062517 | Love Your Neighbor | Part 4 | Jacob Hickman

Love takes chances.   You can’t control what other people do.  You may try but you simply can’t control others.  When you love others despite their behavior you are taking a chance of them never loving you back.  You are taking a chance of being hurt, used, or taken advantage of.  But true love according to 1 Corinthians 13 is worth taking the chance.  

It’s hard to receive or give love when you are full of shame, guilt and condemnation.  They are a plug that keeps the true love of God flowing through us.  If you truly want to love your neighbor as God does that means you will have to receive the love of God first and allow His love to eradicate your shame, guilt and condemnation.  When you do you will be able to give an unfiltered and untainted love.  A pure and flawless love that never expects anything in return.  It’s reward is in the opportunity to love beyond reason.

The second plug of love is offense.  When people hurt you, and they will at some point in your life, what are you going to do?  Are you going to get even, get mad, or wait till they get hurt and rub it in?  Bitterness and unforgiveness are two major enemies to true godly love.  If we are able to receive the love of God unfiltered, with the forgiveness of our faults, shortcomings and sins, they should we not do the same for others that has been done for us?

Pastor Jacob Hickman this week shares about these two plugs of love with powerful and personal testimonies of how he and others have learned to love their neighbor like God loves their neighbor.