*Read the following verses about love:
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
I Corinthians 13:1-8
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
*The Bible is clear: God wants us to be great at relationships. He wants us to love people. In fact, He wants His followers to be the best lovers on the planet. He wants us to be known for an Agape kind of love. He wants us to get a good reputation…
*Reputation - What a person is known for - It can be good or bad. Reputation can be intentionally built/shifted by repetition of action/attitude among others.
*One means of reputation discovery: The first few adjectives you think of when a person’s name is mentioned -
What is your reputation? Do you have a reputation as a lover of all?
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What are the first adjectives that come to mind when you hear the word, “Christian”? How do you think non-Christians might answer that question?
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*Opinion: We’ve got some group-work to do if we are going to get the reputation that God intended for us to have. We are going to have to start living out radical Agape-style love with everyone, everywhere and at all times if we want to change the way that people think of us.
*But, this movement will only be possible if we regularly go to God and get saturated with His love. We are not manufacturers - just distributors.
When is the last time that you went to God and asked Him to love you?
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What would have to change about your actions/attitudes for you to have a ‘lover of all’ reputation?
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Reread I Corinthians 13. What do you find to be the most difficult parts of this love to live out? Where do you fail most often? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What are the first steps that you will take to build this reputation?
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