Peter Tan-Chi - Love is, Love Does
Greetings, in the wonderful name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! This month is February. It is known as love month. Today, we will start a new series. It's called The Love Series. We will start with episode 1. Mind you, this is better than Netflix. Episode 1 is about What Is True Love. Love is, love does. What does it mean? This new series is so important because love is a universal longing. We all long for love. The truth is, But many times, young people today, including old people, are looking for love in the wrong place. And friends, beware of counterfeit love. God's desire is for you to experience what true love is. Once you experience true love, your life will never be the same. And my prayer is that all of us will come to know what is true love from God's perspective. Remember, God invented love, not Hollywood. Remember, the Bible tells us, And because He is love, He wants you to experience love.
When I use the word true love, it implies that there is such a thing as counterfeit love. What do we mean by counterfeit? Counterfeits are imitations. I discovered today that counterfeit medicine is one of the number one killer among children today. 250,000 children die every year due to counterfeit medicines, counterfeit vaccines. Why? Because it is cheaper. But, do you realize many of us are guilty of something that's counterfeit? Let me ask you. If you cannot even define what love is, how are we going to really love one another? We all long for love. What is love? Do you realize the definition of the world, the secular world, is something like this: The focus is emotions.
That's why you you have people saying,"I fell in love". To fall in love is the greatest thing. Is that true love, or is that counterfeit? The danger of counterfeit is it is costly. I'm reminded of the story of somebody from New Zealand. He did not like seat belts. So, what he decided to do is he came up with a counterfeit seat belt over his shoulder. Why did he do that? Because he has been caught by the police driving 32 times without seat belt. Lo and behold! One day on July 22, he had a car accident. He flew through the windshield. In the process, he died. When they went over what really happened, they noticed he had a seat belt that is counterfeit. There were many other genuine seat belts in the car, but he did not use them. He used a counterfeit seat belt. Why? He didn't realize that counterfeits can be costly. True love comes from God. This is the most amazing discovery you'll ever have.
Let me explain to you. In 1 John 4:7-9, the Bible tells us what true love is. In 1 John 4:7-11, you have the word love occurring 11 times. There are different words for love in the Bible. Unlike in English, there's only one word for love. Or in Tagalog, "pagmahal, pagsinta". But in english, it is so narrow, love. But in the Greek, you have different words for love. And the word use is not eros, erotic love. It is not phileo, brotherly love. It is not storge, love of parents to children. But it is agape, meaning it is an unconditional commitment. It is a sacrificial love. It is a kind of love that's giving. And that was made popular by the early Christians taught by Jesus. That word is agape.
Notice. "Love one another". Who is this "one another"? You and me, imperfect people. So, right then and there, true love is from God. What is the Bible saying? Because God is love, His very nature is love. However, it does not mean love is God. No, God is love, His very nature. When the Bible says "God is holy," how do you combine the two? God's love is holy. He loves somebody with a holy love. God is righteous. He loves somebody with a righteous love. So, when the Bible talks about God's love, I want you to put in your mind the kind of love that is sacrificial. It's a kind of love that's giving. And I'm going to explain in a short while the meaning of God's love.
Notice. God's love is revealed. We need to learn this. God's love is giving. The best description of God's love is giving. For God so loved the world, He gave. God's love is not surface. It is known through Jesus. So, you'll notice in the next verse, He is now making a distinction between human love and God's love. Not our kind of love, I'm going to explain what propitiation means. So, how are we to love one another? If God so loved us, how did God love us? So, let us learn today how God loved us so we can learn to love others the way God loves us. True love, therefore, has the following components that I would like to highlight. 1. God's love is unconditional commitment. 2. It is directed towards imperfect people, like you like me. 3. It is to seek their highest good. 4. Often times, it requires sacrifice. And lastly, It brings honor to God when we love people like the way He loves us.
