Feb. 14, 2025

Valentine’s Day: Flawed Love

Valentine’s Day: Flawed Love

A discussion about love from a theological perspective

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A discussion about love from a theological perspective

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. Good morning everyone.

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It is Friday, February the fourteenth, twenty twenty five. It

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is currently eleven twenty three am Central Time, and I

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am coming to you live from the Theology Central Studio

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located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now I have to

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stress I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central Studio.

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The name of this podcast is Theology Central because we

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are about to talk about something from a philological perspective

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and a lot of people are not going to like it.

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But we're going to talk about this from a theological perspective.

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We're going to talk about it from a perspective that

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I think conforms to reality, not to maybe our ideal,

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our romanticized idea of something. But we're going to talk

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about it from a brutally honest, realistic, and philological perspective.

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And I doubt it's going to make anyone happy, but

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we have to do it. Now. It's February the fourteenth,

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It's Valentine's Day, right. Love is in the air. Right.

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If you look on some of your music streaming services

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right now, they have all kinds of playlists dedicated to love,

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dedicated to romance. Now they also have a lot of

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playlists dedicated to heartbreak and loneliness and isolation and pain

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and discouragement, because well, Valentine's Day brings in lots of

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different emotions for lots of different people. But it's Valentine's Day,

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that day that we're supposed to celebrate love and romance

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and all of these types of things. And look, you,

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maybe I don't care if it's Valentine's Day. You may disregard,

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you may not care, but just consider this. In twenty

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twenty five, this year, are you ready for this Valentine's Day?

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Spending in the United States of America is going to

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reach a record of twenty seven point five billion dollars.

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Twenty seven point five billion dollars is going to be

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spent on this Valentine's Day. For February the fourteenth, twenty

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twenty five, The average consumer is planning to spend approximately

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one hundred and eighty eight dollars and eighty one cents.

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This marks an increase from twenty five point eight billion

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spent in twenty twenty four. The most popular expenditures will

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include jewelry and evening out, candy, flowers and greeting cards.

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And for many because this Valentine's Day falls on a Friday,

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so you have the weekend. Well it may be a

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romantic weekend away, so there's going to be lots of

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money spent. Now, most of this money spent on Valentine's

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Day is indeed, I think this is important. It is

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directed towards celebrating love. I think that I think we

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can agree with that. To celebrate romance or it's the

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pursuit of love and romance, people will buy gifts like jewelry, flowers, candy,

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and greeting cards to express love and affection to their partners,

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family and friends. Romantic dinners, romantic trips and other experiences

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also account for a significant portion of the spending that's

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celebrating relationships or even seeking new romantic connections. I watch

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it just twenty seven point five billion dollars to celebrate love,

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to experience it, to pursue it, to capture it, to

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re ignite it. It's all going to be happening. Well,

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it's it's already Valentine's Day, so it may have already started.

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It'll be definitely kicking into high gear this evening and

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throughout the weekend. It's Valentine's Day. And don't think the

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church is, you know somehow just like well, that's what

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the world does, and the church doesn't pay any attention

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to it. Oh No, even yesterday our daily bread a devotional.

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It comes in printed form, but there's also the podcast.

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It's about a five to ten minute a devotional. Well,

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they always dropped the next day's devotional the previous day,

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and so I saw the notification, hit play on it

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for you know, about two or three minutes. And guess

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what it was about. It was about love. If you

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look on the sermon's two point oh app and you

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look at the trending hashtags for today, guess what one

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of the trending hashtags is for today. It's on love.

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If you look on all the streaming services music services,

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love playlist are all over the place. I think serious

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exim even I just sent out a notification. Maybe it

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was earlier this morning about the Love Channel and different

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channels dedicated to love. If you look on some of

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the streaming services for movies and television shows, romantic comedies

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are being pushed to the forefront because it's all about love. Now.

