Mentoring Minutes

The Truth of Love

Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he showed them the full extent of his love.  (John 13:1, NLT)

Love and Lordship in Focus…His Love for us in saving and redeeming us should compel us to respond according to His Word that states that if we love Him we will keep (obey) His commands.  His Love for us as Savior requires the response of our love for Him as Lord.

The Truth in Love

1 John 4:19; Mark 12:29-31; Matthew 22:37-39

These should guide us according to God’s Word as to how we are to love and disciple others to love as well…(linked texts)

1) 1 John 4:7-21…God is Love and Love is from God…we can only love because He first loved us (v. 19); (John 3:16; 1 John 3:16)

2) Mark 12:29-31…A clear priority and order for love of Him and others

Build on these in future weeks as we move into loving and serving others building on Mark 12:31…loving others as self…

3) John 13:1-17…Love lived out in humility, service, authority and discipleship

4) Romans 8:37-39…God’s unfailing and inseparable love for us

5) 1 Corinthians 13…Literally, known as the Love Chapter describes what Godly love looks like to us and through us (emphasis vv. 4-8a)

Build on these in future weeks as we move into loving and serving others building on Mark 12:31…loving others as self…in particular marriage and family

6) Ephesians 5:21-33…Godly Love expressed in relationships and in particular in the Marriage Covenant and what it represents – Christ and His Bride, The Church.

7) Mark 1:40-42; 10:17-22…the full-orbed Love of God.

We’ve laid out the evidence of God’s Covenant Order and His Love for us and how we are to live that out with Him and others. First and foremost, we can only love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19; John 3:16; 1 John 3:16) and then there is an order in which we are to love…Worship and Love God, love the self we are recreated to be in Christ so we can love others (Mark 12:29-31).

This leads us to the third great text on Love in Scripture…

3) John 13:1-17…Love is lived out in humility, service, authority and discipleship…

The night Jesus was betrayed He instituted what has come to be known as The Last Supper. Here is a powerful synopsis of his interaction with His disciples that we should apply in our lives, relationships and discipleship, just as He shared and modeled them…

1) LOVE – He “loved them to the end” (v. 1).  According to one translation, “He showed them the full extent of His Love”…God is Love manifested in Christ so we really need to pay attention to what comes next

2) HUMILITY – He knew who He was…the essence of true humility and very important to understand as He expresses His love (v. 3)

3) SERVANT’S HEART – He bowed down, literally placing the disciples above Himself, and washed their feet…He served them (vv. 4-5). This didn’t change for one single moment who He was (v. 3)!

4) AUTHORITY – After interacting with Peter and teaching Him (and us) a valuable lesson), He stands up and asks if they realize what He’s done for them and clearly states that their belief in Him as the Authority is right (vv. 12-13)

5) DISCIPLESHIP – He tells them to follow His example as His disciples and in doing so they will be blessed (vv. 14-17).

There it is…the love of Jesus fully expressed in all He taught and lived for them and for us. The very next night He would be hung on the Cross to give the final ultimate example of True Love in Humility, Serving all of mankind with His sacrificial death and it did not change for one single moment Who He Was and Is – The Ultimate Authority, The King of kings and Lord of lords! That’s an example that we should follow as His disciples.

Unfortunately we separate these elements of His complete Love but in His Kingdom they never are separated. May we love as He has loved us!

God so loved us that He first loved us in willingly and sacrificially giving His own life through His Son; He has given us clear commands and priorities in how we are to grow in His love in loving Him and others; He has modeled it for us in Christ’s humble service in washing feet and laying down His life knowing that He was the Author of all things and had all power…How can we ever doubt that He would not love us always?

So what does that look like as we love others?  It brings us to the 4th great text on Love found in the New Testament…

4) Romans 8:37-39…God’s unfailing and inseparable love for us

Remember that there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love for us. While He gives us the freedom of choice to reject and walk away from His Love, He continues to love us, fully and perfectly, no matter what may come…not “death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing” can keep Him from loving us. We can reject it but it’s always there.  Because of His Love, by grace through faith, we are all-conquering victors as Christ lives in us (Romans 8:28, 37) no matter what we face!

