Skip to content Learning_to_Love_en Mar 20 · 45 min ...more
Learning_to_Love_en
March 20, 2026 · 45 min
Series Love March 20, 2026 · 45 min · Love
...more Show the full description Show less Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
492K followers
Adam Mesa is Lead Pastor of Patria Church and speaks to a congregation of 12,000 about how the gospel of Jesus Christ brings purpose to every life. Patria
492K followers
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
The Call to Love: Attitude, Affection, and Altitude 0:01 Welcome to the ALSC podcast. Here at ALSC, we seek the lost, teach the found, and send the disciples. We truly hope you are encouraged by this week's message.0:13 Alright. Thank you so much guys. Okay. Since you're standing, let's just jump into the verse for today, since we're standing for the honor of reading God's word. I don't want to over0:25 Catholic eyes for you, so I'm not gonna have you sit down and stand back up. Just do it once since you're standing already. Okay? So, we're gonna be today, as you know, the past couple weeks we've been in first0:36 Corinthians chapter 13. The first week, we shared breaking down the word agape, what the Greek word love means and it is unconditional, sacrificial love that is0:48 given. And then pastor Diego last week encouraged us, with the conversation of our first love, talking about Christ being our first love, having a dedication towards our relationship with the word or0:59 with Jesus who also is the word of God. And so, today we're gonna continue in first Corinthians chapter 13, starting in verse 4 since we read verses 1 to 3 last week. So we'll go to1:11 first Corinthians chapter 13, starting in verse 4. I'll read and we'll pray for today. It says this starting in verse 4, love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or1:23 boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices1:35 with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, and hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecy, they will pass away. As1:47 for tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a1:59 child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly lit, but then face to2:11 face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully even as I have fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these 3. But the greatest of these is love. Let's pray this2:22 morning. So much that you have gathered your church here today, Lord. I thank you so much from people who have gathered of different races, ethnicities, cultures, creeds, colors.2:34 Also, Lord, coming from different cities and regions and areas, we have all come under 1 roof to hear your word, Father God. The thing that truly unites us in this world today is the gospel and a love for2:46 Jesus. So God, we pray as you're continuing to do an awakening and a revival amongst the nation in America, Father God. May you do a great work amongst your people, not only in America, but also in this church,2:58 a l f c, God. May we see a revival of repentance where people are coming to faith in Jesus, Lord. May we see an awakening of your church, Lord, that's committed to holiness and righteousness and love today,3:10 God. And as you have called us to, may people in our community know us by our love. May we love our neighbor and love God with our whole heart, soul, and strength today. In Jesus name,3:22 Amen. Amen. God bless you guys. You can go ahead and sit down as we dig into the word today. I'm excited to share with you, on our third week talking about lost love, breaking3:34 down the true nature of love and the true call few moments, I'll share some points, that we just read. I know we read quite a bit of verses, about 11 verses. And3:46 so we'll share about those and break those down. But before I do, I don't know if you've ever been in a place where you haven't decided whether you love something or not. You're in a period of like. Have you ever asked3:58 that before someone? Maybe you've gotten a pair of new shoes or you've gotten something like, how you like those? And you're like, I don't know, I haven't really decided yet. Kinda my feet hurt and maybe you've gotten a4:07 new car. Like, how do you like your new car? I like it, but I haven't decided yet. The steering wheel fits different than my other 1 and I don't know, it's just I'm deciding whether I like it or I love it and and really4:18 you're 1 decision away whether, loving it or just completely walking away from it. Because have you ever noticed before that when you like something it's okay to like something, but as you're loving something, when4:29 you've decided that you don't like it, if you're deciding if you love it, you just end up hating it all in general. You just walk away. They're like, I don't even like any of this anymore. Have you ever noticed like4:39 something just bother you about your TV and you just think yourself, I don't even want to watch it anymore. I just want a new TV. I just want a new thing. Like, I just don't like it anymore. Well, I always joke with my4:48 wife that, she was 1 day away from, me not being with her anymore. And I always joke with her and say that, we were 1 decision away from my 2 beautiful5:00 sons never coming to existence, And it was all because of her fault, that's what it was. It wasn't mine. You know, we were only a few months dating in the in5:12 the dating phase, and we had decided to go with a group