Do you know that the hardest people to love often times are people you are close to because you know them? But God is saying, "True love is an unconditional commitment". Meaning, it is a choice. It is a decision. In Deuteronomy 7, the Bible tells us God's love is an unconditional commitment. What this verse is saying is that God chose Israel not because they were deserving. In fact, He said, "You were the fewest in number". But he said, "I chose you". Why? "Because I love you". That is the meaning of unconditional commitment. You know, it's one thing to love somebody, because you don't know them very well. And that is the problem today when it comes to social media. When people fall in love through the internet, you don't get to really know each other.
I am not saying that it is wrong to meet people in the internet. What I'm saying is, get to know the people you meet in the internet or wherever it is before jumping to any decision. While there are success stories when it comes to love in the internet, there are also a lot of regrets in these kinds of relationship because you don't really get to know them. You don't get to know how they interact with family members. You don't see them interacting with other people. That's why my advice is always, "What is true love? True love is a commitment. But before you make that commitment, get to know the person".
God's love is different. It's with complete knowledge and He still loves you. He still loves me. For example, in Jeremiah 31:3, the Bible says, What is everlasting love? God is saying, "Even before you were created, I know all about you and I love you and I'll continue to love you 'til the end of time," because God is infinite. He knows everything about us, and yet he choose to love you, to love me. That's the meaning of unconditional commitment. In John 13:1, Jesus was telling his disciples final instructions. And this is what the Bible tells us about Jesus. On the last dinner before Jesus would be crucified, this is what happened. Notice. How did he love his own? He loved them to the end.
John 13:1 tells us, Who is this "them"? You have Peter who would deny Jesus. Jesus loved him. You would have Thomas. Thomas would run away and doubt Jesus. Jesus loved Thomas. You have John, James, all the other apostles. He loved them in spite of. My friend, if you can understand that love is an unconditional commitment, even though God knows everything about you, everything about me, He still loves you. 47 years ago when my wife and I got married, I told my wife, "Honey, I love you. I will always love you. Here's nothing you can do that will make me not love you". Such is the love of God: unconditional commitment. But you know what? This kind of love is not natural. This kind of love is supernatural.
In Romans 5:5-6, The Bible tells us, Notice the love of God, not the love for God. It is God's love. The Bible tells us, This is supernatural. It is given to us by God through the Holy Spirit. The Greek word for poured out, it's a picture of a river that's overflowing. My goodness! We are able to love because God's love is poured out in our hearts, That's why I want you to consider the reality. Have you experienced this kind of love? This love comes from God. The Bible tells us, Do you notice something? The emphasis of the fruit of the Spirit is love. It's the evidence of the fullness of the Spirit in your heart. If you don't have love, if you don't have joy, if you don't have peace, if you don't have patience, if you don't have kindness, are you living the Christian life in your own power?
You see, the Christian life is not hard, it is supernatural. The Christian life is not difficult, it is impossible. We need a transformed heart. We need God's love, God's Spirit in us to pour out His love in and through us. Remember, This kind of love is supernatural and that's why you can never say, "I cannot love you anymore". You are correct if you say, "I cannot," but God can. Therefore, be careful with your words, because theologically speaking, if you have Christ, then you are able to love, unconditional commitment. Remember, The will should be the master of your love. Don't become enslaved to feelings. Feelings will come. Feelings will go. Honestly, there are times when I don't feel like loving my wife. Why? Because I'm selfish by nature.
When I'm hurt, I feel like withdrawing. But I praise God, because of God's amazing love and God's power, the Holy Spirit! My wife continues to love me even if I I'm not lovable at times. And by the grace of God, I continue to love my wife. And what's so miraculous is that my love for my wife keeps growing every year. I told my wife it's unimaginable. "I love you 47 years ago with my whole heart and now I love you even more". How can I explain that? God's love. I got permission from Dr. Philip Lyn to clarify what he said when he quoted Andrew Webber when he said, "Look within your heart". What Philip meant was, when you are going to trust God, look within your heart. Who God is, focus upon Him, trust Him, not with your mind. Because sometimes, to put your faith in God and see what God can do, the miracles God can do, is beyond our human logic. But the heart tells you, "Believe in God's power. Believe in God's faithfulness".
