Topic: Love

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 AMPC Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. (5) It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. (6) It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. (7) Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (8) Love never fails…

(Much of the content for this message comes from the book: Renner, Rick. Sparkling Gems From The Greek Vol. 1: 365 Greek Word Studies For Every Day Of The Year To Sharpen Your Understanding Of God’s Word, Harrison House Publishers)

Agape – This is the highest kind of love that loves selflessly and sacrificially.

• Agape love is not based on feelings; it is based on a decision.

It refers to a choice or a decision of the heart to love someone. It is used to describe God’s love. His love is the highest form of love. Agape is a divine love that gives and gives and gives, even if it’s never responded to, thanked, or acknowledged. You could say that agape is a love that isn’t based on response but on a decision to keep on loving, regardless of a recipient’s response or lack of response.

Love bears up under anything and everything that comes.

The eleventh point that Paul makes in this wonderful text is that love “bears up under anything…” The word “bears” means to cover, as a roof covers a house. Built within this Greek word is the concept of protection, exactly as a roof protects, shields, and guards the inhabitants of a house from exposure to the outside influences of weather. The roof of a house is designed to shield people from storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, rain, hail, snow, wind, blistering hot temperatures, and so on. This protection is vital for survival in most climates, preventing people from either freezing to death or burning as a result of continual exposure to sunlight.

By using this word, the apostle Paul is giving us a powerful illustration. First, we must understand that there are many different seasons to life, and not all seasons are pleasurable. In fact, some seasons of life are very stormy and difficult. There are moments when external circumstances assail us from without. If we have no shield to guard us during these stormy times, it becomes much more difficult for us to survive spiritually. Paul lets you know that agape serves like a protection for you.

• Like the roof of a house, a friend who moves in the agape love of God will stay near in times of trouble and will hover over you to protect you from the storms of life.

Rather than expose you and your flaws to the view of others, a person who operates in this kind of love will conceal, cover, and protect you, for real agape love is always there in times of trouble to lend support.

Love is ever ready to believe the best of every person.

The word “believes” is actually the Greek word meaning to put one’s faith or trust in something or someone. The tense used in the Greek text lets us know that this is a constant, continuous entrusting of one’s faith in something or someone — involving a “never-give-up” kind of belief that something will turn out the very best. In light of this, the Greek phrase could actually be taken to mean that love “believes the best in every situation.”

Don’t misunderstand; agape love isn’t stupid, nor is it blind. It sees everything — the good, the bad, and the ugly. But because agape is so filled with faith, it pushes the disconcerting, disturbing, negative realities out of the way. This doesn’t mean agape ignores problems or challenges.

• Love makes a choice to see beyond the problems and conflicts, to strain forward to see the highest potential that resides in every person.

Although the past may have been filled with troubled times, the future is bright for those who believe God! Therefore, agape continually presses ahead full of faith — reaching forward by faith to see the other person whole, sound, healed, saved, redeemed, and right in the middle of God’s will for his or her life. You see, the agape love of God just doesn’t know how to quit! It hangs on even when the going gets tough! It just keeps believing the very best, no matter what.

So, I urge you to take a good, honest look at yourself to see if you are operating in this kind of high-level love. Do you strain forward to believe the best, or do you pick people apart and point out all their flaws and weaknesses? Do you see their potential through the eyes of love, or do you look on them through eyes of criticism? Never forget that love believes the best!

Love’s hopes are fadeless under all circumstances.

The Greek word for “hopes” is a word which depicts not only a hope, but an expectation of good things. This means that rather than assuming failure or a bad result in someone’s life, the agape love of God always expects the best in someone else. It not only expects it, but it is filled with an anticipation to see the manifestation of the thing hoped for. The phrase “Love’s hopes are fadeless under all circumstances” could be taken to mean:

• Love always expects and anticipates the best in others and the best for others.

Love endures everything [without weakening].

The word “endures” is the compound Greek word which means under, and the other which means to stay or to abide. Compounded together, it depicts the attitude of a person who is under a heavy load but refuses to surrender to defeat because he knows he is in his place. Because this person knows he is where he’s supposed to be, he has therefore decided that regardless of what tries to come against him, he is going to stay put and refuse to move! This means agape never quits or throws in the towel.

