This week our guest blog writer is my father-in-law Gary. He is a retired pastor and still very much a minister of God’s word. He is a lover of God and of people. I know that you will be blessed and challenged as I was with the teaching below. Now, let me introduce to you my friend and brother-in-Christ Gary.

I Corinthians 8:1-3

But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. (I Cor 8:2b-3a NLT)

1 Corinthians 8:1-3 1 Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. 2 Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. 3 But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.

Believers often find themselves asking the wrong questions about Christian living, consequently, our answers don’t always reflect the heart of God. God is always trying to speak to people through every word of scripture and other believers. Sadly, we often think this is just part of the special call of God to ministers. But this is the call of every believer. Let us take seriously the fact that God will anoint every believer to speak a word fit for the occasion. The Bible says that:

11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold
      In settings of silver.
       12 Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold (Proverbs 25:11+12 KJV)

Oh yes, you can be the speaker of words that are life changing – even life saving. God can and will bless any person who accepts the responsibility to speak the right words to another even if you do not know what those words should be. That doesn’t mean that every word we speak is a word from God but it does mean that God will use us from time to time.

Lest anyone set me in the world of the wacko, let me clarify that this is assuming that we are attempting to live according to God’s Word. I know there have been times when a person has comforted me or encouraged me that I was aware either right then or shortly thereafter that God spoken to me through that person. I don’t want to say much about this except to say that the writer of Proverbs greatly values this “word fitly spoken.”

Returning to my original Scriptural passage for this blog in I Corinthians 8 where Paul effectively tells us that love is better than knowledge; I don’t think for a moment that Paul is telling us that knowledge is not important but he is telling us that love is of greater value. If I understand him correctly he is saying that we all think we are right about our theological stand on any given issue; but we hold different beliefs on these doctrines or beliefs. I think Paul is saying that when we fight about which of us is right we put a stumbling stone in many peoples way; but if we speak lovingly to people we will draw people to the kingdom of God. And, often, this is just what we are attempting to do. I think we have overlooked this often and by that have, in effect, chased them away from God.

Paul says that whether meat is offered to idols that don’t even exist is a pointless argument that causes division unnecessarily. And this is often the way our arguments our disagreements are to the world around us. What is needed are words that build up and encourage people. I personally believe that the Church should constantly be trying to speak “fit words” that would serve to make us attractive in the eyes of the world around us.

I have a little paradigm that I think we should always remember. The process is head, heart, feet. That is we receive God’s word and wrestle with it in our head. Then we become convinced of it through our heart until we are absolutely sure; then, believing that it is true we will attempt to live it out. But many or us never get to the last step – the feet. If we find that God’s word is true then it must be lived out, for we do not believe what we say we believe; we believe only what we are willing to live out in our lives.

My life is different since I began to act out the “love of God shed abroad in my heart.”

We must remember that God uses the stumbling words we speak to touch people. I even pray before I leave my house in the morning that God will help me to speak uplifting words to the people I will meet through out the day. We all need to realize that we are servants of God in every aspect – speech, actions and all other ways we touch them. So, we pray ‘Lord, help me speak words that are like apples of gold in settings of silver.’ Be aware that you are first of all a servant of God, then a person performing the task at hand.

Because if the 4th of July holiday weekend, I am taking off this week. The next blog teaching to be posted will be on July 10th. Happy a happy fourth of July holiday.

Many blessings on you all!

Steve

            I want to continue on the theme from two weeks ago on the “little things”. I do believe that we underestimate how the “little things” can make a huge difference in someone’s life. The little things might be a smile, a head nod, a kind word or not saying an unkind word when the opportunity presents itself. It could be letting the driver into traffic ahead of you or letting someone cut in front of you in the grocery line because they have fewer items than you do. Little things matter. Many of them may go unnoticed by others but they will never go unnoticed by God.

Those passages of scripture in which Jesus teaches that we go into our closet to pray or to wash ourselves so that others won’t notice when we are fasting are significant to this point I am making. Loving things that we do for others that may not get noticed, do get noticed by God. In fact, I wonder if He stands up and cheers or if He stays seated and has one of those big ‘ole belly laughs of pure enjoyment when one of His children does a loving thing for someone else just because they want to. They do it not to get the attention of others but because that is what He is molded them into.

