Relearning Genuine Love: A Spirit-Led Approach

Devotional

Day 1: Spirit-Led Love: A Divine Order

True love begins with the spirit, then the soul, and finally the body. This divine order ensures that relationships are built on a solid spiritual foundation, reflecting God's unconditional agape love. In a world that often prioritizes physical attraction and intimacy, this approach calls for a shift in focus towards spiritual and emotional connections. By prioritizing a spirit-led love, individuals can cultivate relationships that are meaningful and enduring, rooted in the essence of God's love. This kind of love transcends the superficial and is characterized by kindness, respect, and a deep spiritual bond. [06:55]

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (ESV): "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Reflection: In what ways can you prioritize spiritual connection over physical attraction in your current or future relationships?

Day 2: Kindness: The Reflection of God's Love

Kindness is a desirable trait in any person and is a reflection of God's love. It is through kindness that we can truly exemplify the love of Christ, as it never fails and leaves no room for negativity. In a world filled with harshness and judgment, kindness stands out as a beacon of God's love. It is an active choice to show compassion, understanding, and grace to others, regardless of their actions or circumstances. By embodying kindness, individuals can create a ripple effect of love and positivity in their communities, reflecting the true nature of Christ's love. [14:44]

Colossians 3:12 (ESV): "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience."

Reflection: Think of a recent situation where you could have shown more kindness. How can you actively choose to respond with kindness in similar situations in the future?

Day 3: Building Relationships on Spiritual Foundations

Relationships should be built on shared spiritual interests and prayer, as demonstrated by the story of the speaker's parents. This approach fosters a deeper connection and a more enduring love, as it places God at the center. In a society that often emphasizes short-term gratification, building relationships on spiritual foundations offers a path to lasting and meaningful connections. By prioritizing prayer and shared spiritual values, individuals can cultivate relationships that are resilient and deeply rooted in faith. This spiritual foundation serves as a guiding force, helping couples navigate challenges and grow together in love. [23:08]

Ecclesiastes 4:12 (ESV): "And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

Reflection: How can you incorporate prayer and shared spiritual activities into your relationships to strengthen your connection with others?

Day 4: Resisting Division in the Body of Christ

The enemy seeks to create discord within the body of Christ. We must resist these temptations and strive to love one another as God intended, offering grace, mercy, and accountability. In a world where division and conflict are prevalent, the call to unity and love within the body of Christ is more important than ever. By resisting the divisive tactics of the enemy, individuals can foster a spirit of unity and collaboration within their communities. This involves being accountable to one another, offering forgiveness, and avoiding the pitfalls of gossip and judgment. Through love and unity, the body of Christ can stand strong against the forces of division. [37:49]

Ephesians 4:3 (ESV): "Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Reflection: What steps can you take to promote unity and resist division within your church or community?

Day 5: Relearning Genuine Love: A Call to Action

In a world that often prioritizes short-term gratification, we must relearn how to love genuinely and selflessly. By putting God at the center of our relationships, we can transform our communities and reflect the true love of Christ. This call to action involves a conscious effort to move away from superficial and self-serving forms of love, towards a love that is rooted in selflessness and sacrifice. By embracing this genuine love, individuals can create a positive impact in their communities, serving as a testament to the transformative power of Christ's love. [46:19]

1 John 3:18 (ESV): "Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

Reflection: Identify one way you can demonstrate genuine, selfless love to someone in your life today. How can this act of love reflect the love of Christ to others?

Sermon Summary

In today's discussion, we delved into the profound and multifaceted nature of love, especially in the context of our modern world. On this Valentine's Day, we reflected on the essence of God's love and how it can be a guiding force in our relationships. We acknowledged the prevalent lack of genuine love in today's society and the loneliness many feel, whether they are seeking love or looking to give it. The conversation was centered around the concept of "Heart Check," a theme we revisited to explore the true meaning of love.

We emphasized that love, as defined by God, should be spirit-led, beginning with the spirit, then the soul, and finally the body. This order contrasts with the worldly approach that often prioritizes physical attraction and intimacy over spiritual and emotional connection. We discussed the importance of agape love, an unconditional love that transcends the superficial and is rooted in kindness and respect. This kind of love is what truly defines a Christian, as it reflects the love God has commanded us to show.

The discussion also touched on the challenges of modern dating and relationships, where the focus often shifts to short-term gratification rather than long-term commitment. We highlighted the importance of building relationships on a spiritual foundation, as exemplified by the story of my parents, who prioritized prayer and shared spiritual interests before romance. This approach fosters a deeper connection and a more enduring love.

Furthermore, we addressed the divisive tactics of the enemy, who seeks to create discord within the body of Christ. We must resist these temptations and strive to love one another as God intended. This includes being accountable to each other, offering grace and mercy, and avoiding the pitfalls of gossip and judgment.