• Agape love simply doesn’t know how to quit.

Real agape says, “I’m committed to be here — to stay with you and to work it out, regardless of the cost or the time involved. I am not quitting. I am here to stay!” This kind of love is completely contrary to the flesh, which says, “I’ve done all I’m going to do. I’m not wasting any more of my life. I’m finished, and I’m leaving!”

Would others say that you have been a “roof” for them — protecting, covering, concealing, and guarding them during the hard and difficult seasons of life? Would others say you believe the best about people, or that you tend to be nit-picky and critical of others? Have you made the decision to “stick it out,” regardless of how long it takes?

Love never fails.

As Paul comes to the conclusion of his fabulous text about the agape love of God, he concludes powerfully in verse 8 by affirming that love “…never fails….” The word “fails” is a word that dates back to classical Greece and generally means to fall from a high position. It was also used on rare occasions to depict a warrior who fell in battle. In many places the word is used to depict falling into ruin, into destruction, into some kind of misfortune, or into disappointment.

In First Corinthians 13:8, Paul uses this word to affirm the eternal truth that love never disappoints or fails. It is simply the truth that human beings often fail each other. I’m sure you have felt let down by someone else at some point along the way. And if you’re honest about your own dealings with others, you’ll have to admit that you have been guilty of letting others down as well.

• Agape love never disappoints, never fails, and never lets anyone down.

It is a love that can always be depended on and is always reliable. People you know and respect may occasionally fall from the high position they hold in life — and that can be an emotionally difficult experience for you when you see it happen. Other times, fellow warriors may fall in battle or stumble into some kind of misfortune that disappoints you, and that is painful as well. But you can be sure that the agape love of God will never fail you or let you down. This love is constant, unchanging, and unbendable. It is a love you will always find to be reliable and true — a love on which you can depend.

Pastor Renner has compiled all the words, phrases, and translations we have been studying and placed them here as one complete text for us. Take a few minutes to read this text slowly; then ask yourself, “Do I pass the love test? Or does this reveal that I need to mature more in this part of my life?”

“Love patiently and passionately bears with others for as long as patience is needed;

Love doesn’t demand others to be like itself; rather, it is so focused on the needs of others that it bends over backwards to become what others need it to be;

Love is not ambitious, self-centered, or so consumed with itself that it never thinks of the needs or desires that others possess;

Love doesn’t go around talking about itself all the time, constantly exaggerating and embellishing the facts to make it look more important in the sight of others;

Love does not behave in a prideful, arrogant, haughty, superior, snooty, snobbish, or clannish manner;

Love is not rude and discourteous — it is not careless or thoughtless, nor does it carry on in a fashion that would be considered insensitive to others;

Love does not manipulate situations or scheme and devise methods that will twist situations to its own advantage;

Love does not deliberately engage in actions or speak words that are so sharp, they cause an ugly or violent response;

Love does not deliberately keep records of wrongs or past mistakes;

Love does not feel overjoyed when it sees an injustice done to someone else but is elated, thrilled, ecstatic, and overjoyed with the truth;

Love protects, shields, guards, covers, conceals, and safeguards people from exposure;

Love strains forward with all its might to believe the very best in every situation;

Love always expects and anticipates the best in others and the best for others;

Love never quits, never surrenders, and never gives up;

Love never disappoints, never fails, and never lets anyone down.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 AMPC Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. (5) It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. (6) It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. (7) Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (8) Love never fails…

(Much of the content for this message comes from the book: Renner, Rick. Sparkling Gems From The Greek Vol. 1: 365 Greek Word Studies For Every Day Of The Year To Sharpen Your Understanding Of God’s Word, Harrison House Publishers)

Agape – This is the highest kind of love that loves selflessly and sacrificially.

• Agape love is not based on feelings; it is based on a decision.

It refers to a choice or a decision of the heart to love someone. It is used to describe God’s love. His love is the highest form of love.

Agape is a divine love that gives and gives and gives, even if it’s never responded to, thanked, or acknowledged. You could say that agape is a love that isn’t based on response but on a decision to keep on loving, regardless of a recipient’s response or lack of response.

Love is not self-seeking.

