Loving Others Agape - Part 4 February 18, 2024 Part 1 - Made for Love Part 2 - God is Love Part 3 - Loving God “ 37 Jesus replied, ‘You must agapē the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Agapē your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:37-39 (NLT) God is saying: “If you want to agapē Me, agapē others. When you agapē others, you agapē Me.” “ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:40 (NLT) Agapē God Agapē others Jesus’ command to agapē God and agapē others radically simplifies the entire Bible and also radically raises the bar of what God is calling us to do. Agapē is: - love in its truest, purest, most noble, sacrificial, and unconditional form. - a verb. It is a call to action. It is love in action. - a choice, not an emotion. It is an act of the will, determined not by beauty or desirability but by the good intention of the one who agapēs. - is supernatural. We cannot produce agapē on our own. God is the only source. How do we agapē others? “ 7 Dear friends, let us continue to agapē one another, for agapē comes from God. Anyone who agapēs is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not agapē does not know God, for God is agapē. 9 God showed how much he agapēd us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. 10 This is real agapē—not that we agapēd God, but that He agapēd us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God agapēd us that much, we surely ought to agapē each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we agapē each other, God lives in us, and His agapē is brought to full expression in us. 13 And God has given us His Spirit as proof that we live in Him and He in us. 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God agapēs us, and we have put our trust in His agapē. God is agapē, and all who live in agapē live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our agapē grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. 18 Such agapē has no fear, because perfect agapē expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect agapē. 19 We agapē each other because He agapēd us first. 20 If someone says, ‘I agapē God,’ but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t agapē people we can see, how can we agapē God, whom we cannot see? 21 And He has given us this command: Those who agapē God must also agapē their fellow believers.” 1 John 4:7-21 (NLT) God’s agapē love towards us is our source and motivation for our agapē love towards others. Have you received God’s agapē love? Who do you need to agapē? How do you need to agapē them? Why should you agapē them? “We agapē each other because He agapēd us first.” 1 John 4:19 (NLT) “ 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Agapē each other. Just as I have agapēd you, you should agapē each other. 35 Your agapē for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35 (NLT) Jesus says that the greatest distinguishing characteristic of His followers should be: how we love others. Remember: Jesus washed Judas’ feet.