all this expression of the awesome power of love expressed best? I want you to turn, if you will, to Luke chapter 15. And the story that all of us, or at least most of us know by heart probably is the story of the prodigal son. And herein in this parable, Jesus Christ, in speaking to the Pharisees and helping them to try to understand God’s love. You remember he told a story about a shepherd who sought the lost sheep and a lady who sought her lost coin. Then when it comes to this son, this lost son, Jesus gives us some tremendous principals about love, and certainly demonstrates in this in the father’s love, how God loves us and exactly how you and I ought to love each other. So, I want us to read this passage and then I want us to think about it in this light. If love is this powerful emotion and it expresses itself, how does it express its awesome power in someone else’s life? So, let’s look at this passage and then we’ll look at that.
The scripture says, beginning in verse eleven of Luke chapter fifteen, «And He said, 'A certain man had two sons; the younger of them said to his father, „Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me“. And he divided his wealth between them. Not many days after, the younger son gathered everything together, went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in this country, and he began to be in need. And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into the fields to feed swine, '» which was the worst thing that could happen to a Jewish boy. «And so he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his senses…»
So he came to himself, the scripture says, «he said, 'How many of my father’s hired men, '» or servants, «'have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up, go to my father, and will say to him, „Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men."' He got up, came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, felt compassion for him, ran and embraced him, and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this son of mine was dead, and he’s come to life again; he was lost, and he’s been found.' And they began to be merry».
That is, they had themselves one big party. Now, when you read this passage of scripture, remember what Jesus has in mind primarily, and that is He wants the Pharisees and the Sadducees to understand the Father’s love. When you look at this passage, I want us to think of it in terms of your love life. All of us love somebody or somebodies. All of us love some people in different degrees. What he’s referring to here is the kind of love that God intends for us to express toward other people.
How Love Responds Patiently in Trying Times
So, when we talk about the power, for example, of anger, anger can cause all kinds of distress and heartache, and oftentimes bloodshed. Love has a power. Love empowers us to be able to express something toward other people that they so desperately need. And so, what I want us to do is to go through this passage of scripture and look and see the ways that love empowers us to respond and to act toward other people.
Now, I know that in a congregation this size, and maybe you are listening or maybe you’re watching, and there are lots of you out there who go through all kinds of emotional feelings toward other people. What is it that God expects and how does He provide that? So let me repeat again. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the gift of love. That is, every single person who is indwelt by the Spirit of God has the capacity to love in a godly fashion. Now, whether we do or not’s one thing, but we do have that capacity. We’re talking about that quality of love.
This young man came to his dad, he said, «I want my share of the goods». And having another son, that meant he would divide it between the two of them. Now, the father could’ve said, «Now son, wait a minute. First of all, you’re a little bit young to be taking that much wealth. Secondly,» he tried to warn him more than likely, «You don’t know what’s out there. There are lots of folks out there who will take your money before you understand what’s happened. And besides that, you’re heading in a direction that is gonna be devastating to you, and because I love you, I’d rather not do that». He didn’t do that. But rather, very patiently, in a very trying circumstance of life, which I’m certain was very painful to this dad, he shelled out to him his portion of the inheritance and watched him walk away.
When you and I are expressing godly love, God will enable you and me to express love in situations and circumstances that are very trying, very difficult, and sometimes very painful. We know before a person acts the way they intend to act, they’re gonna be hurt, they’re gonna hurt others, they’re gonna lose, and oftentimes they’re gonna cause others to lose. They’re gonna bring pain and suffering and hurt to themselves and are gonna suffer disappointments that they would never imagine, which is exactly what this young man did. He lost everything he had.
Love Sacrifices Without Complaining and Waits Patiently
A second thing that I want you to notice that love enables us to do, it enables us, listen, it enables us to sacrifice without complaining. Because this father, having to give his son that large a portion of the estate had to be a sacrifice on his part. And as a result, he was able to do so. He did not complain about it. He did not argue about it. He did not fuss about it. His son insisted because, you see, he knew his son’s heart. That boy, watch this, had already gone, he had already left and gone into a far country in his heart before he ever asked for his inheritance or before his feet ever took him there. Remember this, when a person chooses to live or to walk in sin, their heart precedes their feet.
Love is able to patiently face difficult, trying, painful circumstances. But a third thing that’s very evident here, and that’s this, that genuine love enables us to wait patiently, enables us to wait patiently. It’s interesting, for example, in these three parables, that in the parable of the lost sheep, the Bible says the shepherd went seeking after the sheep. When the woman lost her coin, the Bible says she searched for the coin until she found it. But isn’t it interesting when Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son who wastes his substance and wastes his father’s inheritance, that nowhere does it say, «And the father went out searching and seeking for his son».
Why did he not go searching and seeking for him? Because he knew his son’s heart. His heart was already gone. But what did this father do? Instead of going to try to find him and convince him and persuade him against his will, he waited and he waited and he waited. He got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, felt compassion for him, ran and embraced him and kissed him. The father waited till the son came home. Then he knew he was ready to come home.