The Greek word for “self-seeking” means to seek after but was also used to depict a person who is so upset about not getting what he wanted that he turns to the court system to sue or to demand what he is striving to obtain.

Instead of taking no for an answer, this person is so intent on getting his own way that he will search, seek, and investigate, never giving up in his pursuit to get what he wants. In fact, he’s so bent on getting his way that he’ll twist the facts; look for loopholes; put words in other people’s mouths; try to hold others accountable for promises they never made; leap on administrative mistakes as opportunities to twist someone’s arm; or seek various other methods to turn situations to his benefit. This is manipulation!

There is no doubt that Paul had the image of a manipulating, scheming person in his mind when he wrote this verse. Have you ever met such a person? Have you ever encountered a man or woman who schemed and manipulated all the time to get what he or she wanted?

• • Love is not scheming or manipulating, for this kind of behavior is dishonest and untruthful.

Scheming and manipulating to get your own way is simply wrong! If you can’t honestly state what you think or what you want, then don’t say or do anything. Speaking half-truths and white lies or operating according to a secret agenda is not the way that agape love behaves.

The Greek words in this text could be understood to mean: “…Love does not manipulate situations or scheme and devise methods that will twist situations to its own advantage.…”

Love is not touchy, fretful, or resentful.

After making this point, Paul then lists the eighth characteristic of agape love. He tells us that love “…is not touchy….”

When compounded together, the Greek portrays someone who comes alongside another and then begins to poke, prick, or stick that other person with some type of sharpened instrument. He continues to pick, poke, and stick until the victim becomes provoked. He’s finally had enough of this person’s relentless actions of picking, poking, and sticking, so he responds by violently and aggressively assaulting the offender. The result is a fight — a conflict of the most serious order.

Barnabas wanted to take John Mark on the next journey, but Paul was against it because John Mark had already proven himself unfaithful on an earlier trip. As they debated the issue, the words they exchanged must have been very sharp. This is why Luke wrote, “And the contention was so sharp between them.…” This is a translation of the word, letting us know that Paul and Barnabas came alongside each other in close debate and then began to poke, stick, prick, and jab each other with their words. The Greek language leaves no doubt that the conversation that ensued was extremely hot. In fact, this provocation was so severe that it disrupted their friendship and destroyed their partnership in ministry.

Acts 15:37-41 NKJV Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. (38) But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. (39) Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; (40) but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. (41) And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

The word used here is also the Greek word for vinegar. The fact that this is the word for vinegar lets us know that the words Paul and Barnabas spoke to each other were stringent, sharp, severe, sour, tart, bitter, and acidy. These words were so bitter that it left a sour taste in their mouths and their memories. As a result of these harsh words, these two men who had served God together in the ministry separated: “…Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus; and Paul chose Silas, and departed…” (Acts 15:39,40).

I’m sure Paul remembers this experience very well as he warns believers everywhere that love is “…not easily provoked….” He speaks by experience when he tells us that this is not the behavior of love. Having reaped the consequences of losing his temper and saying regrettable, acidy words in a moment of conflict, Paul warns us that agape love does not behave in this fashion.

An interpretive translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 13:5 could read this way:

• • Love does not deliberately engage in actions or speak words that are so sharp, they cause an ugly or violent response.

Love takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].

Then Paul lists his ninth point about love, telling us that agape love “…takes no account of evil done to it.” The Greek word used here is an accounting term that would be better translated to count or to reckon. It literally meant to credit to someone’s account. Before us is the image of a bookkeeper who meticulously keeps accurate financial records.

But in this case, the bookkeeper is an offended person who keeps detailed records of every wrong that was ever done to him. Just as a bookkeeper has an entry for every debit and credit on the books, this person painstakingly stores in his memory all the mistakes, faults, grievances, disappointments, failures, or perceived wrongdoings that someone has made against him.

Rather than forgive and let it go, the offended person has carefully maintained records of each action done to him that he deemed unjust or unfair. This is certainly not the way love behaves!

Psalms 103:3,10,12 NKJV Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

If you want to know how love behaves, look at the behavior of God toward you. Although God could drag up your past before you all the time, He doesn’t do that! In fact, after He forgave you (Psalm 103:3), God decided He wouldn’t deal with you according to your sins or reward you according to your iniquities (Psalm 103:10).

