The greatest use of life is
love. The greatest expression of love is
time. The best time to love is now.
- Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life
1 Corinthians 14:1a
Let love be your greatest aim.
Things to think about:
· Those three simple sentences above have really
captured my thoughts since reading them.
Simply and succinctly they sequence the essence of God’s purpose for
your life and mine as it relates to our interactions with one another.
Love
· “Love comes
from God” – 1 John 4:7
· 1 John 3:16
says, “This is how we know what love is, that Christ laid down His life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
· Faith, hope
and love but the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13:13
· Without love,
all of our gifts, works, accomplishments are worthless – 1 Corinthians 13
· God could
have picked any attribute to place the highest value on but He chose love.
o
Why do you think this is so?
o
When is it easy to love?
o
When is it a challenge?
· What inhibits
us from making love our greatest aim?
Time
·
Our title is Love = Time
o Have
you ever noticed that “time saving” innovations just tend to make us busier and
have less time???
o Our
most precious commodity is time. We
can’t make any more of it, can’t buy any more of it, and we can't stockpile any of it.
o How
we choose to invest our time says everything about what we prioritize.
o God
prioritizes relationships above all else and they are the strongest signal to a
watching world that the Good News of Jesus Christ is true.
§ John 17:21 - My prayer for all of them is
that they will be of one heart and mind, just as you and I are, Father—that
just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world
will believe you sent me.
o How
do our jobs, hobbies, outside commitments, etc. divert us from our highest objective
(love?)
§ Who
do you think revels in seeing us fritter away our time on things lower than
loving others?
o Who
in your life would treasure your focused, undivided attention?
§ What less important thing can you give up to give them this gift?
Now
·
We are not guaranteed our next breath.
That is a very sobering reality that if we meditated on should heighten our
sense of urgency to our calling.
o Regret
is a terrible feeling, knowing that we could have done something but failed to
when we had the opportunity.
§ Whenever
we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone. – Galatians 6:10
§ Use
every chance you have for doing good. – Ephesians 5:16
§ Whenever
you possibly can, do good to those who need it. Never tell your neighbor to
wait until tomorrow if you can help them now. – Proverbs 3:27
o How
is God prompting you NOW to invest your life, your time towards loving others?
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