Keep loving others

At the beginning of the last chapter of Hebrews, the writer says, “Let the love of the brethren continue.” In other words, keep loving your brothers in Christ. But the command is not generic. The author provides numerous illustrations of what this love should look like; he offers many ways in which we can fulfill […]

Tests of love

1 Corinthians 13 is probably read publicly most often in wedding services. When I plan those services with engaged couples, I can almost predict with certainty when I ask, “What passages would you like to have read at the service,” that they will invariably respond with dreamy-eyed glances at each other, “1 Corinthians 13.” And […]

Grab bag

Helpful resources for the growing Christian: Have you ever heard the statement, “I love him, but I don’t like him”? Me too. Too often. Rick Thomas demonstrates the idol behind the statement and how to address it in “Marriage problems.” How to handle public debate among Christians is a growing question and concern, though not […]

Valentine’s Day: God’s love for His own

What is God’s unique love for His redeemed people? He made us His children and given us One who is greater than the one in the world Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 Jn 4:4) […]

The Puritans on love

We live in a culture and time that weighs the emotive value of love as much more important than the volitional value of love. It has not always been this way: “Often the Puritans would decide to get married before they knew who they were going to marry. They would decide it was time to […]

What your sin does for you

Here is one value of sin — redemption from it stimulates our heart to love Christ more deeply than those who are not redeemed: We are now capable of a joy which unfallen spirits could not have known: the bliss of pardoned sin, the heaven of deep conscious obligation to eternal mercy. The bonds which […]

Sunday Leftovers (7/3/11)

Ask someone what some of the main themes of Ephesians are, and you will likely receive answers like salvation, family, how to relate to others, the church, spiritual armor and warfare, and theology. But it’s unlikely that you’ll hear the answer, “love.” Yet love is a dominant theme in this letter. The word “love” appears […]

The ministry of small talk

Yesterday, in talking about how to love others, I mentioned that it is possible to use small talk either to love others as a demonstration of your care and interest in them and their desires, or as a means of withholding love by keeping things superficial and non-intimate so that you neither have to share […]

Sunday Leftovers (3/20/11)

David Sharp was 34 when he died five years ago. And depending upon whom you ask, his death was either unavoidable or preventable. The British citizen was attempting a climb up Mt. Everest in May of 2006 when he died in a shallow snow cave from a lack of oxygen. That he died, in one […]

Learning to Love…All Over Again | RPM Ministries

If you have been married any significant length of time, both you and your mate have changed significantly. The husband or wife is significantly different from the man or woman you married ___ years ago. But that does not mean love has ended. Those changes mean opportunities for the constant rekindling of a biblically distinctive […]

Sunday Leftovers (1/23/11)

Husbands, love your wives. Those are easy words to speak — “sure, I love my wife…” we might quickly say. But if the pressure in the crucible increases, what will be revealed? If repeated slights and misunderstandings are left unresolved and accumulate over years, will I still love her? If significant, trust-violating sin intrudes the […]

What love is…and isn’t

Yesterday I suggested a new definition of love: “Love is a commitment of my love and affections to your needs and best interests regardless of the cost to me and as an expression of my desire to please God.” It is easy to think of this definition (or any other definition) and misunderstand it by […]

Love defined

For a long time I have used a slight variation of a definition of love that I read many years ago in Tim Kimmel’s Little House on the Freeway. After the message this morning, I am modifying it again: “Love is a commitment of my love and affections to your needs and best interests regardless […]

Sunday Leftovers (9/26/10)

In Ephesians 5:1-2, Paul refers to the security of our love from God the Father as the basis of our love for others. We can love others because we have been loved by Him. That principle then begs the question, “What are the qualities of a loved child, and how will those qualities impact his/her […]

Why do you serve Christ?

May I ask a straight-forward question? Why do you do what you do for Christ? That is, what is the motive for your actions? What drives you and compels you? Specifically, when you think about how you serve God, can you also determine why you serve God? Some serve God from a sense of “holy […]