Читать книгу Dare To Be Bold - Donald Stevens Jr - Страница 3

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. That who so ever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life" It doesn't matter what version of the bible you use in this text, the truth remains the same, that God loved and demonstrated his love through giving. In 2009 Tim Tebow caught the attention of the NFL fans by wearing the scripture "John 3:16" under his eye during a football game. As a born-again believer, he wanted to promote his faith, not knowing how much of an impact it would have on viewers watching. Here is his account recording by CBN News.

"The next six weeks leading up to the game I was really agonizing and contemplating what verse and God kept bringing up to my heart and my head John 3:16 which is the essence of our Christianity. It's the essence of our hope," After winning the championship game, Tebow, later on, found out that 94 million people googled John 3:16. Tebow goes on to say, "Honestly my first thought was 'How do 94 million people not know John 3:16? I was just so humbled by how big God is that we serve."

Now I'll ask you the same question Tebow asked "How do 94 million people not know John 3:16? Well, the answer is pretty clear, some churches today have not demonstrated altogether John 3:16 to the world. You see 94 million people may have Googled the scripture, but to them, it might have just been words. We are called to be doers, not only hearers of the word.

Let us take a closer look at this scripture. "For God so loved the world," talks about his unconditional love or agape love. This is a love that is to hard to duplicate because of our falling nature, but we can still pursue it. Now the only reason why Jesus, God's Son, had to come, was to make things right after the fall of man and bring us back to a relationship with God. This love is a sacrificial love that comes with a purpose. We are called to love, no matter what, or who we face. The reason why the laborers are few out on the streets is that some churches have not yet learned how to love the way God intended us to so that we can be useful out on the streets.

"That he gave his only begotten son" speaks of the word put into action. The world has abused the word "love" to make a point or to get what they want. In most recent times, the LGBT communities market the word love to cover up lustful sensations towards the same sex, saying that "Love is Love", but in 1 John 4:8,16 says that "God is Love", the same God that sent his Son Jesus to die for the sins of the world. So it can be hard for true disciples of Christ to love unconditionally to a world that views love from to different perspective.

So how can we demonstrate this kind of love to a complete stranger? Well, let us look at what love is as it's stated in 1 Corinthians 13. Paul says that it doesn't matter how well we can speak in other tongues, prophecy, understand mysteries, and all knowledge and give all possessions to the poor, without love, we are nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (Amplified) says,

4 Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. 5 It is not rude; it is not self-seeking; it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured. 6 It does not rejoice at injustice but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail]. 7 Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening].

8 Love never fails [it never fades nor ends]. But as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for the gift of special knowledge, it will pass away.

Simply put, love is not you or me, It's God, and we have to pursue love as 1 Corinthian 14:1 (Amplified) says, "pursue [this] love [with eagerness', make it your goal]…" When we pursue God, we are also seeking true agape love. The same Holy Spirit that came upon Mary and conceived Jesus is the same Holy Spirit that came upon us, giving us the power and ability to love as Christ loved the world. There is power in being patient and kind and rejoicing in the truth. There is power in bearing all things and believing all things. There is power in enduring all things, and this love will never fail. There is power in love, and with love which God. As we continue, we will talk more about the power of love in the demonstration. Take about 5 minutes to go over this chart and do a self-assessment. Let's see how well we love and find out if we need to continue to pursue love.

Take an honest 5-10 minutes and see if any of these characteristic matches yours. We can't pursue what we don't know. Allow the Lord to deal with you on the NOT side if any comes up.

What Love Is

Is Patient Not envious

Is Kind, Not boastful

Rejoices with the truth Not proud

Always protects

What Love's NOT

Not rude Always trusts

Not self-seeking Always hopes

Not easily angered Always perseveres

Keeps no record of wrong Does NOT delight in evil