The question is, can you truly say that you have that victory because you are walking with Him? How will you respond to His Love? You can choose to walk away if you desire…but why would you ever do that?

As we’ve focused on God’s Love as the Source, guidance and strength for how we are to love Him and others…because He first loved us…we’ve looked at How Jesus modeled it for us.  Now let’s see how it is to be manifested in our lives…in every relationship and in particular in our marriages, families and churches. Here’s the 5th great text on Love…

5) 1 Corinthians 13…Known as the Love Chapter describes what Godly love looks like to us and through us (emphasis vv. 4-8a)

Test yourself daily and see how you’re doing when it come to real Love…Love is: patient at all times; kind at all times; never jealous; never boastful or proud; always gracious; never self-seeking; not easily angered; never keeps score; always seeks out and rejoices with and in the Truth; always reliable; always believes, always hopes for the best and endures no matter what; LOVE NEVER FAILS!

None of us can know this kind of Love apart from Christ.  As stated last week, because of sin, no matter how much we may show compassion for our fellow man, we fall short when it comes to real Love…God’s Love…but it doesn’t change His standard. He gives us the strength to Love as He loves us.

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – What kind of “love” is the world seeing in those of us who call Christ our Lord? How are these traits evident in your life, in your relationships, especially your marriage and with your spouse, family and children, and in The Body of Christ?  How are these qualities showing up in trying times and even with enemies or those who come against us? 

That’s the Love of God and it will always be available and see us through if we choose to know and walk in His Love in Christ!  

Love and Lordship…Action Item(s)

  1. Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you how to love according to His commands and priorities.
  2. How can you practice Love in humble service and in Godly Authority as Christ’s disciple?
  3. Ask The Lord to show you what His unfailing Love for you is like right here and right now…It is always available as the only way you cannot know and experience it is to reject it. 
  4. What characteristics of Love from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a do you need to work on and mature in?
  5. Start with your spouse and family (if applicable) or others closest to you, if not married and with a family, to practice this kind of Love.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus…Heavenly Father, help me to love like You do.  Let me love in humility with a servant’s heart, practicing Your kind of authority in love as Christ’s disciple. In His Name. Amen.

The Discipline of Love

“If you love Me, you will keep (obey) My commandments.” (John 14:15)

Love and Lordship in Focus…Love includes feelings and emotions, both good and bad, but it is not defined or motivated by them. Love, according to God’s Word, is a commitment, a choice, an act of the will that requires me to walk in obedience to His Truth…and that requires discipline…not something our culture wants or likes to hear but absolutely true!

1 John 4:19; Mark 12:29-31; Matthew 22:37-39

(Refer to last week’s post for the seven texts on Love – https://loveandlordship.com/blog/discipleship-loving-response-required-to-his-lordship-2/

Foundation: I can only love because God first loved and still/always loves me (1 John 4:19)

From the moment that Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil sin entered the world and mankind has since been completely marred by it. This means that in and of ourselves, while there are remnants of our being created in God’s image that exist in us, we are incapable of real love, even loving our self. I know the world and all its messages through media, songs, social media, movies, etc., claims to know love and how to love but the reality is that in our flesh we don’t!  Sin has ruined our capacity to truly love.  But Love Himself (Christ) has restored it!

This is why it is so important to understand that with regard to love three things absolutely must happen…

1) I can only love because God, even in my sin, first loved us (1 John 4:19; John 3:16; 1 John 3:16);

2) Because of His great love for us, Christ has saved us by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) and we’re recreated as a new person in Christ and now, in Him, we can learn to love as we’ve been loved, and;

3) As new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), we can now be taught what love is and by faith through grace grow and mature in His Love.

This is the essence of discipleship…that I have been given love (John 15:13) and the capacity to love (John 13:34) so as a new creation in Christ I can grow by discipline in love! I know, I know…not romantic but the only way!

Jesus spent two of His three years of public ministry (and likely a few years prior to that) in building the relationships with those He would call as His disciples, teaching them the discipline of Love in Truth before He sent them out to teach and disciple others. And they still often missed it…still had much growth and maturity to learn.  We should take heed to how we are being discipled and how we are discipling others in His Truth, Love and Grace so we can better know Jesus and make Him known in this way!