• • Although He could remember your past mistakes if He chose to do so, God doesn’t and never will choose to remember them.

This means that God doesn’t keep records of your past forgiven sins! Once they are under the blood of Jesus, God separates them from you forever. You see, that is how real agape love behaves.

• • If you are ever tempted to keep mental records of wrongs someone has done to you, you’re not giving to that person the same mercy God has given to you.
  • Someone who has been forgiven as much as you have been forgiven has no right to keep a record of someone else’s mistakes!

Is there anyone you are holding hostage in your mind because of what you deemed to be an inappropriate action taken against you? If that person did wrong, it’s right for you to confront him in love. But once you have dealt with the matter, you need to release the offense and let it go — just as Jesus has released you from your past and is believing that you are now on the right track!

• • If you have a hard time releasing people from their past wrongs, it’s a sign that you need agape to be released in your life.

The fact that you’re flipping back to that old record of wrongs again and again — bringing up past grievances that should have been forgiven and forgotten — means you are not perfected in love! Throw that diary away! Didn’t God throw away His diary about YOUR past?

Love does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness but rejoices when right and truth prevail.

Have you ever secretly rejoiced when you heard that someone you didn’t like or someone you disapproved of had gotten into some kind of trouble? Upon hearing of that person’s difficulty or hardship, perhaps you were tempted to think, Serves him right! He deserves what he’s getting! After what he did to me and to so many others, he deserves a little punishment! If this describes you, let me tell you — this is not the way God’s love reacts to such situations!

Then the Holy Spirit convicted my heart, and I realized that rejoicing in this man’s trouble was not the way the love of God behaves. After allowing the Spirit of God to deal with my heart, I began to inwardly mourn over the condition of this man who had once been so mightily used by God. The entire phrase could be translated in the following way: “Love does not feel overjoyed when it sees an injustice done to someone else.…”

• • Agape love simply doesn’t rejoice at someone else’s misfortunes.

Then Paul goes on to tell us that when someone else gains some kind of advantage in life that we have been desiring, love isn’t threatened by that person’s success but rather rejoices with his victory! This means the second part of this verse could be translated: “…Love is elated, thrilled, ecstatic, and overjoyed with the truth.”

When you see other people blessed — perhaps receiving a blessing or special attention that you have longed to receive yourself — are you able to truly rejoice with them? Does it thrill you to know that other people are moving upward in life?

• • Love celebrates when someone else receives a blessing you have desired and is moving up with their life.

Or does it threaten you and make you sad when you see someone else receiving a blessing you wished was yours? How you respond to other people’s troubles and blessings reveals a great deal about your true level of spiritual maturity.

So, ask yourself: Do I rejoice when I hear bad news about someone who did me wrong in the past? Or does it break my heart to hear about the problems that person is facing? When someone steps into the blessing I’ve been believing for in my own life, am I elated for that person, or does it make me turn green with envy? It’s good to ask yourself these questions and to let the Holy Spirit deal with your heart about these issues. Why don’t you take a little time today to let God’s Spirit search your heart and show you if you can improve in these areas of love in your life?

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 AMPC Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. (5) It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. (6) It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. (7) Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (8) Love never fails…

(Much of the content for this message comes from the book: Renner, Rick. Sparkling Gems From The Greek Vol. 1: 365 Greek Word Studies For Every Day Of The Year To Sharpen Your Understanding Of God’s Word, Harrison House Publishers)

In the English language, there is one primary word for love.

In the Greek language, there are four primary words for “love”:

Storge (Does not appear in the New Testament) – natural love that family members have for each other.

Eros (Does not appear in the New Testament) – Physical and sexual kind of love.

The word can have a negative or positive meaning. God designed it to occur in the context of marriage to attract and draw a husband and wife together. It is the passion that often motivates couples to marry. When it disappears, the couple thinks the relationship is in trouble.

Phileo – refers to friendship love, emotional love, or affection between two people. Note that the Greek word for friend is philos.

Agape – This is the highest kind of love that loves selflessly and sacrificially.

It refers to a choice or a decision of the heart to love someone. It is used to describe God’s love. His love is the highest form of love.