            I like stories. I like them because they help the reader connect to the story on an emotional level that mere facts do not. So, let me relate the following story. There will be no application after the end of the story. Once its done, this blog teaching is done. Let me just drop a nugget into your brain before you read the story. What is the “little thing” that occurs in the story and why did it have the effect it did?

            There is a true story about a monk who lived in the European region during the time in history after the time of Christ. He had spent his entire adult life in this monastery serving the monastery and those who lived in it. One of his great desires was to take a leave from the monastery and go see the Holy City, Rome. Eventually he got up the nerve to ask his superiors for permission to visit Rome. Much to his surprise they said yes! He was very excited so he packed his meager belongings and headed off to Rome.

            When he arrived in Rome, it was everything he thought it would be. The arts were magnificent, the architecture was beautiful, the people were generally kind, and the food was delicious. Although he couldn’t speak or understand their language, he was so happy to be in Rome he almost had to pinch himself.

            As he walked through the city, he noticed that a great number of Romans were making their way to what was called the coliseum. The monk figured he would take in whatever sporting event was going on there before he went on to try to meet the Holy Father - the Pope. Once inside the coliseum, he found a seat and waited in great anticipation for the event to begin. After a short period of time, the crowd roared as eight Roman soldiers marched out in two equal lines to the center of the mail floor. The soldiers faced the emperor and yelled, “We will serve the emperor in life and we will serve the emperor in death.” When they said this, the soldiers turned and faced each other and drew their swords. The monk quickly realized what was about to happen and was horrified that not only was the crowd not stopping this madness but was actually cheering louder. The monk started to run down the aisle yelling “In the name of God, STOP!!! In the name of God STOP!!!” He said this the over and over again as he ran down the aisle toward the main floor. He eventually reached the inner wall and was flabbergasted to see that the soldiers were fighting with their swords. Nobody had paid any attention to him as he had yelled and ran. He decided he had to do something, so he jumped the wall, ran out onto the main floor and stopped right in the middle of two of the soldiers fighting. As he did this he kept yelling, “In the name of God STOP!!!” The soldiers kept fighting and ran the monk through and killed him. As the monk’s body slumped to the ground a hush came over the crowd. After a few minutes, the crowd, including the emperor began to file out in silence. That was the last day that gladiators fought in the Roman Coliseum.

            Let me tell you a story about a conversation between a priest and God. You may have heard this story before and if you just bear with me, I think it is worthy to be heard again. Now this story is somewhat a visual illustration so you will have to use your brilliant mind to picture what is going on in this story.

            There was a priest who ministered in a rural area in the Midwest. One day he was meditating on the difference between heaven and hell. He was troubled that he didn’t have a clearer picture of the difference so he prayed and asked God what the difference was between heaven and hell. God answered the priest in a dream that night. God said to the priest, “You have been asking me what is the difference between heaven and hell.  I am now going to show you.” God took the priest into a large building that had only two rooms. God told the priest that this first room described what hell was like. In this first room, the priest saw two-dozen people who were scrawny and looked on the brink of starvation. They were all sitting around a large dining table and in the middle of the room was a large pot of stew. In one hand of each of the people around the table was a long-handled spoon. The spoon handle was so long that as the people were dipping their spoons into the stew they couldn’t turn the spoon toward themselves in order to eat. Because they couldn’t feed themselves, they were all starving to death. The priest looked dumbfounded. Why were they starving to death when the food was literally right in front of them? This room represented hell.

            God then took the priest to the next room. This room was set up just the same way as the first room but in this room the two-dozen people around the table were all laughing and seemed to be having a good time. Each person was rather plump. Like the first room that represented hell each person had a long-handled spoon in one hand. What they were doing different in this room was that instead of trying to feed themselves they were feeding each other. They were dipping their spoons into the stew and reaching across the table with the spoons and feeding the person directly across from them. This room represented heaven.

            What is the moral of this story? Well, I guess there could be several different answers to that question. But there is one particular one I want to look at.

