Made to Love and Be Loved

It's been two weeks since we were at a marvelous feast somewhere in this world. We had eight days of activities, of glimpsing a bit of that future kingdom that gives us so much hope. I'm so glad that when Jesus Christ mentioned how we should pray that he gave the seven categories, which we should go over. You don't have to do it every time, every one of those. But after he addressed God the Father and to honor him, he went straight to the first topic, which was, thy kingdom come. And when you look at that coming kingdom and realize that's what the real world will be like one day, not this sick and disoriented and degenerate society as we see it, we look forward so much.

And we were able to glimpse that coming kingdom. And Jesus Christ put his word that this was going to come about. God the Father has put his stamp on it. No one can stop or detain this coming of the kingdom of God. And that brings hope to us. But now we need the faith to walk in this way through all the tough times, all the trials and difficulties that we face. Sometimes there are health trials, sometimes personal trials, sometimes a monetary, all kinds of relationship trials that we go through.

And for me, the foundation of this coming kingdom of God, why we were brought on this earth, if I could just summarize it in three words. The purpose of our creation of why we were born, what we're doing here on this earth, we can summarize it in three words. God is love. Now once you believe that, once you accept that, then the rest flows out from it.

What God is doing has to do because he is motivated by love and outgoing concern for others, not for himself. And it is a sacrificial love. God explains this in the Bible. One of the best places is in 1 John chapter 4. Turn with me to 1 John chapter 4.

To see here what God says is the foundational principle of the Bible, of what God is made of, what motivates him. It says in 1 John chapter 4 verse 7, it says, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. It comes from him. It is the chief motivating principle. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He's got God's Spirit. He is able to direct that love that a person receives from God toward others.

It's impossible to have a relationship with God that is based on love and not begin to show it in your attitude, in your relationship with others. It says in verse 8, and this is going to be repeated in verse 16, the foundational principle of the Bible, of why God created the universe and human beings.

It says, He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. That is his foundational principle. That's the basis of what his outlook and his focus is all about. And then in verse 16, it goes on to say, and we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love. Here it's repeated. We know when the Bible repeats something, it's because it's very important. And he who abides in love abides in God and God in him.

That's the proper relationship. The problem is that when we come into the relationship, when we come to church, our lives are far from knowing how to love, how to even understand God's love. We come from broken backgrounds, some more than others, but everyone is on a wrong tangent in life. They're on the wrong direction. And so we come to this realization that this is what motivates God. This is what he wants us to have. And so this is why he's gonna bring his kingdom, because God is love.

He doesn't want us to keep being miserable and suffering in this present evil world. That's not his intention. First Satan and then human beings following Satan have created the world as we see it today. It is not God's world. God gave the angel Lucifer a responsibility with a third of the angels to beautify and prepare things. They were going to be serving human beings. And Satan rebelled. Lucifer turned into an adversary of God. He didn't want to be motivated by love anymore. And so man has followed Lucifer's way, Satan's way, and we see the world as it's now driven by money, politics, power, intimidation, lies.

And believe me, we only know just the little iceberg on the top. Because on the bottom, how much worse if the things that have already come to the surface are just the tip of the iceberg? I don't want to know anymore. But one day, God says, when people are resurrected, especially in that second and then third resurrection, they're going to have to give account of what they have done in secret.

And all the different dealings and wheelings and dealings have been going on. And so there will be a time for true justice to be applied. But God is love. Love is going to prevail in the end. God's kingdom is about love. He's not going to have people that are going to be based on hate and lust and jealousy and all kinds of evil attitudes.

So God proved that He is love through what He did with His Son. Notice in 1 John chapter 4, after He mentions in verse 8 that God is love. Verse 9, it says, in this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God had sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

And this is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation or sacrifice for our sins. So God proved it by giving up His Son, who was the Word, who had been with Him for eternity. And the Son proved it by giving Himself up, giving the ultimate sacrifice. So it's not just words. God is love, and this is sort of syrupy. This is the outgoing concern that God put us first. He gave up what He loved the most to show that He was willing to sacrifice so much for each one of us.