This word agape describes a love so completely different from what the world offers that it is only used in the New Testament to describe God’s love and the love that should flow from the hearts of believers.

Agape is a divine love that gives and gives and gives, even if it’s never responded to, thanked, or acknowledged. You could say that agape is a love that isn’t based on response but on a decision to keep on loving, regardless of a recipient’s response or lack of response.

Love endures long and is patient:

The two Greek words used here are compounded into one which pictures the patient restraint of anger and therefore longsuffering.

The word is like a candle that has a very long wick. Because its wick is long, it is prepared to burn for a long time. It is ready to forbear and patiently wait until a certain person finally comes around, makes progress, changes, or hears what you are trying to communicate or teach him.

• • Agape love doesn’t throw in the towel and quit.

In fact, the harder the fight and the longer the struggle, the more committed agape love becomes. Like a candle with an endless wick, it just keeps burning and burning and burning, for it never knows how to quit. This, of course, is contrary to human nature, which says, “I’m sick and tired of waiting and believing. If that person doesn’t come around pretty soon, I’m finished with this relationship.”

Love is kind:

The word “kind” in the Greek means to be adaptable or compliant to the needs of others.

When agape is working in your life, you don’t demand that others be like you. Instead, agape makes you want to bend over backwards to become what others need you to be for them!

• • Agape love has a willingness to serve and to change to meet the needs of others.

This is the complete opposite of selfishness and self-centeredness. So, when Paul writes that love is “kind,” an expanded interpretation of this phrase would mean:

“…Love doesn’t demand others to be like itself; rather, it is so focused on the needs of others that it bends over backwards to become what others need it to be.…”

If this is what Paul means when he says that love is kind, we must look into the mirror and ask ourselves: Do I become what others need me to be, or do I demand that others be like me?

The person walking in agape love adapts to those around him in order to touch them, help them, and impact them in a meaningful way.

Love is never envious nor boils over with jealousy:

The word “envy” is a Greek word which portrays a person who is radically consumed with his own desires and plans. This is a person so bent on getting his own way that he is willing to sacrifice anything or anyone to get it.

You might describe this person as being ambitious and self-centered. He is so consumed with himself that he doesn’t ever think of the needs or desires of others. His own plans are paramount in his mind, and everyone else come after him.

• • Agape love doesn’t think of itself first but is always looking outward, thinking of the other person rather than itself.

So, examine your relationships at home, at church, and at work, and ask yourself: Am I committed to seeing others blessed and successful, or am I more committed to my own cause than anyone else’s?

• If you’re walking in agape love, your greatest concern is that others succeed!

Love is not boastful or vainglorious or display itself haughtily:

Paul says love is not boastful. This word comes from a Greek word which means a lot of self-talk. In other words, it describes a person who endlessly promotes himself and exaggerates his own virtues.

His self-promotion is so outrageous that he is usually prone to exaggeration that borders on lying. One Greek scholar has said that the word pictures a person who is full of hot air. Another expositor has said this word refers to a windbag!

• • Agape love doesn’t go around talking about itself all the time, trying to make it look more important in the sight of others.

Often people exaggerate and boast endlessly because they have a hidden agenda they want to promote or because they want to gain some higher position or place of authority. Other times they are hoping to make the kind of impression that might give them special status or recognition in the eyes of others. Finally, they may just feel driven to prove their worth. Regardless of the reason that people boast about themselves, this kind of behavior does not demonstrate the way that agape love behaves!

Agape love is so strong, so sure, and so confident that it doesn’t need to speak of itself or its accomplishments, even if those accomplishments are greater than anyone else’s.

Real agape love would never flaunt itself in this way; instead, agape love wants to focus on the accomplishments of others in order to build them up and make them feel more valuable and secure. Remember, agape isn’t a self-focused love — it is focused on giving of itself in order to meet other people’s needs.

Love is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride):

Paul gives the fifth characteristic of agape love when he tells us that love “…not puffed up.” These words are based on a Greek word which means to be proud, to be swollen, or to be inflated. Thus, this word vividly paints the picture of a person who is filled with pride

• • Agape love is never deceived into thinking too highly of itself, nor does it arrogantly claim that it is better than others.