Based on the foundation (1 John 4:19; John 3:16; 1 John 3:16), our first and utmost priority response according to the first and greatest command is what?  What do we do with His Love for us, in us and through us?

1) Learn and mature in worship of God alone (Mark 12:29)

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Early manuscripts of this would read, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God in one Lord.” This priority, first and greatest command (which we so often ignore or dismiss in our discipleship of ourselves and others) is Jesus simply repeating the great truth given to the Israelites as the most important commands before entering in to claim The Promised Land of Canaan (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

God told Moses to tell the Israelites that the following were of utmost importance…to worship Him alone and love Him with their whole being. He told them to teach and continually impress these truths more than anything else upon their children, grandchildren (and future generations) in every part of their lives! 

Every Jew would have known upon hearing this from Moses and Jesus that God is Lord, the Only Lord, and the Only One worthy of our worship and praise. Every Jew that took this to heart and every other Jew they would disciple…and every Gentile that was discipled and then discipled others would have been taught and known that they must start right here with the first and greatest of commands…or all others were unattainable.

How are we doing in discipling others to worship God and Him alone?  Only as we do so can we build on the second part of this first and greatest command out of our absolute and undivided worship of Him!

2) Learn and mature to love God with our whole being (Mark 12:30; Matthew 22:37-38)

First and foremost this part of the command must be seen from the perspective of Who God Is…being the Only One worthy of all our praise and worship, we are to strive, learn and grow in our love for Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.

There is no part of us that should neglect or be held back from committing our all to Him (loving Him)! Remember from previous posts, love is not an emotion or feeling (it has good & bad emotions attached to it but they do not define love)…Love is a sacrificial, selfless, submissive giving of our self in commitment to another. Jesus is our perfect Example in His commitment to (love for) The Father, and then for us, in His obedient death on the Cross…to save us.

We need to take the time in being discipled and in discipling others to make sure we are obedient to God’s first and greatest command…worship Him alone and Love Him with all that we are. Then and only then can we begin to move into, and be obedient to, the second greatest command!

These commands were given so that we could grow in the capacity to Love as we followed them in line with His priorities.  I cannot love myself or others until my heart is set on, and I am learning to, worship God alone and love him with all my being.  Until I do so, any “love” for others will flow from my flesh and cause trouble for many as I’ve missed the grace given (Hebrews 12:15) to love as He commanded.  As we take seriously God’s Word, in our worship of, and love for Him, we begin to see that He is not only pleased with our love for Him but in the process (discipleship) He is showing us who we are re-created to be in Christ, and in so doing, how to love who we are in Christ. Remember, discipleship is maturation in loving relationships, not paralysis in our lack of perfection. Now I can…

3) Learn and mature in Godly love for myself so I can love sacrificially as Christ did and does (Mark 12:31b; Matthew 22:39)

This is not the self-centered false love of the world and pop psychology. It is rooted completely in the self-giving, sacrificial Love of God for us and subsequently in our love for Him (Foundation and First/Greatest Command). NOW we can begin to do in love what Christ did for us…give our self away for the sake of others so they can know Him and His Love as well.

In line with God’s Word, I can only love others to the extent that I love God and myself (again the self re-created in Christ). This is not loving the false self of the old person before Christ but knowing and loving the new person and true identity found in receiving Him as Savior and walking with Him as Lord…discipleship in loving relationship(s). Be obedient to love who God has made you to be in Christ (Psalm 139:14; Ephesians 2:10).

Lack of self-love in God’s design and commands is one of the greatest detriments to loving relationships, especially in marriages and families, extending into our churches. I understand why the world doesn’t get it but we must be different!  We need to disciple others in His kind of Love for us and for our selves if we are going to show the world His Love.

In so many cases in our churches today we assume that receiving Christ as Savior immediately and automatically makes us mature believers in Him as Lord. So much of the New Testament gives evidence that this is not the case in teachings to help us mature as His disciples in His Truth, Love and Grace so we can point others to Him.