And this is further developed in Philippians chapter 2. This is the history of how God is love. You want a summary history of how God is love? He proved it through His actions. This was faith in action. In Philippians chapter 2, start in verse 1 because this goes on through verse 13 as one whole thought, the history of God's love for mankind. Notice in verse 1, Paul speaking, he says, therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, this is the first time he brings it up. If any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, that's the second time he uses it, being of one accord of one mind. I was reflecting about that this week. What does it mean to be of one accord, being of one mind? If we have God's Spirit working in us, we are going to have the humility to accept God's truths and follow them. And if we are wrong in something, we're going to have the humility to change it. So the harmony comes through humility, which you need God's love to do, because this isn't your own agenda. This isn't some church agenda. This isn't something dictated by some religious dictator. No, this is because we look at God's Word. If we have God's Spirit, we're going to be in agreement. And that doesn't mean that we all have the same levels of understanding, and nobody has a hundred percent understanding. But what we know, we come to this agreement and we're able to work out any difficulties, any differences in a loving, respectful, and with humility in mind. This is what it means. Those that don't have that, they're going to be contentious. They're going to fly in your face. They're going to get all kinds of heated and all kinds of wrong emotions. But for a person that has God's Spirit, it's one that is submissive to God and says, yes, sir, is this what you want me to do? Is this what your word tells me to do? I'm going to do it. I don't care what others dictate. And so this is what he's talking about. One accord, one mind, it's never going to be ideal. It's never going to be 100 percent. But if we have that humble Spirit of God, we're going to be able to work out and keep learning and keep growing in grace and knowledge together. We're not going to be dividing and all of a sudden having all these contentions and having different attitudes and people just bolting and going off to the left or to the right. That doesn't show one accord and one Spirit. And so if we put God first and His word first, there's going to be harmony.

And God's truths do not take a theology degree to understand. They're very simple based on God's laws, which are an expression of God's love. Again, as the person gets deeper and deeper converted, he should be more humble. He should be more childlike. We just had the blessing of the children. Why? Because Christ said we're going to have that humility. And yet we're going to stick to God's word, even to the point of death if necessary, to follow God's laws and His principles.

So he goes on to say in verse three, again notice the need for humility. He says, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in loneliness of mine, that's a definition of humility, let each esteem others better than himself.

Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. So as the person develops and grows spiritually, he's thinking more of the people that are hurting, that are going through difficulties, and you're more patient, you're more tolerant, you're more understanding of what these people are going through. You're not going to be gruff and self-righteous and thinking that that can't happen to me. It can happen to anybody.

And even Paul mentioned that if it wasn't for God, he would have been completely derelict as far as his faith. Continuing on, it says, verse five, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Yes, he put others' interests first. He was humble. He says, who, being in the form of God, that means he was God. He was in the form of God. It doesn't mean he was inferior. He had the same form of God as God the Father, and he did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.

Other terms mean that he did not grasp at just, I'm going to retain what I am. I'm not going to give this up. No, he was willing to give it up. He freely did not grasp it. He did not think, well, I've got to keep this. I'm going to rob this that belongs to me. But made himself of no reputation. He didn't come as a king. He didn't come as the world's greatest athlete or the greatest actor and best-looking. No, he took the form of a lowly worker of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, which the term here is just a person like a slave, didn't virtually have any rights. He was at the bottom of the society's ladder of success and coming in the likeness of men. He put on flesh, took out his divinity. He kept his personality. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. So it makes emphasis here. It's not just dying. He didn't take poison and just died in 10 seconds. He had an agonizing. This was the worst torture that the Romans had ever devised. And yet he was willing to put up with hours of beatings and humiliation and having nails driven and his wrists and his ankles to sustain him and and then suffered all the mockery and humility. I mean, well, I'm talking about the humiliation.

And he was willing to do that. And then as a result of that maximum sacrifice that he did, verse 9, Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth. Now, when it talks about under the earth, just talking about people that lived in caves at that time, we didn't have all these nice big concrete buildings and people in the countryside. Many times they use caves to live in nice air conditioning inside.

Natural air conditioning kept the rain away. You put a gate. You could go inside and put lanterns. And so there were people, but this was inside the earth. So it's important to explain that.

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

So eventually everybody's going to have to recognize that or they'll end up in the lake of fire and they will be mercifully burnt and they will go through the second death.

And so Jesus has done it all. He did his part. He showed what true love is.

And so they can talk about love. They know what it is.

They didn't just talk the talk, they walked the walk, as it is said. Notice in Isaiah 55 in verse 7.

Isaiah 55 in verse 7.

It says here, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.

Let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. God is love.

He's not this harsh judge. He wants the best for us. He wants us to turn to his way of life.

He buries all of the things in the past. As long as we start following his way of life, the past has no power. Of course, that's upon repentance and baptism that you're able to bury all of that. It says it's like a burial in the deepest part of the sea.

