Sealed in Love: Agape That Endures Life's Floods

Many waters cannot quench love, rivers cannot sweep it away. And in the Bible, floods always represent seasons of stress, loss, pressure, conflict, disappointment. And what we're told here in this passage is, you know what? Real love is not gonna be washed away by those things. It's not gonna be quenched. Well, they don't treat me like they used to. Okay? Real love isn't gonna be daunted by that. It'll be undaunted. Now here, as we go on, I want you to see enduring love doesn't pretend waters aren't real. And this is the thing. It's not saying that there's not real problems that are gonna come at all, but rather instead it refuses to be washed away by it. Lasting love is covenant shaped as brother Danny taught us, and it's not just chemistry driven. You see the kind of love that we're to have is shaped in covenant. And we know that the trials are gonna come. Nothing is gonna be perfect forever. [00:46:20] (59 seconds)  #CovenantEndures

You see, love is something that is to last, that is to endure. We're gonna come back and unpack this scripture in a moment. But God's vision isn't just intense love. And we've talked about that over the last few weeks. JT has done a wonderful job helping us understand how intense it should be in the passion. But it's enduring love through seasons, through hardships, through forgiveness, and through growth. You know, somebody once said, rest assured, you will not die in the world you were born in. That means the world's always changing. Somebody else said, rest assured, you will not die the same person that you were born. And the idea behind that is simply this, we're always growing. We're always changing. I'm not the same person that my wife married. Hopefully, I'm better. I know I'm older, but hopefully, I've gotten better in some ways. [00:39:07] (57 seconds)  #LoveThroughChange

We've all seen those people that we looked at and we thought, really? You know, why don't you just tell them I'm done? Because real love doesn't let you do that. I remember getting mad or being frustrated with parents who had adult children that continued to break their heart. And I understand tough love and all of that, but I just know that when there's that real love there, it just it sees the best. That's the way we need to be toward our spouse. That's the way we need to be toward everyone, but especially our family because that will bring enduring love. And then, of course, finally, love never fails. You see, it will not give up. It's gonna last. It's going to endure. And look at this. Biblical love conquers all because it forgives all and endures all. You say, well, how how does that work? [01:01:05] (62 seconds)  #LoveNeverFails

Jesus said, father, these are the people that are killing him. These are the people that have beaten him, that are spitting on him, that are mocking him, that are making fun of him. And he says to the heavenly father, father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And that is the love that we're to have for each other. And sometimes we love in spite of, not because of. Sometimes we just have to look and say, I god, I just have to forgive them. They don't they don't know what they're doing. If they're thinking straight, they wouldn't be doing this. If they was thinking straight, they wouldn't be acting like this. You see, not by ignoring the truth, but by practicing that covenant faithfulness. As Danny taught us, it's it's not about the chemistry. It's about a covenant, a promise, an agreement. Life's hard, but it can be easier when we learn to love like he did. [01:02:14] (70 seconds)  #ForgiveLikeJesus

And I can tell you over the course of my life, whenever I've had quote unquote love for people, whoever it was, that wasn't agape love, it didn't last, it didn't endure. And honestly, found out it was affection, not love. It was interest, not love, even for friends and friendship. But this kind of love is the only kind of love that will allow your marriage to endure through all things, and honestly, all your relationships. Even your friendships. With with spouse or with children or grandchildren or your neighbors or Christian brethren. This kind of love endures it all. So let's walk through beginning in verse four. Love is patient. And by the way, as we go through these, ask yourself, is that me? Is that how I love? Okay? So let's let's practice on this first one. When we say love is patient, ask yourself, how patient am I with my children, with my spouse? Some of us are more patient with the neighbor next door. Shoot. Some of us are more patient with the dog next door that barks at your than we are our own spouse. Dog can bark all night. You don't call the neighbor and chew them out, but let your husband snore one time, and you're on the couch. Not that I speak from experience. [00:48:17] (80 seconds)  #AgapeEndures

It does not boast. It's not proud. It doesn't dishonor others. It's not self seeking. It's not are you asking yourself, is this me? Is not easily angered? How quick do you lose your temper? I know this is getting real personal, isn't it? Look at your neighbor and say he's talking to you. Just get that out of the way. Let's I know you wanna say it. Let's just say it. He's talking to you. You're right. I am. And and here's the thing. This one is really tough. It keeps no record of wrongs. Wow. It's not keeping score. You say, well, I don't think I do that. Really? Whenever you get in an argument with your spouse, do you have total recall where you can go all the way back and give a list of every time they've ever done that since you've known them? This is just like sixteen years ago. Remember? Then you're keeping score. Don't do that. Alright. We gotta hurry. Love doesn't delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It always perseveres. Love never fails. [00:50:41] (66 seconds)  #LoveKeepsNoRecord

The kind of love that we're talking about is and Paul is talking about this here. He doesn't define it as a feeling, but he describes it as a life. It's a paradigm. It's a world view. It's the way you live this kind of love. It's part of who you are. And the thing of it is, when we have this kind of love, it's gonna endure. But it's not just gonna endure with your spouse, it's gonna endure with everybody. When we learn to love with this kind of love, your problems you're having at work will begin to diminish. It's hard to be mad at somebody when you really love them. [00:51:54] (33 seconds)  #LoveAsLifestyle

It's not just enough that we love somebody. We gotta tell them. Maybe you heard the story about the old man and old woman been married for fifty years. They'd had a big celebration. Kids, grandkids, great grandkids all showed up, had a big party. And as he's driving away, they're standing there looking at each other. And the old woman looks at the old man and she says, do you realize you have not told me you love me since the day we were married? And he looks down at her and he says, woman, if anything changes, I'll let you know. Now nobody wants that kind of relationship. We wanna be told we're we're loved. We wanna be shown affection. And by the way, that's not just the women for the men and the men for the it's all of us. It's for our children. Believe this or not, children, your parents wanna know that you love them. And we we're not mind readers. Well, they should know. They don't know. That's why you gotta tell them. You gotta show them. [00:42:45] (54 seconds)  #SayAndShowLove