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I think that when we start thinking about this, we

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have to think about this, you know, from a maybe

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maybe from slightly a different perspective. But I think we

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should do this. I think this is fair because I

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don't want to go immediately, because I'm going to approach

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this from a way that again a lot. I've already

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tried to make it clear from a philological perspective, from

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a brutally honest perspective, and I know that's going to

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sound it's going to sound very negative, but let's at

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least do this. If we think of human beings, we

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have this ideal of love, We have this concept of

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what it should be, and we have maybe feelings, maybe dreams,

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maybe fantasies of what it should be, what it could be,

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what we want it to be. Right, if you think

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of humanity's ideal of love, I think we can agree

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with this that when it comes to human beings for

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the most part. Now there's always exceptions, but I think

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in general humans, when we think of love, we think

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of emotional connection. Love is typically seen as this deep

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emotional bond that brings happiness, It brings comfort, it brings belonging. Right,

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there has to be this sense of strong emotional connection.

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I think that that's our ideal of what it should be,

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of what it is. I think we can agree that

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at least to some level. Right, Not only is there

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this ideal that our ideal, our our ideal understanding, our

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ideal concept of love involves an emotional connection. I think

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we can agree with them. Another part of our ideal,

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you know, concept of love, would be romantic fulfillment. Especially

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within popular culture, it betrays love is passionate, exhilarating, fulfilling,

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often centered on romance, attraction, and intimacy. I think we

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we can definitely agree with that. Now they're there, we

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can get into I mean, we could really try to

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break this all down, but I think there's no way

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to get around that. At least the ideal of love

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involves emotional connection and romantic fulfillment. I think number three

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mutual support for us as humans, ideal love includes loyalty, trust,

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unwavering support through life's challenges, the idea that hey, someone's

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gonna support me. They're gonna be there, they're gonna they're

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gonna they're gonna support what I'm doing, encouraging it being

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a part of it. I think those I think those

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three things, I think that's accurate. I don't think that's

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being I think that's trying to be fair. That are

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we have this ideal of love that involves emotional connection,

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romantic fulfillment, and mutual support. I think this is another part.

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I think we can agree with this. You can, you

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can tell me if you disagree, but I think we

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can mostly agree with this, that our ideal of love

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involves self lessness and sacrifice. Love is typically in our

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in our minds, seen as this self giving where we

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prioritize another's well being even at our own personal cost.

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Now that's the ideal. It's selfless, it's not selfish, it's selfless,

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and it's sacrifice. And you care more about the other

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person than you care about yourself. This is the ideal

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idea of love. This is what we This is what

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we want it to be. This maybe how it shows

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up and music and movies and poetry and and and

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novels and and this is the way we have this

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kind of almost a romanticized idea of what it should be.

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It involves emotional connection, it involves romantic fulfillment, It involves

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mutual support. It is selfless and sacrificial. Number five. I

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think our ideal concept of love also has this idea

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of unconditional acceptance. I think we often envision love as

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accepting and cherishing someone despot despite their flaws and failures.

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I think that that's fair right that our concept of love,

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our idea of love, is that we we envision that

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love accepts and cherishes someone despite flaws and failures. I

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think number six, we also are ideal concept of love.

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Would it would would would talk about security and stability. See,

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love is seen as a safe haven. It provides emotional

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and relational security that there's a security there, there's a

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stability there, there's a safety there. You can feel safe,

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and by feeling safe, you can feel free. That this

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is our what we want it to be. So our

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humanity's ideal of love is emotional connection, romantic fulfillment, mutual support,

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self lessness and being sacrificial, unconditional acceptance, some sense of

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security and stability. Number seven. Enduring commitment. Enduring commitment the

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ideal love. It lasts through well time, It goes through trials,

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it goes through challenges, it goes through changes, and it

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remains steadfast. It endures at lasts. It doesn't fluctuate, it

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doesn't fall apart, it doesn't it stays. It endures because

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it's love. Right. Love is different than like. Love is