So, that's what he meant. He did not mean, follow the feelings of your heart all the time. Why? Because feelings according the Bible, So, you have to be careful. Love is not always following the heart, because the heart can really be deceitful. In fact, Andrew Webber, the man who wrote that song "Follow Your Heart," was remarried 3 times. That's the problem: you follow your heart. Sometimes, your heart can deceive you. That kind of love is not lasting. What is imperfect people? The truth is this: None of us are perfect. To love perfect people is easy, but we are commanded to love one another. Who is this "one another"? Imperfect people.
Do you now understand why sometimes the hardest people to love are your family members? Because you live with them. You know them. You see their words. You see their defects. And you react. My friend, however, you need to know that God commands us. Your neighbor is your family members. Your neighbors are your church members, your office mates. These are the people we know. And God is saying, "Love is directed towards imperfect people". You know, I'm reminded of the story of Kathy. Kathy was a Christian leader, but she got fed up with her husband. And one day, she went to her counselor. And the Christian counselor told her, "No, you cannot leave your husband. You made a vow you made a promise: 'In good times, in bad times, 'til death do us part.' You made a commitment to love your husband, and that commitment involves you honor your husband. So, I want you to practice honoring your husband".
You know what? Did her husband become better? Not really. A few weeks later, her husband became worse. Unreasonable. In fact, somebody was telling Kathy, "Just leave your husband". But Kathy said, "No. I'm going to use the love of Jesus to love my husband". And she began to practice: Love is a commitment, unconditional commitment towards imperfect people. Well, one day, as Kathy was preparing to go to a retreat, her husband asked her, "What are you doing"? She said, "I'm packing. I'm going to a retreat tomorrow". Her husband said, "No. No. you are not going". She could have reacted. You know why? She is one of the organizers of the retreat. That night, during their dinner with a famous Christian leader, Kathy asked that leader, "Should I go to the retreat? Should I not"? And the Christian leader told her, "Kathy, your priority is God. Pursue God. Number 2, your family. Number 3, your ministry. You stay home".
Kathy was so disappointed. She went home. She told her husband, "I'm not going". But you must remember, she said this with tears. She sold her plane ticket. She sold everything. A few months later, there was a conference and Kathy and her husband were invited by their friends. In that conference, it's about husband and wife relationship. Guess what happened at the end of the conference? The speaker said, "If any of you would like to share what God has done in your life, please stand up". A lot of men were standing and what shocked Kathy was that her husband stood up. Her husband went forward, fell in line, and began to speak, and her husband said, "My wife Kathy 1 Peter 3'd me and brought me to the kingdom".
What did the husband mean by 1 Peter 3? Remember, love is, love does. In the case of Kathy, love is a commitment to honor, to be submissive to somebody who is not perfect, her husband. A couple of weeks later, her husband told Kathy, "I'm attending a men's conference". And in that man's conference the husband called Kathy at home and the husband said, "Kathy, do you remember a few months ago, I told you not to attend the retreat? Will you forgive me? I've been selfish. I was not considerate".
Wow, what an amazing transformation! Such is the power of true love. Love is, love does what God wants us to do. So, love is a commitment towards imperfect people to seek their highest good. What do you mean by "highest good"? I always tell people, "Love is not sentimentalism. Love is, love does. Love is an action to seek the highest good". I always tell my children, "Disappointment is good for the soul". Why? Because if you love somebody, you don't want to spoil them. It goes beyond sentimentalism. Scourges, that's the word used to describe how Jesus was afflicted with pain. I'm sharing this with you because many times you fail to understand when you are going through hard times, when you're having problems, it is not because God does not love you. I like you to learn to comprehend the amazing love of God. It's beyond understanding, But it includes discipline many times. I like you to hear the testimony of this girl.