of friends. We were going to the Orange County Fair, It's about 10 years ago now. So we're going to the Orange County Fair and we had this planned for weeks. I5:24 had gotten the tickets already, it had already been planned, and so the morning of, my girlfriend text me and she said, Hey, my sister randomly got free tickets to5:36 a Beyonce concert tonight. Oh, yeah. I said, Well, good for your sister. It's good for her. Very happy for your sister. She said, No, well she invited me. I said, Well5:48 that's gonna be a problem, we're going to the Orange County Fair today with a bunch of friends. And she's like, Yeah, and? And I and I and I go, Well you you already said yes to something.6:00 And I'm kind of, I don't know if you're like me, but I'm I'm kind of old school in the sense that you gotta make your yeses your yeses and your noes your noes. It's just a And so, even till this day that's 1 thing my6:11 wife knows. In our household, if there's 1 thing that we live by, it's that our yeses are yeses and our noes are noes. I will only cancel something if I'm in the ambulance or it's something related to that. You know,6:22 it's like, I will do whatever I can to make sure that I don't say no to something. So by this, we're only dating a couple months. She doesn't know me and I don't really know her. And what I started to realize was in the6:33 totem pole of love, I was pretty low compared to her sister in that moment. And also what I also figured in that moment was I was additionally pretty low to Beyonce6:45 in that moment as well. So I lost to 2 different people. Now over the years, she's grown in Christ, her feelings towards Beyonce have changed, thank God, you know. But,6:57 but in the moment, you know, early in her faith, she still had a great love for both her music and her sister. So she tells me, I tell her, hey, if you don't I literally told her, we're dating a couple months, if you7:07 don't show up to this, there's gonna be a problem. Well, her being a strong, I e n d e m p, an independent woman, She said, fine,7:19 we can have a problem. And she went to that concert. I legitimately tell you, I had a group of my friends from church that we all went to the Orange County Fair, I fought in my7:31 mind all night to decide whether I was gonna end it with this girl the next day or not. I mean, I was really wrestling with it. Is this the kind of girl that I wanna spend the rest7:43 of my life with? 1 that chooses Beyonce and her sister over me? Well, ultimately I had some good friends that said, hey Adam, doesn't seem like it's a Beyonce thing, it just sounds7:55 like she has a great relationship with her sister and it sounds like her sister didn't have anyone to go with because that's why her sister said, all my friends canceled, they can't go, will you come with me? It sounds8:05 like she has a great love for her sister. So therefore, you should cut her a break and you should give her a chance. And it's in that moment that I decided, okay, I'm gonna give her a second chance. I'm gonna see8:17 if over the years, if she'll like me more than Beyonce. Well, suffice to say, I have grown in the totem pole, compared to fiance or to to Beyonce, but also to her8:29 sister. I've grown above her sister. Now, she chooses her husband over that of her family. Right? And so, we see often times that in this conversation8:41 of love, there are decisions you will always have to make to choose whether you're gonna love something as opposed to where your emotions lead you. Because we live in a culture8:54 that is leading you to live by your emotions. The standards and conducts of how you feel in that moment. And someone who has done life with people in the church and outside the9:05 church and the church and has relationship with family and friends and my wife, if my love and the way I treat people is dictated on what happens to me and the feelings I feel,9:17 then I'm probably gonna walk around more like Scrooge McDuck than anyone else. Because I'll tell you this, people can be pretty mean on a daily basis. And so if every single day9:29 I construct my attitude, I construct my love and my perseverance for others based off of whether things went well at a restaurant, whether things went well while getting the kids ready for school in the9:41 morning, whether things went well as me and my wife are trying to plan something, then more than likely what's gonna happen is is I'm gonna walk around as a pretty cynical, pessimistic person. But first9:53 Corinthians 13, Paul calls us to have a greater attitude of love than we've ever had before. And so that's what we're gonna look at today, is we're gonna dig more deeper into10:05 what does God call me to do when it comes to agape love. This is an unconditional, sacrificial love that Jesus Christ first showed us on the cross that then God calls us to10:17 act the same way. So if you're taking notes today, here here's the first thing I want to talk about, is what I just said, is God has called you and I to have an attitude of love. There10:29 is a specific attitude in love. Have you ever noticed before when you've been in a bad mood, but you're just trying to do the right thing that maybe it was Valentine's Day that just recently came up with you? You10:41 know there's an attitude that you can present your love? I'll show you this. If you came inside fellas, and maybe your wife was sitting on the kitchen counter and you came and you had