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different than oh you're cool, or that's interesting, or that's

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fun or oh wow, that's exciting. It's something deeper. That's

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the way we understand it to be. We I mean,

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the love the word we know, at least to some level,

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we think that's got to be saved for something. Now,

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sometimes we use it in obviously for everything. I love

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this food, I love this I love this weather. But

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when it comes to people, typically we feel that it's

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got to be guarded a little bit because it means

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something deeper. It's this enduring commitment. How about it also

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involves personal growth and fulfillment. Love is often viewed as

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a source of personal development, bringing out the best in

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each other and providing purpose. So humanity's ideal love is

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emotional connection, romantic fulfillment, mutual support, selflessness and sacrificial unconditional acceptance,

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security and stability, enduring commitment, personal growth, and fulfillment. I

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think that that captures are ideal of love. And you

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can hear that ideal. I mean, just go I mean,

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if you have SERIOUSXM, go listen to the Love channel today,

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whatever music streaming service, go look up love playlist. You're

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gonna hear these ideals expressed over and over and over

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and over and just I mean, obviously the subject has

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captured popular music. If you go back just to nineteen

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fifty to twenty twenty five, you have hundreds and hundreds

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of thousands of songs written to describe one of those

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aspects of love. You have. Think of all the poetry

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that has been written love, love, love, love love. It's

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I mean billions of dollars spent to supposedly celebrate this

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ideal of love. See. I think Valentine's Day is more

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about celebrating the ideal than maybe the reality. So as

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we're sitting there listening, thinking, feeling, hoping, wanting this ideal,

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celebrating it, pursuing it, looking for it, searching it, cherishing it,

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treasuring it, protecting it, well, whatever we are in that

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whole concept, I think we need kind of a reality check. Now.

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Those ideals may reflect our highest aspiration, it may reflect

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our highest desire for this kind of love, but I

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would argue, real life, real life, turn off the hall

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turn off the television, turn off the movies, turn off

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the music, turn put down the novel, look at life.

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In reality, there's typically a grand Canyon chasm, this immense chasm,

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this gap between our ideal and the reality of what

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it is. And I think this is due to human beings, limitations,

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human beings self interest, and human beings in perfection. So

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I'm going to put forth my very very very very

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very very very very very non Valentine's Day hypotheses love. Now,

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you're not gonna hear this in church. You're not gonna

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hear this in chapel service. You're not gonna hear this

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in small group. You're not gonna hear this in Bible study.

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You're not gonna hear this in any other Christian podcast.

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Because I'm about to just say that entire ideal of

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love is completely fraudulent. It is fake. It is a mirage.

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It is a lie. It is you chase it, you

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think you oh, I found this oasis, and you jump

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and boom, it's nothing but well dirt. It's a mirage.

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It's not really there. It's fraudulent. It's fake. Now, I

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love that we have these aspirations. I love that our

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emotions and feelings can maybe even convince us of it there.

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But I think the reality is unless you unless you

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can enter into a new universe, unless you can enter

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into another world, unless there's a doorway there that you

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can open and walk through on the other side of

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the door. For most people, no, no, no, that doesn't exist.

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There's a reality. So here's my hypothesis on human love

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and self interest. Here's my core premise, here's my basic

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way of explaining it. I believe human love is inherently selfish.

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I believe human love is inherently driven by self interest,

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and that human love is driven by self preservation rather

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than self lessness. I believe human love is selfish. It

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is self self interest, focused on self interest. It is

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self It preserves self. It is not self less. It

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is selfish by definition. I think the essence of human

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love is self interest. I think that's what it is.

