love & sacrifice

It has taken us a few weeks to unpack Hebrews 10, but last night we made some pretty sweet discoveries.

Some other references we used to look at this chapter in the context of all of scripture:
John 15:13
Romans 5:6-8
1 John 4:19
Matthew 22:36-39
Luke 6:32-35

These verses helped remind us that we have the capacity to love because of God's love for us. We did not deserve his love, we had betrayed his love but as we see in Hebrews 10, Christ chose to die for us, once for all to restore our relationship with God.

Some other verses of significance:
Revelation 2:4
John 17:20-26
Ephesians 5:1-5

In Revelation 2, the Church of Ephesus was called out for leaving their first love. If you go to the book of Ephesians, one of the primary focuses of the book is unity or oneness. John 17, Jesus prays for all of us, his followers, to be one SO THAT the world can experience the love of God.

Is it possible that one of the ways we love others is choosing NOT to sin? Ephesians 5 seems to imply that. Imitate God, live a life of love then rolls right into a list of things not to do. As we begin to consider that, it makes sense because when I am choosing to live for myself, I am not loving God or loving anyone else. According to Jesus, Greatest Love is shown by giving our life away, not hoarding it for ourselves.

We do not love because they deserve it. We do not love when they earn it. We should love when they least deserve it - because that is when the love of God is most revealed.

And that is our purpose - to reveal God. To pull back the curtain and show the world how truly amazing He is. That happens when we, as followers of Christ, share the same unified purpose, one motive. Simply revealing God. His Love, His Goodness, His Mercy, His Forgiveness, His Holiness... We reveal God through our chooses. When our purpose is unified as His followers, His love is revealed (John 17).

We ended with the progression to joy. People try to achieve joy in a number of different ways, but Joy is a fruit that is only achieved through one path.

Love leads to empathy for others. In empathy, we find our purpose - to live for others. As we find our purpose, we begin to find satisfaction with our life. In satisfaction, we find contentment. After contentment we have true joy.

Love is the only path to joy.

Love also demands we choose.

courage,
-davey