Last part of Malachi, or Micah, rather, mentions that.

Verse 8, it says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts your thoughts. Those sound like highfalutin words, but basically what he's saying here is God's ways are so superior to ours. His love is so much more profound and perfect than any human love could be. He goes on to say here, For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out with joy and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands, if the sinner repents, if he receives God's love. You need to do that. It's not automatic. Just because God is willing to love a person doesn't mean that person is going to accept it, because there are conditions.

A person does need to obey God. He's not just going to give everything, and the person is going to use that as license to do all kinds of evil things. No, a person has to be willing to submit to him, to obey him, and then God's love will pour forth abundantly. We are able to receive God's forgiveness. Notice this in Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5. This reminded me of this scripture right now in verse 1. It says, Therefore, having been justified by faith, faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope. Now, hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It should be which was given to us. Again, it brings up that, yes, we need to be justified. Justification is a legal term. It means being acquitted of your faults, of your crimes, of your transgressions. And that is done through Jesus Christ paying for our sins. Just like a judge says, well, there's a sentence and there's a penalty that has to be paid. Jesus Christ says, well, I'm going to take that penalty on because this person has repented. They have committed themselves to following God. And so I'm going to pay for that penalty. I paid for that with my life. That's the way you are made legally justifiable, where sin does not have power to convict us and for us to die a second death.

This is the way it works. So we should never lose sight of this basic fact that we were created to be loved and to love. That is the greatest understanding of our life.

And that this is the great purpose. God made us in such a way that without that love, we cannot function properly. Little babies can have the best care in the world. But if they don't have love, many of them die, and those that survive are stunted, are somehow damaged emotionally throughout their lives. So God has loved us first, and His Spirit produces that love. Notice in Genesis chapter 2, going back to the basic purpose of having created mankind, Genesis chapter 2 verse 26, it's always good to go back to the origins of things, and it explains it very well here. I'm sorry, it's Genesis chapter 1, Genesis 1 chapter 1 verse 26.

Then God said, let us make man in our image. According to our likeness, it doesn't mean just externally, it means like us. They want man to eventually become part of the God family.

And so the purpose is to be like God, and God is love. If we don't understand that concept, we are just off somewhere in left field. We don't understand the basic thrust of the Bible.

Notice again in 1 John chapter 3. Again, I'm setting this up as a preliminary part of this message. We're going to build on this, but we've got to put the foundation first. 1 John chapter 3 in verse 1. Notice the first couple of words here. Behold. That means look at this. Be awed by this. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know Him. That doesn't mean intellectually they don't know about God or Jesus Christ, but they're just not living the way God said. They're breaking His commandments. They're breaking many of His laws, and they think, oh, that's fine. I still can know God, and I still can be in the right place and be in the church that Christ founded. But that is a contradiction.

You cannot go against God's laws and not go against God Himself. He set them up.

And so it says in verse 2, Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, talking about Christ's return, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. So God is going to fulfill His purpose of reproducing Himself through human beings that follow His ways and obey Him.

Now, we have a good illustration of what God's love is all about, just like the great majority of us had to drive over here in different automobiles. And each automobile, if it doesn't have any gas in the tank, it's not going to make it here. Perhaps some people have inadvertently forgotten to look at the gas gauge, and all of a sudden the car clunks and it just shuts down.

And all of a sudden you look at the gauge and say, oh my, I forgot to put more gas, ran out of gas.

In the same way, we have a tank that God has set up inside of us. We can call it the love tank, the tank that is filled only with love. That's the only thing, that's the only gasoline that works in this tank. And with this tank, once we are filled with love, we can fill other people's tanks as well. When we don't have it filled, then wrong attitudes and actions start to happen.

And many times people are unaware of where those types of attitudes came from.

And this love starts with God. He has the maximum love available for human beings.

He never tires. He never quits. Notice in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 4 through 8.

These are the attributes of God. They're the description of love in the Bible.

I'm going to read it from the contemporary English version.

It says, love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude.

So here are six different attributes. It's kind, it's patient, never jealous in the sense of envying what other people have, being jealous of others because of their position or something that a person wants. And so they're jealous in that way. We know there's a godly jealousness, which is when you put God first or the jealous husband who wants his wife's, you know, love and doesn't want that love to be shared with his wife someone else. So there's a right jealousy, which is the one where you take care of those things that are yours. You should be careful and protective, but that's not what the jealousy here is about. It's talking about like being envious. It doesn't envy boastful. It doesn't go around strutting and boasting about what they have done. Proud comes from pride, which is that stubbornness to put yourself first or rude, which is something that happens mostly with your words. You can be rude.