            Have you ever been in a church where everybody was concerned about one thing…themselves? They are ultimately concerned with whether the music ministered to them, whether the preaching ministered to them, whether the pastor greeted them. They are uncomfortable when the service order is “out of order” in their opinion. Churches like this are what I call dead churches. They are only concerned in feeding themselves. Consequently, they are dying through self-imposed starvation. In keeping in line with the story above, they are no better off then being in hell.

            On the flip side, have you ever been in a church in which the major thrust of the church was reaching out to their community? They are only interested in how the “church” (and they define it differently than the dead churches do) can pull resources together to make a difference in the community through love. They don’t care about the form that this “love difference” takes, they only care about loving God and loving people. These are called life-giving churches. In keeping in line with the story above, these churches are approaching heaven.

            What kind of church do you want to be in? What kind of follower of Christ do you want to be? Do you want to be a self-centered follower of Christ or do you want to be an other-centered follower of Christ? Do you want to spiritually starve to death and be no better than being in hell or do you want to be a life-giving spiritually satisfied follower?

            The choice is yours.

            The other day we had a pretty severe storm pass through our city. The clouds turned a very dark, ominous black. The wind started to pick up (the winds were measured at 70 miles per hour that evening) and the power in our house went out; that is when out just long enough to cause me a painful, nagging injury.

            Let me explain. When the power went out my family and I were eating dinner in our dining room. With the rain coming and the wind blowing, I got up from the table to go around the house and make sure all the windows were closed. After checking the bathroom window, I walked into my dark bedroom (remember the power went out) and went toward the window only to encounter my briefcase……….. with my left pinky toe. For each of you who have ever stubbed your toe, it catches you by surprise and the initially hurt almost make you want to cuss. I have to confess to you, I did cuss. I said the word “damn”. Between the hurt of the toe and the realization that I had actually cussed was a double whammy. It became a triple whammy when I sat on my bed and, with just enough light to see, I saw that my pinky toe was already swelled up and slightly disfigured and was at about a 75 degree angle from its normal position. I had broken and dislocated my toe. Having broken toes and fingers in the past, I knew that if I went to the emergency room the doctor would tell me what I already knew about my injury and charge me $500.00. So, I reached down with my opposite hand and quickly “relocated” my toe back in place, then hobbled out to my living room so that I could milk all the sympathy I could from my wife and three kids (and it worked!).

            That was about 5 days ago. As of today, my toe and part of my foot is purple and slightly swollen, my toe still hurts and I have extracted all the milk I can from my wife and my kids. Whereas on the night that this happened, they all gathered around me and asked God to “heal daddy’s toe” and I soaked in all the attention I wanted, now I might get a passing “Hey, how’s your toe?” with a vacant stare on the face of the person who asked (just kidding honey!).

            Why am I telling you this? Am I trying to milk some additional sympathy from you, my loving audience? No, milking going on here! This injury to the smallest appendage on my body has had an effect on the rest of my body. Since I am limping and favoring my good leg, my left leg is getting sore. In fact, my calf muscle on my left leg is sore which only adds to my favoring my good leg. It has even affected my perceptions of reality. Several times, one of my kids have come within “stepping-on” distance of my toe. When this has happened, my anxiety level increases rapidly, I inhale and hold it, and all time seems to stop while I anticipate the searing pain that will happen when my foot gets stepped on only to find out that they didn’t come within 2 feet of my toe. An injury to one of the smallest parts of my body has affected me this much.

            What spiritual application does this have? There is a verse in the Bible that says, “Don’t you realize that sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?” (1 Corinthians 5:6 – NLT). Paul here is addressing an obvious sin that the Corinthians had allowed to continue in their community of believers. Notice that Paul says here that this “sin is like a little yeast…” and it has affected everything else. Like my little toe that has affected the rest of my body, this sin in the Corinthian church is affected the rest of the church.

            Let me turn this on its head. This principle can be true in the opposite direction as well. While sin affects the rest of the spiritual body negatively, little things done in great love can dramatically affect the body of Christ and the community in which we live in a dramatic way.

