What is True Love?

Revival last night was amazing at Somerville Baptist, my church :)
I'm proud to call it "my" church because God is present there each and every service and it is affecting me for the better. I love my church so much!
Dr. Ron Comfort is our guest speaker for the revival (ending tonight..don't miss!) and he has been a wonderfully convicting and inspiring preacher. I can't thank him enough for how God has used him in MY life this week, and I hope other attendees would say the same thing.

Last night, the subject of the sermon was "What is True Love?" 
1. True Love is Discipline.
If your love is NOT disciplined, you can pay in 2 ways:
- with your marriage
- with your body

- You must be disciplined with your marriage.
The Bible speaks quite a bit on the subject of marriage, but one passage that I'm going to use is I Corinthians 13:4-8a.
"Charity (love) suffereth long (is patient), and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself (does not boast), is not puffed up (proud), doth not behave itself unseemly (rudely), seeketh not her own (its own), is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil (is not resentful); rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth:"

Now, even though this passage is not directly about marriage, you really must have all of these "characteristics" to have a successful, happy, God-centered marriage. 

Proverbs 6:32-33 says "But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away."

- You must be disciplined with your body. If you're not disciplined with your body, you will travel down an unhealthy road that is going against God's Will (and Word). So many people traveling down this road, winding up pregnant or with a disease, then marrying the wrong person because of their bad decisions. Trust me, it is MUCH BETTER to resolve in your heart that you will obey God's Words, save yourself for marriage, and be able to stand at that wedding altar, PROUD of yourself and humble before God for the decision you have kept with keeping your body pure and disciplined. Please take the road less traveled...IT IS WORTH IT!

2. True Love is Forgiving.
Maybe you are at a place in your life where you have already made some mistakes, made some regrets, and can't take them back. I know where you're at, trust me. I've made some life-changing decisions that I wish I could go back and change, but, alas, God did not give us a time machine, so the things that are in our past are just that, in our past. YOUR PAST DOES NOT DETERMINE YOUR FUTURE! Praise the LORD for that one!!

I'm a divorced mother. Not a nice "label", but I can't change that fact. My marriage failed due to abandonment and adultery, and it broke my heart. Before I went through this valley, I had a bad view for divorced people. "They just gave up on their marriage and took the easy way out." "What a sinful person!" 
It's easy to judge others when you're not in their situation. I look at a divorced person with different eyes now. Yes, some of them might have gotten out for the wrong reasons, but that's NOT MY BUSINESS! Don't judge a book by its cover and put it on a shelf to collect dust. Read the book and get to know the book and what it has to offer! Most of the time, we have no idea what has gone on in that person's life to get them where they are today. Show compassion...show TRUE LOVE.

Ask God for forgiveness, then forgive yourself.

Ephesians 4:32 "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

Colossians 3:13 "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye."

Matthew 18:21-22 "Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven."

3. True Love is Sacrificial.
Look at how Jesus died for us. Whipped, beaten, chunks of his skin ripped from his body, a crown of thorns placed on his head and pushed down into his skull, blood flowing profusely, spat upon, beard plucked out by the roots, nailed to a cross.... The list continues.
If He didn't sacrifice everything, then I don't know what a sacrifice is.

Isaiah 53:5 says "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

Praise the Lord, Jesus sacrificed everything so that we could have the peace of knowing that we have a home in Heaven if we just accept Jesus into our heart and make Him Lord of our life!

If you don't know MY Jesus, MY Father, MY Saviour, MY Redeemer, MY Friend.... just ask. I'll be happy to show you how to get to know Him.




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