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It is about the ex of self. It is about

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what you can get. It's selfish, selfish, selfish, selfish, selfish, selfish, selfish,

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and that comes to our love for others, and that

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comes to our love for God. It is self centered,

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self focused, self pursuing what you truly you may say

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you love God, you may say you love someone else,

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you love your self. Now, I told you, I'm looking

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at this from a theological perspective. I know this is

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ruining Valentine's Day for some of you. I know someone

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from the other rooms like, turn that trash off. We

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have Valentine's Day. We're gonna celebrate love. Why are you

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listening to that? Idiot? And I can understand. It destroys

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the what we want it to be. Look, we can

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all want something, we can all pursue something, we can

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all dream of it, we can all think. But at

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some point from at least when we turn on a

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podcast called Theology Central, we have to go okay, okay,

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let's look at it from a philological and a I

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think reality based perspective. I think my core premise is

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that human love is inherently selfish. It is driven by

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self interest and self preservation, and it is selfish. It

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is not self less. That's my core promise. Let's consider

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human love for others. Love is motivated by what we

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can gain from others. You love because what you perceive

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you can obtain. You you love because of what you

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perceive you can gain. You love because of what you

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perceive that you can that you can get all right?

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That that that's I cannot stress this enough. Our love

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at its very core now I know you people are

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going to try to push back on this, but at

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its very core, at its very essence, we love others

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because we perceive what what, what it makes makes us feel,

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what we can obtain, what we can get. You don't

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love that if you perceive there is nothing in return. Right,

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You don't love unless you are feeling something and those

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feelings are. You don't love because you have negative feelings.

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You have love because positive feelings. You don't love because

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you're going to receive something negative in return. It's because

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you perceive you're going to get something positive in return.

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Love is motivated by what we can gain from others, like,

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for example, emotional fulfillment, security, pleasure, validation, companionship, social benefits.

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We love others because we gain emotional fulfillment, security, pleasure, validation, companionship,

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and social benefits. We can't deny that we love in

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order to get So do we really love them or

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do we love what we get from them? Meaning that

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we love ourselves. I'm loving you because of what you provide.

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For me? What do you provide for me? Emotional fulfillment, security, pleasure, validation, companionship, encouragement, partner,

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all those types of things. Even what appears to be

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selfless acts of love often have underlining motives related to

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personal satisfaction, avoidance of loneliness, or the desire well for

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something to receive something in return. Even our selfless acts

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have underlining motives related to personal satisfaction. You want to

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avoid being lonely, or the desire just to get something back.

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You're looking for something, You're looking for something, You're looking

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for something. Now, I really want you to think about this.

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I know this is not the typical Valentine's Day discussion,

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but I just want you to see at the core,

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I want you to see how motivated you are in

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everything you do by your own self interest. I want

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you to consider your interactions, your your actions and how,

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and I want you to get what do you get

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versus what the other gets? Time and time again, when

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we look at there's a typically a lot of times

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there's an imbalance. We're getting far more than we're giving.

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And trust me, we're very concerned about that and balance.

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So my core premise is that human love is inherently selfish,

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driven by self interest and self preservation rather than selflessness.

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That human love and human love for others is motivated

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by what we can gain emotional fulfillment, security, those tough things.

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Even our selfless acts of love have underlining motives of selfishness.

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How about our love for God? I think our love

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for God is tainted by self interest, rooted in the

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pursuit of eternal security, blessings, forgiveness, purpose, comfort, and community.

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Even when we love God, it's tainted by self interest.

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I love God because of what I get from it.

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Here's a here's a million dollar question. Here, here's a

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Here's here's I think the the key question when it

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comes to our love for God. Are you ready here

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here's the key question. I want you to really think

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about this. Would you, as an individual still love God

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if there was no promise of heaven, no promise of

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avoiding hell? Would you still love God? If there's no

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promise of heaven and no promise of avoiding hell, You're

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you're you're gonna love God, but you are still going

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to burn for eternity? Would you still love him? Now?

