(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see why)
Focus Question:
What is the sign of love?
Intro:
One of the illustrations I’ve used many times is one I come back to because it seems most of us have had this pair of experiences:
One experience is when someone says “I love you,” but it seems hollow, like they’re a million miles away even though they’re sitting right next to you.
By contrast, another time someone never utters the words, “I love you,” but you feel it. You know it.
And what I’ve just described is a disposition of the heart, and you can tell. The signs are there.
As you’ve heard me describe recently, many New Testament letters are in a form called an epistle. And one of the things that marks most of them in one way or another is that there is a sharing of both right knowledge and right action (and for those of you who like the four dollar theology words, that’s orthodoxy and othopraxy).
NEW TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
Today in our NT reading we wrap up what we started yesterday in Colossians where Paul argued the basis of resisting the legalism and experientialism being taught by false teachers is to be found in focusing on relationship with Christ. Not unsurprisingly, this then has everything to do with how we relate to the local church, relate at home, relate at work.
Along the way you’re going to hear Paul tell you one thing you already know — that the highest of ideals is self-sacrificial agape love, but listen for what immediately follows — What is the sign of love?
Passage: Colossians 3-4
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 43
Words: ~875
THE BOTTOM LINE:
So Paul’s saying that when we love Jesus with this new, Holy Spirit empowered love filled love, what does that look like? In church? In family? At work? Paul touched on all three of those.
Well, right in the middle of a whole bunch of commands that we should take to heart, Paul says this:
14 Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. Col 3:14–15, CSB
So, kinda like the opening illustration we started with, that disposition of the heart shows up in visible signs. Here Paul says “put on love” which is like putting on clothing (and that’s not the only time he uses that analogy in the NT). He uses the word agape, which is that self-giving, self-sacrificial kind of love, and what does he say that it is? Agape love is the bond of unity. It’s the glue between you and the church, you and your family, you and the people at the office. Obviously we can’t control how someone else responds, but that disposition of the heart is seen in building up, not tearing down.
Then he goes on to say, “let the peace of Christ” rule your hearts because why? He called you to it as a Christian — and Christian life isn’t individualistic or solitary. You can’t do “self-giving, self-sacrificial love” by yourself. All Christians everywhere at all times make up the body and bride of Christ, and this is what you’ve been called to.
So whether inside the church or to unbelievers in family or at work, the sign of love in yourself (and others) is Christ’s peace, relational peace, that you (or they) let dwell inside as the ruler of your life. You submit to Jesus as King and Savior, and this bubbles up and over in tangible ways in how you self-givingly, self-sacrificially serve others.
And whether or not the words “I love you” are spoken, we all know what that sign of love looks lke.
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources: