The Power of Love

The Power of Love

                                                              

1 John 4:7-8:  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Today we are talking about the power of love.  Our scripture today reveals six things about love. 

1.        We are to love one another

2.       Love is of God.  It is who He is and His very nature

3.       Everyone who loves is born of God.  To truly love, know and understand agape or unselfish love you must be born again.  Love is of the Spirit. 

4.       They also know God.  You will know Him as Father and friend.

5.       Those who do not love do not know God.  Love is an expression of the heart.  To not love means you do not know God. 

6.       God is love

The greatest statement about love ever written.  John 3: 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The Power of love is revealed in 1 Cor 13:4-8

-          Love makes you and enables you to patient. 

-          Love makes you kind.

-          It helps you to keep from boasting and drawing attention to yourself.

-          It keeps you from being proud and promoting pride.

-          It will not allow you to dishonor others. 

-          Love is not selfish or self-seeking or selfish conscious. 

-          It is not easily angered

-          Love keeps no record of wrong

-          Love does not delight in evil

-          Love rejoices in truth.  Truth is who God is.  It is His nature, character and essence. 

-          Love always protects.  You will risk everything to protect someone you love. 

-          Love always trusts.   Love trust when there is no reason to trust.  When you love, you trust the one you love.  God trusts us.

-          Love always hopes.  Hope is believing that you have a future. 

-          Love always perseveres.   It has endurance, patience and diligence. 

-          Love never fails.  God cannot fail. 

Scriptures on the Power of Love

Luke 6:31: Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Luke 6:35: But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Romans 12:9:  Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

Romans 13:10:  Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

1 Corinthians 13:13:  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Ephesians 4:2:  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

1 Peter 4:8:  Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

1 John 4:18-19:  There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.

John 15:13:  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Colossians 3:14:  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Proverbs 10:12:  Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.

John 3:16:  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Matthew 22:37-39:  Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’