Making this word even more significant is the fact that the word phusio also carries the notion of a person who has an air of superiority and haughtiness or a person who is snooty or snobbish in his dealings with other people.

Love is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly:

The Greek word for “unmannerly” suggests a person who is tactless or thoughtless. It also expresses the notion of a person who is careless and inconsiderate of others. Both his actions and words tend to be rude and discourteous, and he exhibits bad manners in the way he deals with people. His language is harsh and brutal, revealing that this person is uncaring, insensitive, and unkind. In short, we would say that this is a person who “acts ugly.”

• • Agape love is not rude and discourteous — it is not careless or thoughtless, nor does it act in a fashion that would be considered insensitive to others.

So how do you fare when you look into the mirror of God’s Word today? Did you pass the love test, or have you come up short again? If you see that you have fallen short of the high-level love God wants you to possess and exhibit in your life, it’s time for you to go back to the Lord and talk to Him about it again! Never stop going to Him until you know that you are walking continually in the high-level love, He wants you to demonstrate in your life!

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 AMPC Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. (5) It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. (6) It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. (7) Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (8) Love never fails…

How many of us have ever been offended or hurt? Hurt by a friend? Hurt by a sibling? Hurt by a spouse? Hurt on your job? Hurt by some other family member? Hurt in church? How many of us have ever been the offender?

Very often in talking about relationships, we talk about offenses, but we somehow seem to not explain about forgiveness and the power of it in our lives and more importantly, how to forgive.

Mark 11:22-26 NKJV So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. (23) For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (24) Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. (25) “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. (26) But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

• Unforgiveness is the main obstacle to our faith working and our prayers being answered.

There are three parts to forgiveness:

• 1. The Heart of Forgiveness – forgive them in your heart
  2. The Act of Forgiveness – make the relationship right
  3. Restoration of the position of the relationship

• When Jesus died for us, He died for all.

Romans 5:12,18 NLT When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.

Hebrews 7:27 NLT Unlike those other high priests, He does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when He offered Himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins.

Jesus never again has to die, because the price has been paid once and for all. Based on these Scriptures, it is safe to say that in the heart of God, the price has been paid for all men to be saved and forgiven?

• So, in God’s heart, we are all forgiven.

But does that mean we are automatically saved? (In a right standing relationship with Him?) No. We know from what the Bible teaches that this does not happen. (There is a part that God has played and a part we must play)

• We must acknowledge the truth that we are sinners, believe what He did for us, repent, and then receive the act of His forgiveness.

Romans 10:9-10 NKJV that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Once we repent, believe that Jesus was raised from the dead and make Him the Lord of our lives, we are saved, Born Again and in relationship with God.

How do I forgive?

Matthew 18:21-35 NLT Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” (22) “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven! (23) “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. (24) In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. (25) He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. (26) “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ (27) Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. (28) “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. (29) “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. (30) But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. (31) “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. (32) Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. (33) Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ (34) Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. (35) “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

1. In your heart, you begin forgiving by releasing any ill will towards them and wish goodwill to them.

Luke 2:14 NKJV “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

2. With a heart of forgiveness, you release that person from owing you a debt to make things right between you.

Matthew 6:12 NKJV (12) And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

3. This might be something you do many times; but do it until you have fully released the debt.

Matthew 18:21-22 NLT Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” (22) “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!

BTW: There is no such thing as spiritual amnesia.

4. If and when they come to you and repent, then you extend to them the act of forgiveness and move towards restoring the position of the relationship. (privileges, benefits)

How do I know that he has repented? I will be able to see it in their actions.

Matthew 3:8 NLT Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.

When someone meets the qualifications in that they acknowledge the truth, repent, and then show the fruits of that repentance, then I MUST show them the act of forgiveness. I must restore our relationship and allow them to move forward in our relationship.

5. If they never repent and ask for forgiveness, trust God with the outcome.

Can I hate them? Can I hold malice in my heart towards them? (Malice is the desire to see harm to come to someone because they wronged you.)

Ephesians 4:31 AMPC Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).

Romans 12:19 NLT Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the LORD.

But we must come to a place that we trust that God is the only one that can truly settle the score and we let go of that anger and malice and leave justice up to Him.