some flowers, and if you threw those10:51 flowers on the kitchen table and you threw a card on there and you said, love you and you walked out, well, I mean theoretically you did all the right things. You bought some11:03 flowers, you bought a card, you said love you, but your attitude was all wrong. How how many times do we do that with God? We we give God this attitude and we're11:14 thinking to ourselves, well, but I'm doing all the right things. I'm coming to church, I Even that 1 time when Daniel was leading worship, I even lifted my hands 1 time. I did all the right things. I came to Saturday11:26 morning prayer. I went to a young adult night. I did all the right things, but my question would be, what was your attitude? Yeah. Come on, pastor. What was your attitude in the process?11:38 I don't know what's going on with my kids. I take them I used to be a children's pastor. I heard that. I take my kids to children's church. They do the little verse memory of the day and they do this, they do this.11:47 What's going on with my kids? My question to parents would often be, what is your attitude at home with your kids? What does it look like? Because here's the attitude of love that Paul encourages with and we read it in11:58 the first few verses. Here's what it says starting in verse 4. What is an attitude of love? It's this, love is patient. Okay. Well, that's kind of hard, Paul. It's patient.12:11 Love is kind. Alright. Well, I'm not really a kind person all the time. Love does not envy or boast. Oh, man. Okay? So, it's not jealous,12:23 I can't be jealous of other people. Dang, I also can't boast about the things that are going on. It's not arrogant or rude. Okay, well this is slimming up on this attitude thing. It does not insist on12:35 its own way, It's not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with truth. I love that Paul said that attitude is love and patient, but then he12:46 lists a lot of examples of what it's not, because you and I need to be shown more what it's not, kind of what it is. So he lists a lot more things of what it's not. And then he says this, love bears all12:58 things, which means there is a burden to love. It's a burden to love. Anyone who's married says, amen. There's a burden in marriage. It believes all things. It hopes all13:10 things. It endures all things. So what Paul is calling us to is he's saying there is an attitude, there is an approach to love that God has called us to and it's 1 of patience13:23 and kindness. Another word for kindness is charity, 1 that gives. So love gives of itself. Love is patient with other people.13:35 It's 1 of the hardest things to do. In today's age, we are people that lack so much patience to the point that we want to get the food delivered to our house. I'm guilty of that. I13:47 could literally be on my way home from church. I could make a 10 minute stop to pick up food, but I decide to DoorDash instead so that I don't have to get out of my car. You pass by Chick fil A or In N Out, and13:59 there's a drive through line a quarter of a mile long, but yet no one's in the restaurant. You could park your car, you could get out, you could have your food in minutes, but we think to ourselves, if I get14:11 out, I have to talk to people, I have to stand in the corner and look at my phone the whole time, I have to deal with the If there is a line, an inconvenience of14:22 another person. So therefore, I'll extend my stay by 30 minutes because my impatience doesn't let me want to deal with other people. We're just impatient people.14:34 And then we take that home. We take that home and we execute impatience towards other people. Or if there are young people here today, there's a big impatience around life. There's this14:46 idea that everyone is everything today because of the advent of YouTube. So you go, I want college to go as fast as possible. I want to be famous as fast as14:58 possible. I want to be a YouTuber. I want to be an influencer. I want to be an author. I want to be this. I want to be that. There's this idea and if I don't get it by time I'm 22, I'm15:09 gonna consider myself a failure. I didn't start thinking that my life was going up till like last week and I'm 32.15:22 I meet 20 year olds who are like, how long is this gonna take? I'm like, a lot longer than what you think it is right now. In your head, pick a number, times it15:34 by 10. That's how long it's gonna take. Because we lack patience. Everything has given us at our fingertips at all times, and so we don't realize15:46 we treat other people and we treat God that way. Our prayers are prayers of not faith but impatience. It's what they are.15:57 More than ever, I talk to people and they're like, where's God in this? Where's God in that? Where's God in this? It has become such an impatient conversation. But look how patient God is. In second Peter16:09 chapter 3 verse 9, it says this, the Lord is slow to fulfill his promise. What? God, any other verse,16:21 please. Please. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness. Right? So some think he's slow, but the Lord's not slow. He has his timing.16:33 But he is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but all should reach repentance. God has been patient with me and you day16:45 in and day out, day in and day out. There are so many times that I should have been given what was deserved to me in this life, but the Lord was patient16:57 with me. His mercy was patient, his grace was patient. So oftentimes we think of God that he's in heaven and this is how I would view him when I was younger. I would think he was pacing back and forth in heaven going,17:08 why can't Adam just figure it out? Why can't Adam just figure it out? Man, that guy's a screw up. Man, that guy just Oh, there he is again. He's doing And I would just think that God had this impatience about me that was17:20 just consistently, like, trying to knock on me. Now he's showing me signs, but in that, there was this patience. So what I started to realize as I read the scriptures was God was more like a loving father17:33 that patiently waits for their children to figure it out. You know, I know I I know some other dads sometimes when their kid is learning a sport, soccer, baseball, there's this, hit the ball. Kick the17:44 ball. Why do you keep missing it? Why do you keep and the kid's just shaking. He's just freaking out. Like, I'm just trying to have fun at this thing. So my when my son's playing a sport, I'm just always like, hey,17:55 Matthias, let's give it another try. Come on, man. And then he'll go to the couch and he's upset. We're like, let's just give it 1 more try. 1 more try. And then he does it and he throws the ball where it needs to go. He18:05 shoots the basket where it needs to go. And we celebrate because in our patience, he's finally starting to progress. He's finally starting to grow. And that's what God does in our walk.18:18 He sees you struggling, he sees you fighting. But as we love another day, as we're patient another day, as we lean into God another day, as God starts to complete your life, there's a celebration18:30 that occurs. Even to the point that it would lead towards repentance. That's what God wants you to do. A moment of repentance says this, I'm turning away from the way I used to have been and I'm pressing forward18:42 towards Christ. It's an attitude. It's something that shifts your attitude and your atmosphere. Yeah. You know the book of Hosea is an incredible book in Hosea because it is a18:53 prophet. The story of a prophet in Hosea was God had called Hosea, and it's a collection of prophetic texts between, Israel and God in a conversation,19:05 but it's also the beginning is illustrated by a challenge that God presented to Hosea as a prophet. And here was the challenge that God presented Hosea as a19:17 prophet. He said, Hosea, you're to go and marry a prostitute, 1 that is a promiscuous woman, and you're to love her above all things. Even when19:29 she continues to be a prostitute, You are to continue to love her as I have continually loved Israel as Israel has walked away from19:40 me many times. And so God says, there are things that I have to do to call Israel back to me. But Hosea, no matter what, you are to stay married to this woman to illustrate that19:52 I'm not going anywhere from Israel. I mean, a lot of us I I I've been in the church a long time. A lot of people wanna call themselves prophets, a lot of people want to be prophets and that's okay. I don't wanna be the20:04 Hosea kind of prophet. I don't wanna be the 1 that's called to marry a prostitute, and even when she continues to go work out in the streets, I'm supposed to stay married to her.20:15 That's what prophets being a prophet is usually a hard life is what it is in the Old Testament. And so Hosea, there's a few verses that stick out that speak of God's desire for us. It starts in20:27 Hosea chapter 4 verse 6, he says this, where do we why do we get to a place of discontentment? Why do we get to a place of brokenness? Well, it's right here. It says this, my people are destroyed or also another20:39 word in your bible, maybe perish for the lack of knowledge. A knowledge of who? Knowledge of God, who God is. Because you have rejected knowledge or you rejected knowing God,20:51 I reject you from being a priest. It's talking about the priesthood, they rejected their job. The pastors of that day rejected their job to teach Israel. And it says this, I reject you from being a priest and since21:02 you've forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children. He's talking to the priest here. So he's holding the pastors and the priests at a higher accountability than even Israel in this moment. But then21:14 God makes another statement and it says Hosea chapter 6 verse 6, for I desire steadfast love, not sacrifice. I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice. The21:26 knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. What is God saying? Well, because oftentimes in our life, we put on this attitude that we think that loving God and living for God is a21:37 matter of just checking things off our boxes. And so what's happening in that temple time period is there were sacrifices and burnt offerings that would go on. So a21:49 person could not love God and could not fill their life with the knowledge of God. They could not touch this. But they could think that just by showing up to church,22:02 offering up a few songs, taking a few notes down, that then they could leave after 2 hours. I sacrificed, God. I sacrificed. God, I I gave you an hour and a half22:14 of my day on a Sunday, God. What do you what else do you want from me? He's like, I don't want that. I want your love. I don't want that. I want you to know me. I wanna be filled with your knowledge.22:26 I don't want these things that you think you just