Church of the Nazarene
There is hope on the other side of our regret!
We are focusing on avoiding one of the most common regrets people report as they near the end of life: I would have loved more deeply.
-We are exploring the importance of love as the guiding focus of life – loving God and loving people.
-You’ll find that love is the great antidote to regret.
Matthew 22:34-40 NIV
Greek word for love: agapaō – means to love dearly, to welcome unconditionally.
Point 1: We don’t know how dearly we are loved.
“If you want to know God and if you want the world to know him, you will have to saturate in this love. It may seem uncomfortably selfish at times to bathe in the love of God so thoroughly and personally, but it’s the only way you can become the vessel of love he is creating you to be. You will be able to love others only to the extent that you experience his love for yourself. You will forgive other only to the extent that you have experienced forgiveness yourself. You will bless others only to the extent you have understood blessings in your own life. Your capacity to love depends entirely on your capacity to receive it. It will shape your life more than any other force.” -Chris Tiegreen
Point 2: We make love about our feelings but really love is defined by our actions.
1 Corinthians 13:3-8 NIV
1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV
Greek word for bear: steg'-o: to roof over, i.e. (figuratively) to cover with silence (endure patiently) -- (for-)bear, suffer.
Love protects. It bears; it does not bare.
Point 3: We don’t give love the final word.
Trust God today and take the next step to prevent any further regret.
Additional Insights:
“Genuine love does not gossip or listen to gossip. Even when a sin is certain, love tries to correct it with the least possible hurt and harm to the guilty person. Love never protects sin but is anxious to protect the sinner. Fallen human nature has the opposite inclination. There is perverse pleasure in exposing someone’s faults and failures. As already mentioned, that is what makes gossip appealing. The Corinthians cared little for the feelings or welfare of fellow believers. It was every person for himself. Like the Pharisees, they paid little attention to others, except when those others were failing or sinning. Man’s depravity causes him to rejoice in the depravity of others. It is that depraved pleasure that sells magazines and newspapers that cater to exposes, “true confessions,” and the like. It is the same sort of pleasure that makes children tattle on brothers and sisters. Whether to feel self–righteous by exposing another’s sin or to enjoy that sin vicariously, we all are tempted to take a certain kind of pleasure in the sins of others. Love has no part in that. It does not expose or exploit, gloat or condemn. Love protects. It bears; it does not bare." - John Macauthur