Love Isn't Puffed Up

Love Like Jesus Loved

Love Isn’t Puffed Up

1 Corinthians 13:4 & Luke 7:36-50

How do your respond to the news about the failure or fall of someone else?

How we look at and respond to the weaknesses and failures of others tells us a great deal about the state of our heart.

“It delights not in exposing the weakness of others.”   Henry Drummond

Dinner and A Story

1. An Uninvited Guest (36-38)

• Simon invited Jesus to dinner as a curiosity

• The woman came to the dinner to Honor Jesus and express her love

2. A Judgmental heart (39)

• Simon’s pride and arrogance left him spiritually Blind, he could not see Jesus, the woman or himself correctly

• Her sins were known, Simon’s sins were Hidden to everyone except God

3. A Story for the heart (40-42)

• Both were Bankrupt and could not pay their debt

• It was not so much about the amount of sin, but the Awareness of it

4. A Lack of Love exposed (43-47)

• Love shows up in the way that you treat People

• The woman’s display of love provides the Evidence of her being forgiven

5. A Forgiveness proclaimed (48-50)

• Jesus did not Deny her sin, he came to Deal with it!

• Jesus’ proclamation was an Assurance and an Invitation to walk in a new life

Love Like Jesus Loved

1. It begins with a deep Recognition of our own need

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:1–3)

2. It continues with a deep Appreciation of God’s provision for us in Jesus Christ

“Grace is love that pays a price, and that price was the death of the Son of God on the cross.”  Warren Wiersbe

Self-righteousness Shrivels Our Souls

3. It Manifests itself in the way that we relate to God and others

Forgiven people love God and love people

When we are Amazed at God’s grace toward us, we treat other people with amazing grace

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

Making It Personal:

• How has your awareness of your great need for God’s grace been lately? What could you do to increase your awareness?

• What is the level of your appreciation for the grace of God in your life right now? What could you do to fuel your appreciation?

• What does the way that you respond to the weaknesses and failures of others tell you about your relationship with God right now? What needs to be adjusted in your relationship with God or with others?

• Who can you share these truths with?