have to do. God, look at my Instagram. My bio says Jeremiah 29 11. What else do you want?22:39 He's like, I want you to cancel your OnlyFans account. That's what I want you to do. I want you to do some things, not just mark something, because an attitude is expressed by what? Your22:51 actions. Your actions. And so God even told Israel and Hosea, I don't need the sacrifices, I don't need the burnt offerings. If it gives you pride that you23:03 mark a couple things off, I'll trade that any day for your love And for the knowledge of me that you would come to know me. There's an attitude in love that God challenges, and then it leads23:14 to the second thing, which then it leads us to an affection of love. There's an affection that God has called us to. Because you can have an attitude that23:26 progresses towards God and others, but now there becomes an affection that grows. As I was dating my wife and we got married, our affections for each other23:38 grew. Sometimes marriages grow distant because the affection stops. The affections of the early days, they go away. And so you may in your head or you may in your mind say, I love this person23:50 more than anything, but the affections are not there. In other words, your your love lens is lost. You don't you don't got a you got a you don't got a a lens for love anymore.24:02 Like these lenses have now become, they got tarnished, they're broken, now you got lens of bitterness, lens of anger, lens of unforgiveness, lens of hate, and so God in our affections called us to put on24:14 a lens of love. I have to leave my house every day and I gotta put these on. Because if I don't, you're gonna see the anger behind these eyes. And so what happens every single24:25 day, God transformed my eyes, transformed my thinking. That's why God said he wants us to transform in our knowledge of him because something has to happen up here in order for there to be transformation that occurs. If24:37 I want my affections to grow towards God, then it does start with the knowledge of God. That's what happens. The more that I grow to know someone is usually the more that I decide whether I like them or not.24:49 I talk to single people and they're dating someone, how do you feel about them yet? They say, I don't know. I don't know enough about them yet. I haven't seen them in all the areas, all the scenarios. Well, our24:58 relationship with God should grow in our affections the more we get to know Him. Why? What does it say? Well, in verse 8, as we continue it says, love never ends. As for prophecy, they will pass away.25:10 As for tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part, we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes the partial will pass away. When I was a child I spoke like a child, I thought25:21 like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part then I shall know fully, even as I have fully25:33 known, been fully known. So now faith, hope and love abide these 3 things, but the greatest of these is love. What's Paul saying right here? Well, in Paul's day, a little over25:45 2000 years ago, what what would happen is is, commonly occurrence is if you wanted to look in a mirror, they didn't have the nice mirrors that we have today where perfectly reflected and you can see25:56 every little tittle and jot of your face and imperfection and all these things like that. What they did was they just had polished metal. You would polish metal as much as you can so that you can see a26:08 reflection in it as much as possible. But it but in no way was it perfect. It you were you were looking at metal that was polished. And so as you were looking at it, you could see enough that you obviously know26:20 it's you, but you definitely can't see all of the imperfections. And so in other words, you had to just trust what you saw in the mirror and then you had to go about your day. It can't be like you and26:32 I today if we see a pimple or we see some we just sit there for an hour trying to figure it out. Well, they didn't have a mirror that would allow them to do that. So you just look in the dimly lit mirror for a second,26:43 okay, I think, oh, what whatever. I I don't there's no nothing clear enough that I could fixate on it. So what Paul says is, in this life there are so many Christians that before you move in life, you're26:54 waiting for the picture to become clear. And so you're obsessing over something that you can't even see clearly. And so Paul says, there are so many of us that are just27:06 waiting for God to put the puzzle piece together, for God to give you a clear image of what to do next. And that is not always gonna happen. And he says, there will come a day where you will see Jesus27:18 face to face and you'll be able to have all the answers that you need. You'll be able to see God's plan clearly. But a lot of times, when we go through a difficult season, a difficult time, a storm, we lose a loved 1, 127:30 of the things we wanna go to God is we wanna go in the mirror and we wanna say, God, give me some answers for this thing. But what Paul says is he says, we see in a mirror that's27:42 dim. You're not always going to be able to see this picture clear in this life. He says, there'll come a day where you'll go to God face to face and it'll all make sense. But faith is the act of hoping for things that27:54 you cannot see. And there's not always gonna be times that there's a clear picture and a clear