You will notice in her testimony, she talks about what she went through. Why? Love is, love does. God's love is a commitment towards imperfect people to seek their highest good. And the highest good for this girl is God allowing her to go through her fear of death, cancer, recovery. But above all, because God loves her, she was transformed. Are you having problems today? May i suggest? so you can learn to love others. Have you received his love? The Bible tells us, Do you notice that it's an action word. Love is, love does. Action. What is propitiation? Propitiation has the idea of payment, full payment, a covering for our sins. The Bible tells us, Jesus died on the cross for the full payment, propitiation, full satisfactory payment, for our sins. That means, there are times when you need to sacrifice, because Jesus sacrificed for you and for me.
Love is not a concept. It is not an idea. It's more than a feeling. It is action. And many times, the true test of love, can I suggest, is action. What are you doing to show your love? I'm reminded of the story of a couple who wanted to have a better future for their children. There was a time when California opened up because of the gold rush. So, this man went there. He told his wife, "I'll come back for you and our son". Amazingly, he made it. He struck gold in the gold mines. And he sent money for his wife and his son to leave New York City and to go to San Francisco. On their way, they took a boat. there was a fire. The boat captain knew that the fire was dangerous. It's going to explode. Why? Underneath the boat were gun powder to be used for miners. So, he told everybody, "Evacuate the boat". But there was a problem: not enough lifeboats.
So, when it came to the mother and the boy, there was no room. She begged for a lifeboat to take them. They could not. they said, "All right, only one more". The mother was in a dilemma. What will she do? Guess what she did? She got the boy and gave the boy to those people who were on the boat. She did not save herself, because love is sacrificial. Then, she told her boy, after hugging him, she said, "If ever you live to see your daddy, tell your daddy I died for you". You see, love is sacrificial. It can be painful. I'm reminded of a CCFer. He gave me permission to share his story. You see, he caught his wife being unfaithful. The wife caused him emotional pain. He came to see me at night, almost 12 o'clock midnight. He said, "What shall I do"? I told him, "What should you do"? He said, "I learned from the Bible that I'm to love my wife, that I must do what's best for her".
So, I said, "What would you do"? He said, "I will not. I will not leave my wife. I will court her". And you know what? My wife and I saw how this man began courting the wife again. He invited the wife to a retreat and I knew the pain, because in that retreat, I saw both of them, and I saw the hardness of the wife. But, you know what? Amazing thing about God's love: the source is from God. Love is and love does. Love is from God. And love is an unconditional commitment towards somebody imperfect to seek their highest good which oftentimes, means sacrifice. The sacrifice I'm talking about many times is not even death, inconvenience, pain. I have good news for you. This couple, if you look at them today, their marriage is restored. They hold hands, and their families are intact, their children are together. Why? True love is different from Hollywood love.
Secular love is temporal. It will not survive the test of time. This is so important because at the end of the day, it is not about us. It's about God's agenda. It's about Jesus. You must remember, don't be man-centered, be God-centered. Look at John 13:34-35. Do you notice? "A new commandment". Love is a choice. Love is a decision. "A new commandment I give you". It's volitional. What is this "new commandment"? The new commandment does not mean to "love one another," because that commandment was given even in the Old Testament. What is new? How we love one another, the freshness of this love. This love is the love of Jesus. That is what is new. "Even as I have loved you, you love one another".
This is unconditional love: to seek the highest good which oftentimes will require sacrifice. That's how Jesus loves us and that's how we are to love one another. And notice the promise, the result: People will know that you are a follower of Jesus. On what condition? "If you have love for one another". This is very heavy in my heart. Why? Because I have seen many Christians, they don't exemplify love. Friends, that is not how we are to behave. We are to love one another as Christ loved us. Notice. That's how we witness for Jesus. Some people would like to think that the greatest evidence of intimacy with God is power. For some people, the greatest evidence of God's presence is your success in your ministry. For some people, the greatest evidence of God's love for you is your emotional feelings, how passionate you are.