            Let me give you a short example. The bulk of our ministry right now are two food pantries that we supply for the mentally ill and a bread ministry that is given to low-income individuals who live with mental illness. Now think about this, we are giving bread away, not cars, not houses, not boats or anything big like that. We are giving bread a very little thing when compared to cars, houses, and boats. I cannot begin to describe the ministry doors this has opened up for me. I have been able to share the love of Christ with many professionals because of this bread. Ministry is happening in ways that I cannot explain even if I had the space to explain it. A little bread is having a major impact on the lives of the people we get to give it to.

            Recently, while talking to my father-in-law, he said something that I have dwelled on since. He said that he wondered if it wasn’t the big things that God uses but the small things that He uses the most to touch the hearts of people. I think he’s right.

            What small thing can you do for your neighbor, co-worker, spouse, children? Let that be the “little” thing that blesses the socks off of someone.

This article was written by me and it got published in the Cincinnati Enquirer on June 6 2008. I wrote it in response to an article written about a mentally ill person who died of starvation in our city. I thought it would be important to expand peoples view of the mentally ill.        

    In the Sunday June1st edition of the Enquirer, Jessica Brown reported on the death of Brian Corrigan, an individual who lived with mental illness for most of his adult life. My heart hurt for this person as he apparently lived alone and in isolation

            When I read this article and the corresponding section entitled “About Mental Illness”, what came to my mind were all the other individuals in Hamilton County who live with a mental illness. According to the “About Mental Illness”, 18,543 individuals received services through the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board last year. That means that there are 18,543 people similar to Brian Corrigan who are isolated because of their illness, and because the community at-large and faith groups largely take no notice of individuals living with mental illness, they are often overlooked until something like an unfortunate death takes place.

            It is not uncommon to hear of people who have a mental illness living in squalor and in conditions that should cause us all to want to do something to alleviate their plight. Recently, I heard of a lady who lives with a mental illness who has slept on the floor for months because she cannot afford to buy a bed. I often hear of other housing conditions that are deplorable, of people barely having enough food to eat throughout the month and who don’t have any extra money to buy new clothes, and of individuals who are living in isolation from the community and their families.

            May we not let Brian Corrigan’s death be in vain. May we find ways to give to people living with mental illness so they have a decent place to sleep, food to eat, and people to relate to.

            For the past several months (probably the last couple of years now), my wife and I have had a conversion of sorts. Now I am not talking about the kind of conversion where a person “gets saved”. That conversion happened to each of us some time ago. I am talking about the kind of conversion that led us away from life-less, rigid, rule oriented “Christianity” and led us to life-filled, Spirit-trusting New Testament Christianity. Now, there are some of you who just read what I said and you heard what I didn’t say. You heard that we have been converted to a Christianity that believes in supernatural miracles, that we believe in the fullness of the Spirit, that we believe in the type of Christianity that is described in Acts 2. You heard something I didn’t say. If that is all you believe New Testament Christianity is, then your Christianity is too narrow. Jennifer and I have been converted to a Christianity that is driven by love for God and love for others.

Recently, I visited a web page of a local ministry. This local ministry listed as their mission statement the following: “Love God, Love People, Nothing Else Matters”. That about says it all. I have been turned on by this kind of religion. This is the kind of religion that says things like, “I don’t care what your ethnicity is, what your sexual orientation is, what gender you are, or what you do for a living. I am going to love you like God loves you, because God loves you.” This is the kind of religion that James describes as genuine religion when he says, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God means caring for orphans and widows in their distress…” (James 1:27).

The religion that Jennifer and I have been converted to wants to lift oppression, end discrimination, and to take care of those who need our care. We have been converted to the kind of religion that hurts when we hear that somebody has a house with 9 bathrooms in it and more bedrooms than they can ever use while at the same time there are 1200 homeless people in Cincinnati on the street tonight. Or the kind of religion that watches people needlessly spend money on gadgets that they don’t really need (come on and take an honest evaluation of whether you REALLY need that newest gadget or do you just really want it) while our city has the 3^rd most people living below the poverty line in the United States. To put this another way, Cincinnati is the 3^rd poorest city in our country and many people do not even have enough money to have the basic necessities. This Christianity is also the kind of Christianity that continually challenges Jennifer and I to be more like Christ. We are driven by love for God and for others. We are far from where God (and we) want us to be, but we are getting there because of our conversion to New Testament Christianity.