We must walk in the attitude of forgiveness towards those people, let go of any anger, malice and bitterness towards them and then leave the payback and justice up to God.

Galatians 6:7 NLT Don’t be misled–you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.

Remember, God always wants to show mercy and it is not our place to determine if He is able to do that and when. We let Him determine what is the best course of action for people.

Luke 6:37-38 AMPC  Judge not [neither pronouncing judgment nor subjecting to censure], and you will not be judged; do not condemn and pronounce guilty, and you will not be condemned and pronounced guilty; acquit and forgive and release (give up resentment, let it drop), and you will be acquitted and forgiven and released.  (38)  Give, and [gifts] will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will they pour into [the pouch formed by] the bosom [of your robe and used as a bag]. For with the measure you deal out [with the measure you use when you confer benefits on others], it will be measured back to you.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 AMPC Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. (5) It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. (6) It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. (7) Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (8) Love never fails…

Why Does God Make Such A Big Deal About Love?

• Love is a Commandment!

John 13:34-35 NKJV A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (35) By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

• Faith works by love! (Galatians 5:6)
• The Love of God will drive out fear! (1 John 4:18)
• God is Love! (1 John 4:16)

What Does God’s Love Look Like?

• God’s love is unconditional.
• God’s love is sacrificial.
• God’s love is personable.
• God’s love is accessible.
• God’s love is receivable.

• The secret to walking in love is to first walk in how much He loves you!

You cannot give what you have not received!

Your “love walk” will never go beyond your ability to receive the love God has for you.

You Already Have What It Takes!

Romans 5:5 BBE And hope does not put to shame; because our hearts are full of the love of God through the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

Luke 17:1 NKJV  Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!

The word “impossible” could be translated “unthinkable.” One scholar notes that it could be translated, “It is simply unthinkable that you would allow yourself to dream that you could live this life without an opportunity to become offended.“

Offense – (GREEK) skandalon – The trigger of a trap on which the bait is placed, and which, when touched by the animal, springs and causes it to close causing entrapment; an enticement to behavior which could ruin the person in question.

But in Luke 17:1, Jesus used the word skandalon to warn us about events that happen in life with the potential to trip us up. Sometimes Satan baits us with something — drawing us into a trap in which he knows we’ll become offended. When we bump into a moment of offense, the trap slams down shut — and like an animal that is trapped in a cage and can’t get out, we suddenly find ourselves caught in a miserable situation, trapped in detrimental and negative emotions!

Luke 17:2-3 NKJV It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. (3) Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

• The trap that is laid is to get you as the one that is offended to also get into sin.

What we tend to do when we get offended, is we begin to justify all kinds of sin because of the way that we were treated. Now we have an excuse to sin and somehow, we begin to think that sin will not affect us.

• Where there are people, there will be offense, but offense does not have to end in destruction, rejection and years of deep emotional issues.

The only reason that offenses have such a dramatic effect on us is that we try to deal with these offenses in an unscriptural manner.

When we reject the Word of God and choose our own views and opinions, we have excluded God and His healing power from that part of our lives. We limit ourselves to our own resources to deal with these things.

Every offense that comes our way has the potential to destroy us. However, it is not the offense itself that contains that power.

• The potential for destruction lies in how we respond to the offense.

• There is nothing that anyone says or does to you that can destroy you unless you respond to it in an unbiblical way.

How do the traps come into our lives?

1. Unexpected behavior.

Rick Renner in Sparkling Gems from the Greek says,

“An offense usually occurs when you see, hear, or experience a behavior that is so different from what you expected and it causes you to falter, totter, and wobble in your soul.

In fact, you are so stunned by what you have observed or by a failed expectation that you lose your footing emotionally. Before you know it, you are dumbfounded and flabbergasted about something. Then your shock turns into disbelief; your disbelief into disappointment; and your disappointment into offense.”

2. Confrontation with the truth.

Or perhaps you are confronted with the truth about a situation in your life that you know needs to be dealt with and driven out of your life but that truth causes you to become offended.

However, the New Testament also uses the word skandalon to refer to a stone or an obstacle that caused one to trip, to stumble, to lose his footing, to waver, to falter, and to fall down. In First Peter 2:8, the word skandalon is used to describe how unbelievers react to the Gospel when they don’t want to hear it or believe it.