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We have a hard enough time loving God, just when

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things in our life don't go the way we want

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him to go. Right, It's easy to love God when

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you've got your spouse and you've got companionship, and you've

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got intimacy, and you've got your family, and you've got

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your home, and everything is wonderful, and you've got everything's great,

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and you've got companionship. You're not alone everything, you don't

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have any disease everything. Now wait, just now, that stuff

321
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start being stripped away, peace by peace, People get diseases,

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people start dying, people leave you. You find yourself alone.

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You have no intimacy, you have no you have no pleasure,

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you have no companionship, you have no partner, you have nothing.

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You're just alone. Now you may say, Hey, God, I

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don't know if I love you so much right now,

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because I don't really understand what you're doing. Why, Because

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our love is so much tied into what we receive.

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Would you come on, just be honest, would you love

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God if there was no promise of heaven and no

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promise of avoidance of hell. I think the implication then,

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is that much of our human devotion, much of our

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devotion to God, is driven by what is gained from

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the relationship rather than pure love for him. I will

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say no human has pure love for anyone else other

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than itself, and no human has any pure love for God.

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The only pure love that exists is our love for ourselves.

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We love ourselves now sometimes maybe because we can be

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caught up in some things, we may have some hate

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or loathe for ourselves. But even sometimes that hating and

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loathing ourselves, it's still wrapped up in self focused self interest.

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Me me, me, me, me me. So my hypothesis is,

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my core premise is that human love is inherently selfish,

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is driven by self interest and self preservation rather than

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rather than selflessness. It is selfish. Human love for others,

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I believe is motivated by what we can gain from others,

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like emotional fulfillment, security, pleasure, validation, companionship, partnership, encouragement, et cetera.

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So I could just I can keep adding to the

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list over and over and over. I believe our even

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our selfless acts of love or have underlying motives that

351
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reveal well, not selfless but selfish A human are human,

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uh are our human love for God? We stay it

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that way. The third so number one our court my

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core premise number two are human love for others. Number

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three are human love for God. I believe is again

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and tainted by self interest. Now, what is the theological

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foundation for my hypotheses? What is my theological foundation? Well,

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I believe that my view aligns with the doctrine of

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human depravity, because I believe this doctrine asserts that every

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aspect of human nature, including love, is corrupted by sin.

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I believe, I believe from a thiological perspect if you

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believe in human depravity, you have to agree with my hypothesis.

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I know it may ruin your Valentine's evening. I may

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know it may ruin the rom com you're gonna watch her,

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or your love playlists that you're listening to today, but

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I'm sorry. From a philological perspective, human depravity touches every

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aspect of us, which of course would include love. Our

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love is corrupted, Our love is sick, our love is flawed,

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our love is broken at its very essence. Even the

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highest forms of human love falls short of the Biblical standard.

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That's the key. Even the highest form of human love,

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even the highest and we love to find these examples

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of where humans are doing this, and humans are doing

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that ooh, that's example of love from a biblical standard.

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It falls short because and this makes the doctrine of

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imputed righteousness essential, because human love is insufficient and flawed.

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Our human love is flawed at its very essence. No

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matter what examples you put forth, No matter what examples

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you put forth, I'm sorry they are from a biblical standard.

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It is flawed because a biblical standard of love has

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to be pure, it has to be perfect. Ours is

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inherently flawed. To some love. We may not be able

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to perceive the corruption. We may not be able to

384
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see it, maybe we don't want to see it, but

385
00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:50.359
it's there. So my hypothesis is, my core premise, is

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that human love is inherently selfish. That human love for

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00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:56.960
others selfish, it's motivated by what we can gain. Our

388
00:29:57.000 --> 00:30:00.599
love for God is corrupted and tainted. The philological foundation

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00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:04.079
is human depravity. And I believe then we contrast this

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with God's love. God's love is the only perfect, selfish,

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selfless love as defined by scripture. Human love, by contrast,

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is often transactional, self serving, reinforcing the need for divine

393
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grace and christ imputed righteousness for salvation. God's love is

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the only pure love. Our love is transactional, Our love

395
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is self serving. And I think this reinforces the need

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for divine grace. This reinforces the need for Christ's imputed righteousness.