Can I tell you something? Are you growing in your love for God, for one another? That is the bottom line of the Christian life. It's all about love. And that's why next week, I want to share with you part 2, episode 2 of what true love is. I'll give you practical suggestions on how to love difficult people. The Bible tells us, Brothers and sisters, you cannot love like this if you have not experienced the love of God. The power of our witness, because of the love of Christ, is something that you need to understand. I don't know how many of you are aware of the CBS news interview of an ISIS trigger man who became a follower of Jesus. This is his story. This man was trained to kill and shoot Christians. He was taught that to be a Muslim, you must kill the infidels. And that's what he was trained to do. But his life was also threatened, so, he was asked to leave Baghdad and he went to Turkey. When he went to turkey, he became a spy. He was going to do the same in Turkey: to hunt down Christians.
So, he attended an evangelical church. He got the shock of his life. When he attended the Christian gathering, they welcomed him. They hugged him. And they began praying for him. And the message was about the love of God. You know what happened to him? As they prayed for him, he experienced the love of God's people, the love of God. And he said he could not explain this, but he began to weep. He began to cry. And my friends, Jesus tells us, Do you know that the early Christians were known because they loved each other? Tertullian wrote 100 years after the gospel was spread all over, he said the pagans describe Christians as how they love one another. The Christians were noted for their actions because "Love is. Love does".
What kind of behavior? they do not engage in adultery nor sexual immorality. They do not bear false witness. Neither do they covet what belongs to others. They honor father and mother. That's the meaning of love. You do something. They comfort those who injure them. They are eager to do good to their enemies. Notice. They are eager to do good to their enemies. They don't neglect the widow nor oppress the orphans. Such is how they are known. Can you imagine: if followers of Jesus, if all CCFers will learn what Jesus is saying, if we learn to practice love at home, in the office, in our environment, what will happen? People will come to know Jesus.
Can I tell you something? Your small group will expand. It will grow. There is no way you can stop people from coming if you and I will learn what Jesus has been talking about. What is very sad for me is I've seen many so-called Christians. They don't love one another. We should be known for our love for each other. However, if you check with the world today, if you check with people who don't know the Lord what they think of Christians, they think of Christians us judgmental. They think of Christians as critical. They think of Christians as divisive. They think of Christians as very unloving, self-righteous. As somebody once said, "The Christians are the only army in the world that shoot their own soldiers".
We seem to be excited when other Christians fall into sin. We don't grieve. We don't feel sad. We attack each other. Look at your own life. Do we really love difficult people? Can we learn to love people who disagree with us? Can we learn to have a meaningful conversation among families, with your children? If your children don't agree with you, can you have a meaningful conversation? And that is something that has been lost, because we have forgotten the importance of how to love. To love is so crucial, especially today and God wants you to be the conduit.
I pray that your life, your family, and your workplace will experience the overflowing love of God. And my prayer is for CCF to be known for love. And my prayer is for the whole world to realize that Christians are known for love. Have you experienced the love of God? I always enjoy this song. These are the lyrics of the song. This song tells us that the love of God is beyond our comprehension. But, can I tell you something? Is it possible that you are not able to love your loved ones because you have not experienced God's love? Is it possible that you grew up with a Christian background, cultural Christianity, but you never had a real encounter with the love of God?
You see, in my case, I was headed in the wrong direction, and then one day, I encountered Jesus. I experienced His forgiveness when I understood His forgiveness, His love for me. My life took a new direction, and that new direction is all about Him loving me and I responding in love. My prayer is this, You may have been going to church. You have been attending church for many years, but God's love is lacking, you're not able to love. You know what is right, but you aren't able to express this love. The greatest enemy of love is selfishness, self-centeredness. I want to give you an opportunity, today, to have a new beginning, a new episode in your life, by encountering the love of God. Friends, God is real and you will know His love through Jesus. And if that's your desire, let's pray.
Lord Jesus, it is my desire, to experience your true love. I admit to you that I'm a sinner. I don't deserve your love. But today, I come before you knowing that your love is unfathomable, unconditional. But it is through your love for us that you died on the cross for our sins. I now accept this love, Lord Jesus. I accept You into my heart. Forgive my sins. Give me this love that You have for me and let me learn to love others as You love me. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen and amen.