Ultimately, the message was a call to action for all of us to relearn how to love genuinely and selflessly, putting God at the center of our relationships and interactions. By doing so, we can transform our communities and reflect the true love of Christ to the world.

Key Takeaways

1. Led Love:** True love begins with the spirit, then the soul, and finally the body. This order ensures that relationships are built on a solid spiritual foundation, reflecting God's unconditional agape love. Prioritizing spiritual connection over physical attraction leads to more meaningful and lasting relationships. [06:55]
2. The Importance of Kindness: Kindness is a desirable trait in any person and is a reflection of God's love. It is through kindness that we can truly exemplify the love of Christ, as it never fails and leaves no room for negativity.

3. Building Relationships on Spiritual Foundations: Relationships should be built on shared spiritual interests and prayer, as demonstrated by the story of my parents. This approach fosters a deeper connection and a more enduring love, as it places God at the center.

4. Resisting Division in the Body of Christ: The enemy seeks to create discord within the body of Christ. We must resist these temptations and strive to love one another as God intended, offering grace, mercy, and accountability.

5. Relearning Genuine Love: In a world that often prioritizes short-term gratification, we must relearn how to love genuinely and selflessly. By putting God at the center of our relationships, we can transform our communities and reflect the true love of Christ.

** [06:55]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:00] - Introduction to Love and Valentine's Day
[03:30] - The Concept of Heart Check
[06:55] - Spirit-Led Love
[10:15] - The Role of Kindness in Love
[14:44] - Building Relationships on Spiritual Foundations
[18:05] - Challenges of Modern Dating
[20:22] - The Problem with Hookup Culture
[23:08] - The Importance of Spiritual Connection
[29:22] - Revisiting Heart Check
[32:45] - The Role of Accountability in Love
[37:49] - Resisting Division in the Body of Christ
[41:30] - The Need for Genuine Love
[46:19] - Relearning How to Love
[50:00] - Closing Remarks and Upcoming Events

Sermon Clips

One thing that the Bible talks about is that what's desirable in a man is what? Not his leadership. It didn't say that. It said his kindness. It's good. How are you treating your spouses? How are you treating your girlfriends or women in general or people in general? How are you treating your mother? Like, one thing, ladies, if a man treats his woman, or I mean his mother, with disrespect, that's a red flag that you should be looking out for. If he treats his mother with respect, he'll probably more than likely treat you with love and respect. That's a big thing. So, men, like, one of my biggest pet peeves is seeing a woman mistreated. [00:06:08]

And we, as men, need to do a better job of leading. Now, women, you guys have to do a better job of allowing men to lead. But men, don't take advantage of that. Don't abuse that. Do it with kindness. Do it with love. One thing that my dad always said is, the issue today, when you're talking about love, is God intended for it to go in this order. Spirit, soul, then body. The problem is people have built it with what? The ethos love, which is the sexual love. And they've built it on the flip side. Body, soul, then spirit. So, it's like, we're going to build this sexually and then see if God's involved in this. [00:08:15]

We have to avoid that trap of the enemy. And we have to have an understanding. An understanding of what it really means to love. Again, we have to start loving with being spirit-led first. We have to start with the spirit. Now, you ask, well, what's the spirit love look like? You ever heard of agape love? An unconditional love. Too many people are focused on the ethos type of love. And, Anthony, I know you're going to probably break some of these down. Some of the Greek... [00:08:13]

words that of what love is and different types of love and things like that but it's like here's the thing we have to understand that people are not always going to be for you people are going to come against you people are going to disagree with you but what's desirable in a person is their kindness i've always believed that kindness never fails they can't say anything negative about you when you love and love the way god commanded us to love okay you're going to know a christian by what their love so you have to have an example of love and where there's many types of love there's the relationships of love there's the friendship love there's the the bro love like anthony and i have that that relationship where we're brothers right okay like we have each other's backs all right but and and an accountability love as well like is huge like anthony and i know how to talk to each other yeah we know each other's deepest passions our deepest secrets our deepest like like prayer requests i mean anything you can imagine we know about each other why because we've spent time praying together we've spent time hanging out together and we understand like when we need a friend we know how to be that person for each other and and that's the thing but then like you look at it take my parents for example many of you love watching my parents ministry and how they can take each other's anointing and and accelerate it or you know know how to tag team off of each other why because they built that love through a spiritual thing first and i'll say one more thing before i give this back to anthony but what was so cool about my parents from and this is for those of you who have been in a ministry for a long time my parents have been people that are maybe dating out there or or you're figuring out if the person you're talking to is your spouse or for you right my parents when they were dating um before they even like quote unquote dated they had met just working in a church together and they just decided like they realized they had a bunch of the same interests so they would listen to tapes together they would pray and read the word together and just be prayer partners and that's they build a friendship off that literally for like two to three months just consistently praying hanging out there was no romantic like feeling involved in that and finally my mom had asked my dad hey are you ever going to take me out for like dinner or like on a date and my dad goes well i thought that's what we were doing and they both kind of just laughed because they realized that they were building a liking or a love for each other [00:08:13]

on what God first that the the the dating romantic like food and all that stuff like yeah that's fun but we were so infatuated with each other spiritual person and they both loved the fact that what they were loving with Christ at the center and within nine months they met got engaged and got married with all within nine months they were spirit -led they started loving with the agape love with Christ at the center again spirit soul then body that's how you have to build it 100 % and [00:11:33]

