GROWING IN CHRIST
How Much Do You Care?
In our introductory lesson to this series we established the importance of growing in Christ. To be pleasing to God we HAVE TO grow. Growing in Christ is more than Him being in us and we in Him. It is developing to the point that we fully appreciate our relationship with Him. But where does this growth start? It starts with our attitude. It starts with our heart. So today, we are going to notice the importance of a proper attitude and note the key characteristic abound which all things will revolve.
I. Is Your Heart Right With God?
a. If we are to be pleasing to God our heart has to be right.
i.
What is the heart?
It is not the physical pump that moves blood through our body, but that is the
analogy Jesus had in mind when He used it. Jesus understood the importance of
the heart to our survival. It is the mechanism through which nutrients are
carried to every part of the body.
ii. But the heart we read of in the Bible is within our eternal spirit – it is the center of our thoughts and motives.
1. Hebrews 4:12 – God’s word is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart
2. Matthew 12:34-35 – Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks…A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things
3. 1 Chronicles 28:9 – David’s advice to Solomon was, “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.”
4. Proverbs 4:23 – Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life
5. Matthew 5:8 – Blessed are the pure in heart
b. How do we purify our hearts?
i. By becoming Christians in the first place - Romans 6:17, “you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered”
ii. Hebrews 10:22 – our hearts sprinkled with a pure conscience and our bodies washed with pure water
II. The Importance of Love
a. Mark 12:30 – the greatest commandment is to love God with… all your heart, will all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength
b. What is love
i. The Biblical understanding of love is confused because of its use in the English language. We have come to equate love with that feeling which causes a tingle in our hearts when we think of someone. It is also used in a number of different ways some of them very loosely – whether we are addressing intimate relations, familial love, friendships or our love of country or even for chocolate, we can see these varied uses. But which one is the proper application when we consider what the Bible says?
ii.
In the Greek language, this confusion of the word is not as prevalent
because they used different words for different types of love. There are at
least four words in the Greek language that we would interpret as love. At
least two of these are found in the New Testament with totally different
meanings.
Phileo which describes “to be friendly to one” (Thayer). Strong defines
the word as, “to be a friend to…i.e. have affection for (denoting personal
attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling). This is a word often described
as brotherly love – the way that we have genuine feelings and care for our
brethren, and interact with one another.
Agape, sometimes referred to as the characteristic word of Christianity.
Thayer – “a) to be full of good will and exhibit the same. b) To have
preference for, wish well to, regard the welfare of…”
A more practical definition that I use, “Caring enough to sacrifice for
what is best”. It is centered around the idea of how much we care
or demonstrate concern for a situation.
Webster defines the word care “3) Attention or heed, caution,
regard,…watchfulness” [see definition b above].
When we think of caring, we think of being concerned about a given situation or
circumstance. I.e. – “I really care about what is going on”. But sometimes you
can care about something and do nothing about it – either by choice or because
there is nothing you can do (empathize). Christian love goes further than that
when it can– We care enough to do what is BEST in a given situation (not just
good, or something better), even to the point of sacrificing for it or if it is
painful and unpleasant.
c.
Love
in every relationship – consider this definition in every relationship we are
involved in.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son – John 3:16 – He cared
enough to sacrifice for what is best
Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for His friends – John
15:13. Jesus cared enough to die for us
We are to love one another as brethren – 1 John 4:7. Do we really care about
our brethren so that we will do whatever is necessary and best for them?
Do we love our neighbors? Romans 13:9; James 2:8, etc. Do we care about their
spiritual condition enough to risk friendship for the sake of their souls
Jesus even said we are to love our enemies – Matthew 5:43-44.
d.
The
importance of love - Everything we do centers around Christian love -
1 Corinthians 13:1-3, this idea of caring – is so important that without it, no
matter what we do is useless
1 John 4:20-21 speaks of loving our brethren
e.
Love
is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Bear in mind the context. Paul has been addressing the subject of spiritual
gifts and his concern over their contentions and jealousies in the matter. He
speaks of the benefits of these gifts in 12:31 and says, “But yet, I show you a
more excellent way” That way is the way of Christian love. It would do us good
to remember this as we deal with one another in all matters. He then proceeds
to describe how such love acts. As we describe these characteristics, we will
also notice how they apply to our definition of love.
i. It suffers long – we patiently endure being mistreated by others even when we are right. One author described it as the opposite of rash anger – in other words he holds his temper (Biblical Illustrator). If want any hope of getting anywhere with others, it is imperative that we be patient in dealing with them. Rashness is an opportunity killer.