answer for. And so what happens is our affections of faith have to grow even when28:06 you cannot see 10, 20 feet, 30 feet in front of you. Because affection has to follow. And we have to be careful that nothing in this life affect our affection towards God28:19 and affect our affections towards other people. You know, there's a story that I recently heard of a of a man that was in China. And if you know anything about China, there's a church there's a there's a government28:31 sponsored church in China. In other words, in China, no religion can claim that whatever the person is in the religion is more supreme than whoever the current government leader is in28:43 China. And so if you're a Christian, you know, we know our our our Bible says that Jesus is above every government. He's King of Kings and he's Lord of Lords. Well, in in China, those passages in the Bible and28:55 the pastors are not allowed to teach that. It has to be taken out of the Bible. So there's 1 level where there's a government sponsored Christianity, where all elements that saying God is above the ruler and the29:06 leader is stripped away. And then in China, there's an underground church, 1 that cannot publicly meet, that teaches the full gospel, that Jesus is the king of kings and the lord of lords.29:19 Now that underground church is consistently persecuted in China. It's 1 of the fastest growing churches in the world is the underground church in China and in Iran. And so29:30 what happens is people will meet in underground areas, and underground could just be also mean like a hidden place or whatever it is, and they open and they just have maybe a couple pages of their Bible. Sometimes29:41 they're blessed enough that they have a full Bible and and and what happens is is sometimes government officials will catch someone who's been part of the underground church. And then they'll begin to, they'll begin to29:52 hurt them, harm them, and interrogate them, and punish them to give up where the underground church meets. I heard a recent story that there was a man and he got caught and captured. And for 3 months, 330:04 months, they held him, they detained him, they starved him, they beat him, they held him. His family was going to that underground church and he never broke. For 3 months, he held it together. He never told them30:16 where his church meets, who leads his church, anything like that. He held strong for 3 months, lost tons of weight, everything. He was beaten, he was bloody. And just so happened, 3 months into this moment,30:27 he had gotten out, he was able to break out 1 night. He went and gathered his family and he went across to another nation and he refugeeed here into America. So he30:39 came to America. Once he stopped into America, he said to himself, look how beautiful this is. People can publicly meet, people can publicly gather, we could carry our Bibles wherever we30:51 want, we could go to church as often as we want. So he and his family, they began every time the church doors were open, they would go to church. They would be there. And for months upon months, they would be in31:03 church. Every time the church doors open, there they were. But just so happens also, he realized something else was great about America. He didn't have to live in poverty anymore like he did in China. So he got a31:15 job. He started working. He started supplying for his family. Some of his kids even started getting jobs. And a lot of times, his job, he would have a job when the church doors were open and so he was31:27 making such good money at the time for someone that came from China and poverty that he wasn't able to make it every single time the church doors were open. And you want to know something, in 3 short years,31:39 he went from going to church in America every time the doors were open to on the third year that he was in America, he did not even go to church on Easter Sunday because he got a job for work31:51 that he said, this would have been good money. And he said yes to it. And this is a person where sometimes Satan A lot of times we think Satan attacks us in our bad times. A A lot of times we think Satan attacks32:03 us in the difficult times, in the struggling times. No, no, no, no. Satan will attack you in the good times. Satan will come after you in the times of blessing, in the times of prosperity.32:15 What you have to evaluate is not what happens in the good times and the bad times. The way you evaluate your relationship with God is how has either of those times affected your affection towards God. Amen.32:27 Because this was a man who when he was persecuted to death, his love and his affection for God was there. God, I won't give up on you. God, I won't leave you. God, I won't forsake you. But the32:39 moment it started to get comfortable, the moment he started to live in luxury for himself, that was it. The moment that he was given everything that he may be a32:50 desire, church open whenever he wanted, he took those things for granted and his affections change. I'm not here to say anything about that man or judge that man in any way because I'm guilty of the same33:02 thing. My affections change for God sometimes based off the seasons I'm into. And so we have to be careful to watch this attitude that happens that the affections will change based off33:14 of. You got great season tickets, man, that's awesome. Where's your affections at? You got your dream car, that's