1 Peter 2:7-8 NKJV Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE,” (8) and “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

What Offenses Are We Supposed to Deal With?

1. Past Offenses
2. Potential for Future Offenses

• Jesus said there is only one way to deal with offenses when they come: “Forgive”.

Luke 17:4 NKJV And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

See how the disciples replied and Jesus’ response to them:

Luke 17:5-6 NKJV And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”  (6) So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

The disciples wanted to make forgiving offenses some deep spiritual thing that requires this huge amount of faith. Jesus said that it did not and matter of fact in a way rebuked the disciples by saying that if you have faith the size of a grain of a mustard seed, it was enough to get the job done.

What was Jesus saying? 

• Forgiving people is never a problem of faith; it is always a problem of choice.

Failure to forgive is a choice.

We hold on to offenses so that we have a basis for harboring sin in our lives. Offenses justify our gossiping, backbiting, and judgment. We use them to justify our bad attitudes and actions.

We fail to see the destruction of our sin, because we want to get in the last word, because we want to make someone else suffer or make them pay; we choose to hold on to our offense. In doing so, we always destroy ourselves more than we destroy them.

What is forgiveness?

Matthew 6:12 AMPC  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven (left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have given up resentment against) our debtors.

“When an offense occurs, a debt is owed. You have heard it said, “He’ll pay for this.” So forgiveness is like the cancellation of a debt.”― John Bevere, Bait Of Satan: Living Free from the Deadly Trap of Offense

• Forgiveness: in your heart, you release that person from the debt they owe you.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 AMPC Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. (5) It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. (6) It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. (7) Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (8) Love never fails…

Why Does God Make Such A Big Deal About Love?

Love is a Commandment!

John 13:34-35 NKJV A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (35) By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Two things to note about these verses:

• • Walking in love is not a suggestion. It is a commandment.
  • This is the way that the world we know that we are Jesus’ disciples: the way we love one another.

Faith works by love!

Galatians 5:6 TPT When you’re placed into the Anointed One and joined to him, circumcision and religious obligations can benefit you nothing. All that matters now is living in the faith that is activated and brought to perfection by love.

• • Your faith in God and His Word will not be activated and work without love!

The Love of God will drive out fear!

1 John 4:18 AMPC There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love’s complete perfection].

• • As a believer, the last person you need to fear is God!

2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 ERV The Spirit God gave us does not make us afraid. His Spirit is a source of power and love and self-control.

The Main Reason!

1 John 4:16 NLT We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

• • God HAS all power. God HAS all wisdom. God HAS faith. God HAS peace. But God IS love.

What Does God’s Love Look Like?

• If we are going to understand real love, then we must go to the Source of love and that is God Himself.

1 John 4:8-12 NLT But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (9) God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. (10) This is real love–not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (11) Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. (12) No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us.

1 John 4:19 NLT We love each other because He loved us first.

Love is not something we came up with or made up. God so loved, He did something.

Five Characteristics of the Love of God:

• God’s love is unconditional.

You cannot qualify for God’s love.

Romans 5:8 NKJV But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

• God’s love is sacrificial.

God’s love cost Him greatly.

John 3:16 NKJV For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…

• God’s love is personable.

God’s love is not philosophy, it is a Person found in Jesus.

John 14:21 TPT Those who truly love me are those who obey my commands. Whoever passionately loves me will be passionately loved by my Father. And I will passionately love you in return and will manifest my life within you.”

• God’s love is accessible.

God’s love is available to every human being that will simply believe, in spite of background, history, etc.

John 3:16 AMPC For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

• God’s love is receivable.

You can receive God’s love.

1 John 4:15-16 NKJV Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (16) And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

• • The secret to walking in love is to first walk in how much He loves you!
  • You cannot give what you have not received!

Your “love walk” will never go beyond your ability to receive the love God has for you.

• • The first step to love is not to step towards them; it is to step towards Him!

You Already Have What It Takes!

Romans 5:5 NKJV Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:5 BBE And hope does not put to shame; because our hearts are full of the love of God through the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

You have the potential already in you to love people because God’s love is in you by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In this series we are going to learn how-to walk-in God’s love for us, in us, and through us as His love never fails!