As we take God seriously in His Word and commands we can…

4) Learn and mature in loving others as we love ourselves and as Christ loves us (Mark 12:31a; John 13:34)

Far too often in today’s world and churches so many try to love and serve others without having spent much or any time growing and knowing the first and greatest command…what it means to love God and then to love who they are in Christ. This is not in line with God’s Word.

These commands were not haphazardly written and God just placed worship and love for Himself first. He never does anything haphazardly so we must recognize and honor this Truth…until I’ve given my heart to fulfilling His first and greatest command, I can’t fulfill the Second.

We need to disciple new and young believers in what it looks like to spend time in God’s Word, in prayer, quiet listening and meditation so we can know Him, worship Him and love Him. As we do so He is faithful to prune, shape, purge, cleanse, mold, bless and favor us for His purposes as He can trust us because we know who we are in Christ!

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – Discipleship in loving relationships is not about perfection but about obedience (love) and maturation in faith. In so doing, we begin to show others the Love that He has shown us and we become confident and content in who we are because of Christ in us. Now we can love others as He has commanded and they will see a love that they desire…His Love in and through us!

Love in Action

  1. Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you how to love according to His commands and priorities.
  2. Ask Him to show you how He first loved you and how He loves you right now.
  3. Ask Him what you need to do to worship Him alone and Love Him with all you are. This is about setting your heart on Him and then growing in His Love and in your Love for Him.
  4. Ask Him to show you who you are in Christ and how to love this new person/identity found only in Christ.
  5. Ask Him how you have been trying to love others as a priority over loving Him and how He can show you how to truly love them.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus Heavenly Father, forgive me when I run ahead of You and Your clear teaching and commands that my discipleship begins with my relationship with You and growing to Love you with all I am. As I do so, then I ask that You would show me how to love who I am in Christ so I can love and make disciples of others by teaching them to follow through on Your greatest commands in the way You gave them to us, knowing this is the only way that we can fulfill them and point others to Your Love in Christ! In His Name. Amen.

Discipleship: Loving Response Required To His Lordship

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:3)

Love and Lordship in Focus…His Love for us in saving and redeeming us should compel us to respond according to His Word that states that if we love Him we will keep (obey) His commands.  His Love for us as Savior requires the response of our love for Him as Lord.

This isn’t going to be easy so I begin with a reminder…I’m sharing the direct words of Jesus…I’m just the messenger. We must heed what our Lord says.

First let’s recap what He has called us to in order to be His disciples…

1) He must be the utmost priority in our life;

2) We must give ourselves wholeheartedly to Him;

3) We must give up everything for His sake, including our right to our life, our self and our right to be right (Luke 14:25-35).

That’s tough…but remember He’s The One who has given His all so that we can do the same. He is our Source and Strength (Philippians 4:13).

Why is this so important? Because we are His salt and light to the world. Salt and light changes everything they are exposed to…unless they have lost their ability to do so. Jesus said that if we are not completely sold out to Him then we have lost our saltiness (Luke 14:34-35). In other words, we’ve lost our influence to point those around us to Him.

Think about the glaring lack of influence that our churches and “converts” have in our culture today? Media mocks our faith, education ridicules it and government ignores and demeans it. Perhaps it is because we have failed to fully submit and surrender to Him as Lord and have lost our saltiness. The world around us has relegated our “salt” to the manure pile, which is exactly what Jesus said would happen.

Here are three scriptures that can help us pray and learn to be his sold-out disciples and be salt that once again influences the world around us:

1) “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.” Matthew 6:10 (Father, start with me and your will in my life)

2) “Seek first His Kingdom and righteousness.” Matthew 6:33

3) “Not my will but Yours be done.” Luke 22:42

Oswald Chambers gives more insight to how this is to be lived in contrast to the world around us… “Our Civilization and Christ’s Call” (Matthew 6:33 – see above)

“To follow Jesus Christ today is to follow a madman according to the ideals of present-day civilization. We have made a thousand and one necessities until our system of civilized life is as cast iron, and then we apologize to the Lord for not following Him. ‘God can never mean that I have to follow Him at the cost of all I have?’ But He does mean it. Instantly the clash is between our civilization and the call of Jesus Christ. Read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)–‘Seek first the kingdom of God’–and apply it to modern life and you will find its statements are either those of a madman or of God Incarnate.” (Parentheses mined and added)

I share this thought about discipleship and transition to…LOVE…because this doesn’t sound very loving?  Yet, God’s Word intricately ties discipleship and love together, “If you love me your will keep (obey) my commands.” John 14:15 (Parentheses mine and added)

Tweet this:  “Discipleship is our love to Him in response to His Love for us!”

