Growing Up Into Christ's Love
March 19, 2025 · 1:23:15 · Watch on YouTube ↗
Summary
A visiting brother from Ukraine first shares his own story: how God once opened his sealed mouth to preach when he knew the Bible well but could not string two words together, and how later, at fifty, the Lord told him to write books so His word would keep working after the preacher left. From there he turns to Paul's command in Ephesians 5:2, "Live in love." Every believer already carries God's own love, poured into the heart by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5), yet our daily reactions often show very little of it.
The reason, he explains, is that we are spirit, soul, and body. At the new birth our spirit is born as an infant, but it is placed inside a flesh already shaped by years of selfish habit. So the lazy man stays lazy, the hot-tempered man stays sharp, the calculating man stays self-serving, even after conversion. We are all born egoists - you can see it in every demanding newborn and in every marriage where two people each chase their own happiness.
God matures His love in us not through theory but through hard, practical situations: people who insult us, debtors who never repay. Each time we choose to forgive, cover, and bless instead of striking back, the love of Christ grows up in us. Without that love, the preacher warns from 1 Corinthians 13, even the greatest gifts are nothing - like any number multiplied by zero.
Key Points
- The love of God is already in every believer, poured out by the Holy Spirit at the new birth.
- A born-again spirit is an infant living inside a fully formed, self-centered flesh, so old habits do not vanish overnight.
- By nature we are all egoists, seen in demanding infants and in marriages where each seeks their own happiness.
- Real growth in love comes through practical tests, not through reading or theory.
- Forgiving offenses, covering debts, and blessing in return is how Christ's love matures in us.
- On the cross Jesus modeled this love: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
- Without love, all gifts, knowledge, and sacrifice count as nothing before God.
Devotional
Ask yourself honestly where people still see more of your old self than of Christ. The love you long for is not something you have to manufacture, because the Holy Spirit has already poured it into your heart. But that love only grows when you let it meet a real offense, an unpaid debt, or a person who is hard to love, and you choose to forgive and bless anyway. Stop your usual reaction, pray for strength, and let Christ's love decide your response. Everything you do without it is multiplied by zero, but everything you do with it glorifies His name.
“The love of God is already in your heart - the question is whether you give it room to grow.”
“We never grow in love through theory, only by forgiving the people who actually wound us.”
“Without love, whatever you do is multiplied by zero before God.”