This blog posting certainly is not the most light-hearted one I’ve written (I actually started out wanting to write a light-hearted one) but it comes from the heart that God is forming in me.

Let me encourage you to read Isaiah 58, Matthew 25:31-46, Jeremiah 22:13-17. Meditate on them and pray over them.

May God continue to bless you with more of Himself!

Fighting Stigma

            Over the last several days I have witnessed something I find rather disturbing. First, in order to put this in some kind of context, let me tell you what I do for a living. Besides getting to lead Hands of Hope Ministries I manage a residential facility in which individuals who have a mental illness live until they can find more permanent housing. One of these residents is a guy named Mike (not his real name). Mike is at the center of what I consider disturbing.

            Mike and I grew up on the same street. He lived 4 to 5 houses away. I remember him now as a quiet sort of reclusive sort. He and I were not friends but we were at least familiar with each other.

            Well, as often happens, we grew up and went our separate directions, I to 7 years of college and graduate school and then eventually for training and Mike through the beginnings of mental illness. Through know fault of his own, Mike developed a condition that affected the way he processes reality. Now 25 years later, Mike lives at the facility that I manage. Funny thing is (well not really funny), Mike recognized me right away when he came for the admission to the facility, and I didn’t recognize him at all. Time had affected him apparently more than it affected me.

            Now, here is the crux of the disturbing issue that I want to discuss tonight. In my assessment, Mike is ready to move out my facility. He is compliant with all his medications; he can name them and tell you when he takes each of his 11 pills. He is not displaying any signs of psychiatric instability and behaviorally he has been very appropriate. All the signs pointing to a successful discharge. The only thing that is preventing his discharge is a court order that indicates that he is not allowed to change residences until his parole officer okays it. As I said, he is ready to go. But as the discussion has taken place regarding his discharge most of the professionals involved with the case do not want him to move for various reasons. The reasons are not important. What is important is how Mike is talked to about his discharge. Mike is talked to like he is a little child who cannot make decisions on his own. When he does express what he wants, it generally gets dismissed or at least minimized. It seems that people don’t believe he can make good decisions about himself simply because he is mentally ill. This is wrong, it is stigmatizing and it is dehumanizing.

            The question comes up, how do we fight this stigma? I think we can learn from Jesus and his dealings with stigma.

            In Luke 7, we read about Jesus eating a meal at the home of a Pharisee named Simon. During dinner, a woman who is described only as being immoral came into the house and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and then put perfume on his feet. Washing a person’s feet when they come to visit is a bit unusual for us today but was a common practice in those days. Simon, the Pharisee, thinks to himself, “Wow, if Jesus really was a profit he would have known that this woman is immoral” implying that Jesus then would not have had any interaction with her. The Pharisee had just stigmatized Jesus and the woman.

            Jesus’ response to the stigmatization is telling. First, He told Simon something about his own and the woman’s spiritual condition. I believe He did this because He loved Simon and wanted Simon to learn something from this woman. Second, He helps Simon understand something about the woman’s life story. Often we stigmatize people because we don’t understand them and do not take the time to understand them. Once we understand who they are and what their life story is, then we are less likely to stigmatize them. Thirdly, notice what Jesus didn’t do. He didn’t yell and scream at Simon and threaten to file a lawsuit, which is more common today. Instead He talked to Simon, loved Simon, and affirmed the value of the woman in the story

            How do we avoid stigmatizing the mentally ill (or any other group of people)? First, we need to talk with them and learn their life story. We need to find out what life events brought them to this moment in life. Second, we need to try to put ourselves in their shoes and try to see life through their eyes. Third, we need to talk to them in a humanizing way, a way that lifts them up and affirms that they have value to God and to us. This means talking to them like you would anyone else and letting them make their own life choices.

            My prayer is that we love everyone, the mentally ill, that person who belongs to a different ethnic group than us, the teenager (and many more groups), the way Jesus loves us. He loves us immediately and unconditionally.