You can, the way you talk, you can insult somebody. People say, how rude of him to say these things because it's offensive. It's the wrong type of language. You don't think through it before you say things. And so rude is so common nowadays. Kids are not being taught how to be polite, how to be courteous, how to say the right words that are proper and respectful. He goes on to say, love isn't selfish or quick-tempered. Here's another two wrong attitudes. Selfish, of course, is the opposite of love. In a sense, love of self, that narcissism that you kind of look at yourself and you're enamored and you think you're so great and the best thing since sliced bread, as some people say, but actually that's completely the wrong motivation. Isn't selfish? And you can tell that because a person that is unselfish acts a very different way. They really think about the other person first, not talking about being perfect, but being unselfish is an attitude. It's a decision a person makes or quick-tempered.

So that's another wrong attitude. Being quick on the trigger, immediately getting upset with something, immediately going off. As they say, like a flywheel just goes off. It does a lot of damage. It goes off, loses its handle. Then it goes on and says it doesn't keep a record of wrongs that others do. Some people enjoy saying, well look at all the things you've done. Boy, you got a lot of making up to do. Here's this and this and this. I'm not going to forget this. See, you got to have to make everything up to me. Well, that's not love.

Some people actually enjoy when they've got something over someone else, and they just hold that over that person forever. Oh, you remember this? And just hold them over the flames in that way.

That's not love. Forgiveness and forgetting and giving the chance, second chance to the person.

It goes on to say, it doesn't keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil things that are right and correct, but not in evil things. Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. Again, you give the benefit of the doubt. Now, that doesn't mean that you become this doormat where people are just going to step over you and, oh well, I'm a Christian, so go ahead, just keep beating me up. No, you have your rights as a good saying.

The first time you swindle me or insult me or do it wrongly, shame on you.

The second time, shame on me. I'm letting your person just completely go that way. I'm enabling that person, and that's not right. You have to help that person not go in that pattern.

You've got to put a stop to that or else you're enabling and consenting to something, maybe out of weakness or permissiveness. That's not godly. So it is trusting, but it is also one that applies justice and is firm when principles are at stake. And then it says, love never fails.

It is an attitude that God has. He's not going to change.

Many times people don't want to go along, but that's not going to change God's mind.

So for parents, it's so important to give that outgoing love to children so that they know they are loved and appreciated. Notice in Colossians chapter 3 and verse 21.

Colossians chapter 3 and verse 21. Again, I'm going to read this from the Message Bible.

It says, parents, don't come down too hard on your children or you'll crush their spirits.

Have we ever been crushed in our spirits? Have we been broken by others? I'm sure.

I've had it a couple times that people have crushed the spirit. But you know what?

If you've got God on your side, you're going to get up. You're going to brush, you know, the dust off your knees and you're going to go forward. But there are people that do that, and especially with children. Children are to be guided. They are not to be broken. Some parents just want to break an attitude of a child immediately and just completely dominate them. And there are many ways that you can deal with a strong willed child where you're still going to orient and you're going to guide that attitude without having to break them like a horse, that you just completely break their will. And then all life is just like having a jello for a spine. The kid just doesn't have any confidence. He's been crushed. He's been humiliated, and his spirit has been broken. That should never happen. Of course, anybody's ever been in war and having been captive, you know how horrible it is. The enemies want to break you and humiliate you and just completely destroy your self-esteem.

But that's not the biblical pattern. Notice what it says in the Good News Bible in this verse. It says, parents, do not irritate your children or they become discouraged. So again, God gives us ample leeway to train and rear our children, but he also puts limits. He puts the parameters. He says, don't do it in such a way that they're going to just be broken and discouraged and they're going to feel horrible about themselves. They're going to lose that self-esteem, self-confidence that they need. And so again, there are limits to what we can do.

In Ephesians chapter 6 verse 4, again talking about parents with children, and again talking about this tank of love that we need to fill. And we need to fill him not just with children, but with others, especially also in the marriage. Make sure that our spouse feels love, that we validate those feelings. In Ephesians 6, 4, the good news Bible says, parents do not treat your children in such a way as to make them angry. Instead, raise them with Christian discipline and instruction.

So again, there are parameters. There are limits. You're not supposed to build up this anger in the kid, and you just go at it with him. And this little child is being faced with this big father or mother, like some type of a bully. And the poor kid just feels like he's being bullied all the time in the home. That shouldn't be the attitude. The father, as Christ called God the father, Abba, which is like daddy. A very endearing term, very comfortable, affectionate term.