Where did the son have to get before he came home? He had to get to the end of the rope, the end of life. He said, «I’m starving to death out here in this hog pen». He said, «Even my father’s servants have more than enough to eat, and here I am». He repented of what he had done. He decided what he was gonna say. He’d already decided what his confession would be. What did his father do? His father waited. Do you know that’s exactly what God does for us?
The Power of Love to Forgive and Restore
What does God do in His very divine patience? He waits. Why? He waits because He loves. Does that mean that God doesn’t care? No. Waiting doesn’t mean we don’t care. Waiting oftentimes is a sign, listen, of supernatural strength that God gives us not to get between somebody else and God.
Love has the power to forgive those who have wronged us. Now, probably one of the most difficult things we have to deal with in life is an unforgiving spirit. Hardly a week goes by, in fact, not even a day goes by in our mail, that someone doesn’t write and say, «I’m having a problem with forgiveness. I can’t forgive my mother, my father, my children, my parents. I can’t forgive the person I work for, my employee, my employer».
If our Lord forgave us of our sins, and when He died on the cross, how much of your sin did He take? He took your sin-debt in full, so that every single child of God is a forgiven child of God. So what we have to ask is this: What right do I have to be unforgiving and to hold an unforgiving spirit towards someone else, when God…listen, when a fellow believer wrongs you, no matter who it is, God has already provided for their forgiveness.
And what happens? We’re able to forgive. No person can live in the center of the will of God with an unforgiving spirit. No one is going to be happy, no one is gonna be content, no one is going to have peace in their heart when they’re living with an unforgiving spirit. Love, listen, godly love placed in your heart when you were saved has enabled you to say, «Yes! You’re forgiven». No matter what you did, no matter how long you did it, «Yes! You’re forgiven». That is the awesome power of love.
When his son came home, he did not scold him, he did not reprimand him. He did not say, «Now, this time around, this is what you can expect». No, none of that. But what did he do? The father, because of his love for him, he restored him to his position. Because he gave him a ring, sandals, and a robe, all of which indicated his acceptance, his approval, and that he was reinstating him, so to speak, as a son.
Oftentimes the church is the one that treats people the worst. Every single lost person, any lost person should be able to walk into this fellowship, or any other church fellowship, and feel welcome and feel at home no matter how they dress, how they look. And when a person falls, when they falter in life and they make mistakes and maybe they blow it in business or blow it in their morality, it doesn’t make any difference what it is. We who are believers, it is our responsibility, listen, not to condemn, not to judge, but to do what? To restore them.
Responding with Kindness Even When Misunderstood
You see, all of us stumble at times in our life. All of us make mistakes in different aspects of our life. And how many people have reached out to you and encouraged you when you were down and you were discouraged and you were going through a difficult time in your finances and maybe you were embarrassed and maybe you’d lost just about everything?
Then, you see, genuine love reaches out to restore those who have fallen or who have made big mistakes in their life. Likewise, when a person genuinely loves and has the capacity to love from a scriptural point of view, they’re able to be kind and express kindness toward those who misjudge them and those who misunderstand them.
Now, watch what happens in this passage. We leave the first son, go to the second son. The other son, this brother, «became angry, was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began entreating him. But he answered and said to his father, 'Look! For so many years I have been serving you, I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a kid, that I might be merry with my friends; but this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, and killed the fattened calf for him.'»
But notice his father’s response. And I want to say this again to dads: dads, we send many messages to our children, many messages, and we can send good ones and we can send bad ones. One thing for certain, whenever you and I respond to our children and we’re responding in love, they will never be able to escape a father’s love no matter what.
Final Reflections on Living Out Godly Love
Now, I want to ask you a couple of questions. Listen carefully, who is there in your life today that has wronged you, misused you, accused you falsely or even rightly? Who is it out there that a long time ago wronged you and you still think about it? Hurt you deeply, tore your heart out, ripped it apart? Hurt you so deeply that you think you’ll never be able to get over it, and somehow you haven’t.
Forgiveness is absolutely, extremely important. And so I want to ask you: Who is it out there in your life that still, when you think about unforgiveness, their face comes across? It may be years and years and years ago. It may be yesterday. Your husband, your wife, your son, your daughter, your parent, a friend, an employee, a relative somewhere out there, they wronged you, they were wrong, you have all the defense you need, but what you don’t have is peace and contentment and joy and the Holy Spirit.
Second question: Those who know you, those who live with you, those who work with you, those who play with you, do they see in your character and in your lifestyle genuine, godly love? You’re kind, you’re forgiving, you’re generous, you don’t mind taking your part and sharing, serving. You get misunderstood sometimes but you’re kind in response. All these qualities that were true in the prodigal’s father, are those qualities true in your life and my life? You and I will give no greater witness, preach no greater sermon than to be loving and kind and gentle and understanding no matter what.