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Our love is flawed, our love is inherently broken. I

398
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think that my hypothesis. I think that this. I know

399
00:30:53.920 --> 00:30:57.160
it paints as sobering, but I think it's a realistic

400
00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:01.480
picture of human nature. I think my hypothesis highlights the

401
00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:04.680
gap between human love and divine love. I believe my

402
00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:16.319
hypothesis screams at the need for grace. And if I

403
00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:18.359
want to double down on this, and I'll double down

404
00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:20.720
just a little bit, I'll go through this quickly. When

405
00:31:20.759 --> 00:31:25.279
we just consider let's take human love again. Let's consider it.

406
00:31:25.440 --> 00:31:28.839
I think it's self seeking, self serving, it's selfish, it's

407
00:31:28.839 --> 00:31:33.319
not selfless. For example, when we love others, When we

408
00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:35.400
love others, I mention these briefly, but I want to

409
00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:37.880
just double down on this. When we love others, what

410
00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:40.920
are we doing. We're loving others to obtain something, all right,

411
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I mentioned this a minute ago. We love others to

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obtain emotional fulfillment, companionship, affection, a sense of being valid,

413
00:31:48.759 --> 00:31:51.519
it's the idea of being valued, the idea of being wanted.

414
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We are loving someone because we are trying to get

415
00:31:56.440 --> 00:32:00.079
emotional fulfillment. I love you. What do I get it?

416
00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:03.279
I get companionship, I get affection, I get a sense

417
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of being valued. I get a sense of being wanted.

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I get something. I get something. I gotta get something

419
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in this, right, I mean, come on, I mean, you

420
00:32:12.640 --> 00:32:15.559
go to any couple's counseling, any marriage counseling, You're going

421
00:32:15.640 --> 00:32:20.079
to hear almost almost guaranteed, someone is going to say,

422
00:32:20.200 --> 00:32:23.079
I feel like I'm giving and I'm not getting. There's

423
00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:26.400
gonna be some discussion about an end balance. I'm not

424
00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:29.240
getting this. I don't feel supported, I don't feel wanted.

425
00:32:29.279 --> 00:32:31.799
I don't feel desired, I don't feel encouraged, I don't

426
00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:34.680
feel I feel lonely, I feel isolated, I don't feel

427
00:32:34.680 --> 00:32:40.799
provided for because because we approach it from a very

428
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human perspective. And then the council where then talk to

429
00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:45.400
the other why are you not providing this? Why are

430
00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:47.559
you not providing them? And then everyone has to figure

431
00:32:47.559 --> 00:32:49.319
out what they're doing, and then they're gonna try harder,

432
00:32:49.359 --> 00:32:51.240
they're gonna do better. So I will provide for you,

433
00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:54.640
and I'll provide for you because we have to approach it.

434
00:32:54.759 --> 00:32:59.519
We approach you things from a very humanistic perspective. We

435
00:32:59.559 --> 00:33:03.119
love other because we're trying to obtain emotional fulfillment. We're

436
00:33:03.160 --> 00:33:07.359
trying to obtain a companionship. We're trying to obtain some

437
00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:12.119
sense of security and stability, financial support, protection, a sense

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00:33:12.119 --> 00:33:16.960
of belonging in relationships. We are looking for security, We're

439
00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:20.519
looking for stability. Oh come on, no, I know are

440
00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:26.480
we allowed to say this? We love others because we're

441
00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:30.240
trying to obtain pleasure and satisfaction. Okay, come on now,

442
00:33:30.440 --> 00:33:36.440
don't sit there and look at me like that's not true.

443
00:33:36.680 --> 00:33:43.400
We love others because we're trying to obtain physical intimacy.