awesome. I'm so happy for you, where are your affections at? You got your dream job, I'm so happy for33:26 you, where are your affections at? You got the kids and the husband and the wife that you've always wanted, that is great, I'm so happy for you, Where are your affections at? Where is our33:38 affection and our attitude? And then lastly with this as I begin to close is the next thing we have to be reminiscent of and we have to be knowledgeable of is our, the altitude of love. The33:50 altitude of love. How high does love go? You know, we're told in John 13 verse 34 to 35 it says this, speaking of Jesus, He says, as I have34:02 loved you, you must also love 1 another. By this everyone will know that you're my disciples if you love 1 another. So there's an altitude of a call that Jesus says, I'm the first34:14 instigator of love in your life. I'm the first 1 to agape. I'm the first 1 to sacrifice. I'm the first 1 to give out unconditionally. Salvation is not conditional. It's God's unconditional love34:25 and grace towards us. We didn't earn it, we didn't pay for it, there's nothing you could do to get God's salvation other than just accept what God is wanting to give you. That is the true agape love. And34:37 Jesus tells us, as I have loved you, now you guys will have to go love because that is how they will know you're my disciples. And there's a lot of people in Christendom today that are34:49 on YouTube, that are on TikTok, that ain't got no love. All they got is criticism, all they got is doubt, all they got is judgment. And so a lot of people are wondering, where are Jesus's35:01 disciples? Where's this so called love that they say is supposed to be exhibited to the world, which is unconditional, sacrificial love, but also as we read in first Corinthians 13, it also 1 that is35:13 full of truth. So it lives by a standard. You and I have a standard of conduct, a standard of righteousness, a standard of holiness that God has called us to, that as we love others and35:25 we pursue God, people will know, oh that person's a real disciple. Have you ever heard it, said before that birds of a feather flock together? Yes. You know the only birds who don't do35:37 that for the most part is eagles. Eagles don't flock with nobody. Eagles don't flock. They they run by it. And you know if an eagle catches itself with other birds flying at the35:48 same height, an eagle to get away from them will just go higher, because an eagle can fly higher than almost any other bird. Their lungs are built in a way that they can handle the low oxygen36:00 up to 11000 feet in the air. And so sometimes in our love game, you have to increase your altitude. I get it. I get it. You may live life around a lot of pigeons.36:13 You may have a lot of pigeons next to you. I get it. I get it. You may have a lot of doves around you. I I I get it. You may Hey, you may live to a live next to a lot of ducks.36:25 Okay? I get it. I get it. But if you wanna claim that you're something different in your walk with Christ, when other people are pigeoning next to you,36:38 and they're pooping on your stuff, and they're squawking on your stuff, and they're tripping on your stuff, and they go into your DMs, they go into your workplace, and they and they and they lay those little burr pellets36:48 everywhere that they do, our response is not to pigeon like they do. Our response is not to duck like they do. Our response, if God has called us to be in37:00 a place where we mount up on wings like eagles, then you actually have to increase your altitude of love when it's hard and when it's difficult. That's what God's call is for our life, increasing37:12 our altitude. And so sometimes what you gotta do is you can't go lower, you gotta go higher. That's the move, even when it's hard. You gotta go37:24 higher. Jesus calls us to do that as I close with this. In Matthew chapter 5 verse 43, Jesus calls us to something difficult and he says this, you heard that it is said, you shall love your37:36 neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your father who's in heaven. For he who makes his sun rise on the devil and on the37:48 good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers,38:00 what more are you doing than others? Do not even the gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. This is a pursuit of perfection.38:12 It's not attainable in the fact that it's something that I pursue pursue every single day. As God is perfect, I strive for the way that God's character and conduct is towards me. As I grow in the knowledge38:24 of God, it means that I become more and more bearing in His image. It's a pursuit, a lifelong pursuit that we have till the very end. Like first Corinthians tells us, we do38:36 this thing till the perfect comes. Till Jesus comes back, you have to increase your altitude. That's what you do. And then we have an eternal reward called heaven. An eternal reward called a relationship38:47 with God where Jesus showed us his agape love before anyone else. We can see love exhibited and on display. And so today, as we leave here, I encourage you that we38:59 increase our attitude of love in all areas. That we grow in our affection of love, not only towards God but to other people. Something I pray all the time is, God, would you give meShow more In this video 0:00 The Call to Love: Attitude, Affection, and Altitude
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.