            Tuesday night, in the class I am taking at Xavier University, the professor had us to break up into small groups and talk about our lives up to this point, specifically thinking about what events in our lives were instrumental in bringing us to the point in which we presently found ourselves. Well, I am one of the older students in class and so I had more “life events” from which to choose than did most of my classmates. This group experience really got me thinking about this. Our group had some fun with this. Some shared about childhood experiences, both good and bad. Some shared about job or volunteer experience which nudged them this way or that way. I shared about various job experiences I have had, getting kicked out of college at the end of my first year, returning a year later to excel academically. I also mentioned growing up in a great family that remains close to this day, marrying into another great family that remains close, and the best of all, marrying Jennifer and having three great kids.

            As I thought of this I realized how fortunate I am. Now, for the sake of balance, my life hasn’t all been a bed of roses. As a teenager I had a significant stuttering problem that almost destroyed any self-esteem I had in my 6’5” 150 pound frame. I developed Crohn’s disease at around age 18. It didn’t get diagnosed until I was 26 when I had to have major abdominal surgery to remove about 12” of my large intestine. As a side effect of Crohn’s disease, I became more and more withdrawn and seclusive.  I have been suicidal once in my life (as a teenager) and have most assuredly have had two short bouts of real depression (as a teenager and in my early 30’s). For the last 7 years, my mom has lived with Parkinson’s disease. I have watched this wonderful lady, for whom I would give my life, slowly deteriorate and have a harder and harder time doing the things she has always been able to do. I watched my wife suffer through a second pregnancy that resulted in the birth of my son, my wonderful son. When my wife and I welcomed our third child into the world, Rachel Catherine, she (Rachel) had to be taken to the NICU (Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit) due to some serious struggles breathing. She spent 7 days in the NICU before coming home the day before Thanksgiving (and we were giving much thanks for her coming home healthy). These are but a few of the highs and valleys I have gone through personally and we have gone through as a family.

            Through all of this (and I pray for the grace to say this at the end of my life) I can shout aloud from the my rooftop what the prophet Isaiah said, “I will tell of the Lord’s unfailing love. I will praise the Lord for all He has done. I will rejoice in His great goodness to (Steve), which He has granted according to His mercy and love.” (Isaiah 63:7).

            Let me encourage you to take this same journey. I ask you to take some time this day, or this week to review your life with all its peaks and valley’s. With all the moments filled with the highest joy and all the moments filled with the lowest despair and all the points in between, can you say with me “I will tell of the Lord’s unfailing love…”

            Let it come to you if necessary, there will surely be one day when we are all in heaven when we will all be able to say, “I will tell of the Lord’s unfailing love!”

            Praise the Lord!!!

            Amen!

The Love of God  By:  Jack Osteen

 When I began writing this blog, I asked several of my friends to write posts as well about various topics. These are all men who love God and love people. I am looking forward to each and every one of my friends posting their teaching. What follows is the first of the guest writings. Jack Osteen is the lead pastor of Lifeline Community Church and is on the board of our ministry. God is developing a beautiful heart in this man of God. Thanks Jack for adding value to Hands of Hope Ministries. Everyone, let me introduce to you, my friend, Jack Osteen