This this whole like hookup culture that we're living in, like is people's excuse of like dealing with real problems and just sitting back, taking a step back and like getting to know somebody. Like, yeah, I knew somebody. I knew somebody who legit wanted to take this girl that he was talking to on a date. No joke. True story right here. And I think I've maybe shared this before, but I'll share it again. He asks her, hey, you know, we've been talking for a while. Like, I think it'd be cool to like, you know, go on like a real date or something. [00:17:27]

And they had kind of been getting to know each other like good, solid week, but never like I think, you know, they were still looking at. If they wanted to go out and actually like spend time together. Right. Well, he was kind of getting to know her and he had said to her, you know, what I just told you, but she was really like into him, too. And she's just like, yeah, I'd love to spend more time with you. Like we should hang out, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. [00:18:05]

He goes and just says, well, how would you feel about just grabbing maybe some ice cream and going for a walk around the lake? Something very like, you know, just chill, normal. Right. And she responds and goes, what? Why not? Just why can't we just go dance in the club and have some drinks? You know, drinks. And some shots and all of this, like, what is this TV land? Like, what is this 1950s again, where we got to wear like dresses and like a suit to like, go out and like, that is like, I cannot believe that. Like, if you're like a Christian person listening to this right now, which I'm assuming you are, I mean, wouldn't we want that kind of proper, like, just love where it's like the more innocent, the better. Right. [00:19:34]

Like we have literally watered down. Yeah. Love and dating now too. Well, we got to go get drunk and be like all in each other's business instead of like, let's sit down and have a conversation. Let's talk about your favorite Bible verses, your spiritual journey, your walk with God, where you're at and like, just have simple, like ice cream and a walk around the lake. Like, and he was just like, I couldn't believe that she said to me, the TV land kind of love. Like she, she, he goes, she said, this isn't, I love Lucy. Dang. Like, could you imagine hearing that? Like, like that's heavy, man. But it's like. [00:21:11]

That's the problem today is people want this like, like short -term fun kind of love as opposed to a long -term forever commitment. And then the problem is you have men who abuse physically and with their words, women who don't know how to be modest with the way they dress, talk and be in life. And then you have men who are consistently like being arrogant and cocky. And there's this constant confliction. So then when a true gentleman comes into a woman's life, she doesn't know how to handle it because she's been hurt by other guys. [00:22:21]

And then when a like true lady comes into a man's life, he doesn't know how to really trust her because he's been around a bunch of like, you know what I'm saying? Inappropriate women who are out and about being inappropriate. I'm not going to use certain words, but you know what I'm saying? know what I'm talking about. Okay. The, the, the easy type of woman. Okay. And so what I'm saying is like, there's this constant divide because why people are eliminating God at the center. So you have men here, women here, and there's no God in between here. And that's a problem. There's, there's a shunning of God. And it's like, people just want to get involved immediately and forget foundation. [00:24:08]

And it doesn't work that way. They're building it off the ethos, which is the physical sexual love. Yeah. Off of the arrows. Yes. 100%. [00:24:55]

and literally said I will be the sacrifice for all mankind and look look what that did okay so think about this okay here's the other thing we've got to remember is your lack of love can affect mutual relationships it's a domino effect so look let's say Anthony and I burned a bridge okay or had some sort of falling out or issue right okay this is why you got to be careful with bridge burning okay or allowing a relationship now there's times that you've got to let people walk because they could lower you okay but the issue with this sometimes is look you don't know what that road or that bridge is connected to and it could become a very very bad domino effect okay let's say Anthony and I we have a lot of mutual friends there's a lot of people that are connected to both him and I if him and I had a problem what are those people who are friends with both of us going to think at that point right who's in the wrong and now you start affecting other people's viewpoints or their relationships and that's when you mentioned like blackmail and like the tearing like apart it's like oh well you know Anthony did this to me so I'm gonna go tell everyone that's connected to both him and I what Anthony just did and then we have this constant like gossiping group and lack of love it's like just lay down your weapons and talk about stuff lay down your weapons and have a conversation and put Jesus at the center have some prayer time okay you know what I'm saying if people are asking you like your past over like what God is doing for you in this [00:24:55]

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