Remember that Discipleship is not about being perfect…we’re already made perfect in Christ but we have to grow in our understanding and maturity in Him while we still dwell in this fleshly temple (body). So discipleship, as we live it out, is about maturation in Truth and Love rather than perfection.

Ultimately discipleship under Christ’s Lordship is our response to His incredible, unfailing, sacrificial love for us. We respond as His disciples in loving Him (and others) ONLY because He first loved us (1 John 4:19)!

This is why Jesus could say what He did in Luke 14:25-35 because He knew that only those who received His grace and love…Redemption through His blood and body sacrificed on The Cross…could even do the things He asked that we focused on last week (www.loveandlordship.com for previous articles, videos and podcasts to see what it means for Him to be Lord and us to be His disciples…on His terms not ours)!

He does this because He knows that we can’t do this in and of ourselves but only by His grace, mercy and strength, as we trust in Him by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).

As we begin to unpack what His kind of Love truly is and how we are to respond in that Love let me ask one simple question that ties His Love and Lordship to our discipleship response…

Have you received Christ as Savior and known His Love and are you walking in that Love as His disciple? Asked another way…Is there room in your heart for Him to write His story in and through your life for others to read it and know Him as Savior and Lord? (2 Corinthians 3:3)

Truth in Love

We are created in God’s image so that everything that He has called and commanded us to do is to be done in loving relationship…with Him and with others. Christ has made this possible by the reality of Redemption for all who will believe.

However much of what we see and call love today in our culture and even in many churches is our version of it. We’ve stood at the tree of knowledge of good and evil, right along with Adam and Eve, and fell for the enemy’s lie that we could be like god(s) (Genesis 3:4-5). So we’ve created Him in our image and redefined love based on our emotions (heart) and thoughts (mind) rather than the Truth of His Word.

His Word and His Son gave us very specific meaning and examples of Love that we’ll explore over the next few posts. I pray they will give you a new insight on what His Love truly is and how we are to live it out and can only do so as His disciples, living in His Lordship.

Here are 7 Great texts on Love in the New Testament that should guide us in how we are to love and disciple others to love as well. We will develop these in subsequent posts…

1) 1 John 4:7-21…God is Love and Love is from God…we can only love because He first loved us (v. 19); (John 3:16; 1 John 3:16)

2) Mark 12:29-31…A clear priority and order of love of God and others

3) John 13:1-17…Love lived out in humility, service, authority and discipleship

4) Romans 8:37-39…God’s unfailing and inseparable love for us

5) 1 Corinthians 13…Known as the Love Chapter describing what Godly love looks like to us and through us (emphasis vv. 4-8a)

6) Ephesians 5:21-33…Godly Love expressed in relationships and in particular in the Marriage Covenant and what it represents – Christ and His Bride, The Church.

7) Mark 1:40-42; 10:17-22…the full-orbed Love of God.

As we continue with this series, I’ll begin to dive deeper into each one of these to help us discover more of the absolute and needed connection between discipleship and Truth in Love!

Food for Thought – God is Love.  It would do us a great deal of good to know what that Love looks like.  Be praying about what God will reveal to you as you study the texts in this post and desire to know His Love more fully and share it unconditionally. 

Love in Action

  1. Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you what you need to do to live in love as Christ’s disciple.
  2. Make a list of the areas where Christ Kingdom and will are first in your life.
  3. Make a list of the areas where Christ Kingdom and will take a back seat in your life.
  4. Give some thought to what the Scriptures on Love in this post say to you.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus…Heavenly Father, in order for me to live as you purposed I need to know Your Love and live as Christ’s disciple in loving obedience to You.  Help me to do this for Your Kingdom and Glory. Thank You for Your grace that saves me and daily empowers me to do so.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.