1 John 4:7-4:10

 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God & knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one & only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us & sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”  In this passage, the simplest & yet most profound statement of all is, “God is love.” That sounds beautiful, but what does it mean? We use the word “love” a lot, & I’m afraid that our use of it can be rather confusing.  Our English language is limited. We use this one word as a catch-all for many different feelings. “I love my wife. I love Cincinnati. I love our dogs. I love cherry pie. I love a sunny day. I love my home.” Since we use the same word to express all those different emotions, we depend a lot upon the person who hears us to put our words through the filter of understanding, & then to arrive at the correct conclusion. When I say, “I love my wife,” I trust you to take those words & filter them & reach the conclusion that “He loves his wife the way that a man ought to love his wife.” When I tell you that I love Cincinnati, I trust you to understand that I am not weird, & therefore I don’t love a place in the same way that I love my wife. I trust you to put those words through the filter & reach the conclusion that I love a place in the way that a man ought to love a place. We may even get confused when it comes to the subject of spiritual love. The Bible tells us that “God is love,” & that I am to “love the Lord, my God with all my heart.” It tells me to love myself, & to love my neighbor, & even to love my enemies. So what is love, really? Much of our confusion is because of the limitations of our language. Most of you realize that the New Testament was written originally in Greek & not in English. And it helps to know that. Many of you have also heard of the 3 Greek words that are most often translated “love” - “eros, phileo, & agape.” We realize that they express different kinds of love but, at the same time, we generally translate all 3 of them into the single English word “love,” because we don’t have any other single words that would translate them better. I. EROS A. The first word, “eros,” is not used in the New Testament, but its meaning is referred to many times in both Old & New Testaments. “Eros” means physical love, sexual love. You see, our problem is that Christian people have not always given Biblical definitions to Biblical things. We need to realize that “eros,” erotic love, is a gift from a God with a clean heart & pure hands. He gives it to us & says, “It is good.” God gives erotic love as a special gift to us. B. Now, of course, it has limitations. Anything that intimate must always have limitations. So the Bible clearly teaches that erotic love is to be shared only by two people, husband & wife, people who are married to each other, who have made a deeper commitment, who have promised each other that “for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness & in health,” they will keep on loving each other until one of them dies. When they make that kind of commitment, then as God’s special gift, they are given the privileges of erotic, physical love.  C. As beautiful, as pure & holy as it is, erotic love has its imperfections because, by nature, erotic love is selfish. Erotic love depends upon emotions & feelings. Erotic love is always looking for something that will satisfy its own desires.  II. PHILEO A. Then there is the word “phileo.” It means “brotherliness,” “companionship,” & “friendship.” It includes the idea of a “boy meets girl” type of relationship.  B. There is erotic love & there is “phileo” love, but “phileo” love is too often a temporary type of love. It is a love that says, “I will love you as long as you love me.” Or, “I will love you as long as the waves are smooth. I will love you as long things are going all right in my life. I will love you as long as I am getting what I want out of the relationship.” But that is not the depth that is needed in love. “Phileo” love, too, is a gift from God, a beautiful gift, but by itself it is never enough. III. AGAPE  A. The third word is “agape,” & “agape” is the word that is used in 1 John 4, where it says, “God is agape.” It is a love that is different from the other two because it is totally unselfish.  It is a love that is more concerned about making the object of love feel loved, than it is in making the lover feel loved. The lover is willing to sacrifice, to make any sacrifice necessary just to make the object of love feel loved. That is what God did. When He looked down at the human predicament, He didn’t consider how comfortable it was in heaven. He didn’t consider His own situation, but He willingly sacrificed Himself & came to earth & lived with us. He breathed our air & experienced our life. B. If God had loved us with eroticism, or if God had loved us with “phileo” He would have packed His bags the first time He was rejected. He would have gone back to heaven & said, “I’ve had all of this that I want.” He would never have endured & persevered & gone to the cross. Instead, He would have said, “I won’t take any more of this. I’ll go back where I am appreciated & respected.” But because it was an “agape” love He was more concerned about the object of love than He was about Himself. And that is how it must be in marriage or in friendships or anything else.   C. “Do I love my wife with a “phileo” love?” Absolutely! But because that is overshadowed with the umbrella of “agape” love, it says to her, “If things aren’t going well for us, I am not going to turn around & walk off. I’m not going to leave you stranded here.” My “phileo” love is overshadowed by “agape” love which says, “I am going to stick this out. We’ll wrestle it together. We’ll hurt together. We’ll solve our problems together. We will not allow something else to destroy the love that we have for each other.” That is the only way marriage can survive. So when the Bible says that “God is agape love” it means that God doesn’t love us with just a surface type of love, but He loves us with an all-sacrificing love. He gives Himself completely to express His love. IV. LOVE EXPRESSED A. Do you want to see love acted out? Then look at 1 Corinthians 13, the “Love Chapter” of the Bible. Those beautiful, familiar words are practical words, too. Because what Paul is saying is, “This is how “agape” love acts. This is how it behaves.”   I challenge you to read 1 Corinthians 13 and every time you see the word love, read that text with your name in place of love.  For example:  Jack is patient, Jack is kind, Jack is not rude, Jack keeps no records of wrongs, etc..   

Love always hopes, & it always perseveres.