ii. Is it kind – a word that means, “to show oneself mild … use kindness” (Thayer) Rather than being hateful or hurtful toward another, we seek a way to be pleasant and considerate. We know what it means to be kind. Few would argue that rudeness is a product of a careless society – it tells others we don’t care how our actions affect them.
iii. Does not envy – it is a strong word that means to be jealous of that which another has. We must never forget that getting to heaven is not a competition. How can we truly care about someone if we despise them for what they have?
iv. Does not parade itself, is not puffed up – the opposite of envy, here is one who has, and he flaunts it in front of others. Again, if you are really concerned about others you are not going to do that which will belittle them in your presence. Consider the example of the poor man entering into the assembly in James 2:1-4
v. Does not behave rudely – one who is refined and acts with discernment. Children (and some adults) are turned on by rude and obnoxious sounds and behaviors that embarrass others. We ought to care about what others think about as we interact with them. Every person we come in contact with has a soul that will stand before God one day – we should not jeopardize an opportunity for ourselves or our brethren by acting in an unseemly manner.
vi. Does not seek its own – it is not selfish. When you look at the definition of love we have described, this characteristic is only common sense. We cannot think of our own interests when dealing with the needs of others – Philippians 2:3.
vii. Is not provoked – this is one who is roused to anger. Perhaps you have heard the expression, “fly off the handle”. Anger will quickly turn off others.
viii.
Thinks no evil – this is one many need to work on. One of the worst
things you can do is to accuse someone without all the facts. By the way, that
is exactly what prejudice is.
We live in a cynical society, where we look for and assume the worst in a
situation. Christians ought to assume the best until they have evidence that
proves otherwise. Again James 2:4 identifies the one who prejudges (based on
appearance) is called “a judge with evil thoughts”. That does NOT describe
Christian love.
How many problems among brethren and prospects could be resolved if we would
just take the time to put all the facts in place before we pass judgment.
While I do not believe that Matthew 7:1 teaches there is never a time to pass
judgment, I do believe this is one circumstance where it does apply.
ix.
Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth – this somewhat goes
along with the previous description. When we love properly we are going to want
what is best and when that prevails we ought to be happy for that. We should
NEVER take joy in the downfall of others.
We ought to frown at sin in any form and we ought to weep when evil prevails
which is far too often in our society
BUT we also are excited with joy when God’s word prevails in any aspect of
life. When one obeys the gospel we rejoice. When one repents of sin in his
life – we rejoice (and think no evil) of Him. This serves as a good example of
how much we care.
x. Bears all things, believes all things, endures all things, hopes all things – each of these could be examined individually – but for times sake we note them together as summarizing that we are Christians want the best and without being gullible we will bear whatever it takes (being mistreated, agony, etc.), believe the best if it is at all possible, endure (whatever we have to endure for that which is best to prevail – you want an example? Think of Jesus suffering fir us) and finally you will hope for the best – in a sense we ought to be the eternal optimist. While things may look bleak right now, we know that in the future things CAN change and often they do.
xi.
NEVER fails – man will fail you and let you down. Sometimes when we work
out our differences, the results don’t fall into neat little compartments and we
are not satisfied with the outcome – but because we love one another (we CARE)
we don’t let it destroy us.
Add to this the fact that while man will disappoint you, God NEVER will let you
down.
f. It is my hope in this that we can see the importance of love and that we understand that the way we show that love is by the way we care. If you don’t care about someone you do not truly love them.
III. Growing in Him in Love
a. What does this have to do with growing in Christ? Everything!
b.
First, as we grow in Christian love, we are going to naturally grow closer to
Jesus.
1 Peter 1:6-9 – Peter speaks of the trials we will endure in Him, a major theme
of this epistle. But in our trials we develop and mature (i.e. – GROW). Vs. 8
– even though we have not seen Him, we love Him.
John said, “We love Him, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) This is
pointing to the fact that as we consider all that He has done for us, we love
Him that much more. This is a process of growth.
1 Corinthians 5:14 – “For the love of Christ compels us….”
c. How do we demonstrate this love?
i. By obedience. Jesus said, “If you love Me Keep My commandment” John 14:15. 1 John 5:3 – The love of God IS to keep His commandments.
ii. By loving our brethren – John 15:12, 13:35 – By this all will know that you are My disciples. As we grow closer to our brethren, we will be growing in Him.
d.
And
this growth will only develop to the degree we really care. It is that simple.
Paul concludes the letter to the Ephesians by saying, “Grace be with all those who love the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:24). He concluded his letter to the Corinthians by saying, “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord come.” (1 Cor. 16:22)
Do you love Jesus? Has your love for Jesus grown? How much do you care? Brethren if our heart is not right we will not grow in Him. Until we begin to care the best we can hope for is mere existence.