It shouldn't be dad the bully that you have the attitude. Going on, it says, instead, raise them with Christian discipline and instruction. So yes, we guide, we instruct, but we shouldn't beat the children down. And it's easy to do. It's easy to fly off the handle, and it's easy to get upset. Kids do crazy things. We had four daughters, and that was a full house that we had to deal with. But we didn't see their spirit broken. They learned their lessons, we guided them, and it was a happy home. They felt comfortable there. They were able to grow and develop. Notice this. I'm going to read Ephesians 6, 1 through 3. This is where it talks about the children. In the Good News Bible, it says, children, it is your Christian duty to obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do. Respect your father and mother is the first commandment that has a promise added, so that all may go well with you and you may live a long time in the land. So it's not only the parents' responsibility to fill that love tank, but children also should give love to their parents, showing it by respect and obedience.

That's the way they show that. And when you do, it's a wonderful thing to see.

So we all have these love tanks to be filled, to have self-worth, self-determination.

Parents shouldn't determine what what a career a child's going to do. They can certainly encourage them, but the child should make the last decision, should make the final decision on that.

They should reach independence and then interdependence, which means that you work with the family unit and you're all working together as a team. You've gone from independent individuals to those that choose now as their adults to work as a team interdependently.

So that is the ultimate goal.

Unfortunately, at the bottom of many people's lives, you don't have love as the basis.

You can have, as society tries to pawn it off, these false values. Well, the important thing is get money. Be rich. That's the key to having a fulfilling life, and that's what it's all about.

Well, you find out that you can't eat money. Money is a tool, but it's not going to bring happiness on its own. There are millionaires that are miserable. Money is not the basis for what people should do. Fame, some people will do anything to become famous. They are willing to sacrifice to do that, but again, it's empty at the end. Nobody's going to remember that person years later, and if that's all they wanted, love is not based on fame. Now, you can have love and you can develop fame and become famous because you have a right foundation of love, but these all are false foundations. Power. Some people, well, I just want to be on top of this corporation, or I want to be the number one here, and I'm going to do whatever it takes, and I'm just going to climb all the way to the top. That's my maximum idea. Any time you step over people and basically destroying other people's as you go up, power is not the basis for why we were created.

Now, power sometimes comes with the job, but that shouldn't define us.

Love should define us, and I remember a pastor here before I came, Dennis Luker, and he was the best example of love in my life. I'm talking about outside of my family, my wife, my children, but outside of that, Dennis Luker was one that just emanated, and he just flowed out of him, that love toward others. So how do we fill this love tank? If God is the source, how do we fill it? Let's look in Matthew 22. Matthew 22, verse 36.

Jesus Christ explained this to us.

In verse 36, one person asked, Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.

This is how we gain God's love. He first loved us. He opens the way. He showed it through his sacrifice and everything, and then we reciprocate it with the way we respect Him, obey Him, love Him, show the priority in our lives. That's how we honor God. And believe me, when we do that, God comes closer to us and fills us more with His love. He can become distant if we don't go get closer to Him. Again, it's something that we have to do our part to approach Him.

And then the second part, it says, verse 39, and the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Basically, talk about the Scripture. It's all based on this love toward God, and then with God's love in us, we can love our neighbor, as God expects us to do. It sets the direction in life. The first one of these two loves is the upward one with God. The second one is lateral. It's with our neighbor, that person that is close to us. If we do that, we have the right basis. You're able to fill your love tank, and at the same time, you're going to be able to give to the others. That's why in a family, it's so important if both parents love their children in the right way, each one can fill. So that love tank is full from the two parents. That's why it's more difficult when you just have one parent doing it. But again, if you don't have that, there are going to be problems. There are all kinds of issues that are going to appear because a person just doesn't have that love as a foundation. With love, there is forgiveness, and also being forgiven. You have to learn to forgive yourself. You can't just be beating yourself up. God says, look, I'm forgiving you. You've done your part. Move on. Put those things in the past, as Paul, as I'm going to bring up. He had a lot of things that could have really paralyzed him and just made him feel unworthy and, oh, go ahead and choose someone else. Look what I did before in the past. He was forgiven, and he put all that in the past, and he changed his life. He became a new Paul, the one that we are able to profit from his epistles.

With love, there is patience, there is tolerance, yet firmness of principle, there is humility, and, of course, that's not just one way. Yes, a person should be humble, but if a person becomes boastful, prideful, stubborn, well, then you just walk away. You're not going to get involved. You're not going to entangle yourself with a person that becomes this antagonistic and hostile. You just walk away. That's the best way to do it. Deal with the person when they're in a better state of mind.

I've had to do that throughout the years. I've just had to tell a person, I'm sorry, I don't work with that type of attitude, and that's it for our relationship until that attitude changes, because I'm not going to get upset. We're not going to see who's the strongest of the two and duke it out here. No, I just walk away. Sorry, I could have a wonderful relationship, but not with that type of attitude. It's just not going to work. I'm going to save you time and trouble. You're going to save me time and trouble, because I've got a lot of other better things to do with my life. Let's go to Ephesians, chapter 5. I want to show you here how balanced the Bible is. Ephesians 5, nobody can get away with just a one-sided argument. Notice in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 22, it says, wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. And so husbands take the scripture sometimes. See, you just have to be submissive to me. But they forgot the verse before that. They didn't read verse 21. It says, submitting to one another in the fear of God. See, if we submit each other in the fear of God, then the husband's going to treat his wife very differently, and she's not going to have a problem going along and submitting. So it's easy to come to verse 22, but let's not forget verse 21. See, it's both ways. Humility has to be in both of them, not just in one.

There's another scripture in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 3.

Again, some husbands will use this against their wives.

Some wives can use it against their husbands. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 in verse 3.

It says, let the husband render to his wife the affection do her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body. Sometimes the husband says that, but they forget to read the rest. But the husband does. And likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. So you see, both of them are working together.

It's not one over the other. It's working together for the good of the other person.

What are their needs? How can I fulfill their needs? And the other one's saying the same thing.

It's not, well, I need to fulfill my needs. I don't care about the other person. That's not what it says here at all. So again, there's equality, there's balance, and all of this.

There's another example in 1 Peter chapter 3, again, showing how love works in both sides of this relationship. In 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 1, I'm going to read it in the Good News Bible. It says, In the same way, you wives must submit yourselves to your husbands, so that if any of them do not believe God's word, your conduct will win them over to believe. That's what the wives are being told. Sometimes husbands will use that verse, and don't forget verse 7.

1 Peter 3 verse 7. In the same way, you husbands must live with your wives with the proper understanding that they are more delicate than you. It's talking about like a fragile vessel.

Now don't treat her like you would another guy or some rough vessel. This is a very precious. You take good care of this. It's more delicate. It's more fragile.

Treat them with respect, because they also will receive, together with you, God's gift of life.

Do this so that nothing will interfere with your prayers. Nothing worse than having a bad conscience, having a bad spat, and then having to get on your knees. And, oh God, I'm doing fine here.

Usually you're not feeling up to it. So we need to get the situation reconciled in the house, just like it says. If you're going to go to God, and you're going to present him a gift, and then you remember your sister or brother are offended, go deal with that first, and then go to God.

Deal with broken relationships. Deal with causing offense. Make sure that we can reconcile all of this together.

So again, looking at the kingdom of God that we talked about at the beginning of this message, and the feast, having a glimpse of that coming kingdom, it's so important to not give up, to look at that goal, at that purpose, acknowledge our defects, and persevere to the end, and not give up. None are going to finish this life in perfect form. No one will overcome 100%.

We are still struggling with something which, like Paul, he had feelings of inadequacy.

He had Christians killed under his authority, but he was able to overcome not 100%, but he was able to make the changes. He no longer had those behaviors and actions of the old Saul, but of the new Paul. And that's why he talked about it so much. Let's go to Colossians 3, verse 9 through 14. Here's Paul, who went through many difficulties, but he really changed his life.

He learned from his mistakes. He overcame his difficulties, and God used them to teach us so many valuable lessons. He says here, and again, this is verse 9, Colossians 3, it says, Do not lie to one another, having put off the old man with his deeds, and having put on the new, having been renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, foreigner, Scythian, slave, or free man. It doesn't matter what status you come into the Church.

We have the same spirit, but Christ is all things in all. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender feelings of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving yourselves. If anyone has a complaint against any, as Christ forgave you, so also you do. And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. That term perfectness comes from telios, which means full maturity. And love brings us to a full maturity. And so here in the Church, this is a workshop of learning, of applying these principles from week to week. We have received the instructions from God's Word. How we put them into practice is what God wants us to learn, to apply. And that way we learn this vital message and vital teaching that we were made to be loved and to love.