444
00:33:43.400 --> 00:33:49.119
Come on, you know that to be true. We're trying

445
00:33:49.160 --> 00:33:51.880
to We're trying not only to have this physical intimacy,

446
00:33:52.039 --> 00:33:56.119
We're trying to find an enjoyment of shared experience. We're

447
00:33:56.160 --> 00:33:59.160
trying to find the satisfaction of being. We're trying to

448
00:33:59.200 --> 00:34:08.400
obtain the satis section of being cared for. We love

449
00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:13.679
to obtain, We love to get. Let just think, would

450
00:34:13.719 --> 00:34:18.360
you continue to love if you are receiving no emotional fulfillment,

451
00:34:19.079 --> 00:34:24.800
no companionship, no affection, no sense of being valued, no

452
00:34:24.920 --> 00:34:28.519
sense of being wanted, no sense of being supported, no

453
00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:31.800
sense of being seen, no sense of being heard. I

454
00:34:31.840 --> 00:34:39.480
think you're gonna you're gonna be like what me, myself

455
00:34:39.760 --> 00:34:43.639
and I can do better than this because I'm getting

456
00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:47.719
nothing from this. What if you don't feel any sense

457
00:34:47.719 --> 00:34:52.519
of security, any sense of stability. What if you're receiving

458
00:34:52.639 --> 00:35:01.039
no pleasure, no satisfaction, no none, no enjoyment of shared experience,

459
00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:06.079
no satisfaction, none of that. Come on, Come on, what's

460
00:35:06.119 --> 00:35:09.440
going to happen? How about? Uh? Do we not love

461
00:35:09.559 --> 00:35:14.519
to obtain validation and affirmation? Don't we seek and love

462
00:35:14.599 --> 00:35:18.320
to boost our own self worth through being loved. We

463
00:35:18.360 --> 00:35:19.880
want to feel like we're loved. We want to feel

464
00:35:19.880 --> 00:35:22.480
like we are admired. We want to feel like we

465
00:35:22.519 --> 00:35:24.920
are appreciated. We want to feel like that we are

466
00:35:25.239 --> 00:35:28.320
that somehow in this relationship, I feel the best I feel.

467
00:35:28.480 --> 00:35:32.159
I feel that you get the sense of feeling almost superior,

468
00:35:32.280 --> 00:35:37.119
that it boosts you up, it builds you up. Well,

469
00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:39.239
if you don't feel any validation, if you don't feel

470
00:35:39.280 --> 00:35:42.039
any affirmation, if you don't feel like you feel like

471
00:35:42.559 --> 00:35:47.519
you're less than you're you're not you. Everything begins to

472
00:35:47.559 --> 00:35:55.920
fall apart from a human perspective. We we love in

473
00:35:56.039 --> 00:36:00.960
order to receive similar benefits. Right, We we love in

474
00:36:01.039 --> 00:36:03.840
order to get something back, Like we expect kindness, loyalty,

475
00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:06.400
and support and return for the love we get. We

476
00:36:06.440 --> 00:36:10.079
give love, and we expect that there is some repayment

477
00:36:10.360 --> 00:36:16.760
for that. Someone's going to have to do something similar.

478
00:36:16.840 --> 00:36:19.760
They're like, if I give this much, I expect to

479
00:36:19.800 --> 00:36:24.079
get this. Right. If I'm doing this, I should get

480
00:36:24.199 --> 00:36:30.119
something of similar level back, something somewhere with something close. Right,

481
00:36:30.199 --> 00:36:33.119
And that imbalance is what you almost always hear in

482
00:36:33.159 --> 00:36:38.079
marital counseling. Right. Why do we love because we are?

483
00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:41.000
Are we love others? Why? Because we're seeking to obtain

484
00:36:41.039 --> 00:36:45.199
an avoidance of loneliness. You love because you want to

485
00:36:45.199 --> 00:36:49.400
fill the void of isolation. You seek a relationship because

486
00:36:49.400 --> 00:36:53.599
you want to provide a connection. If you love, and

487
00:36:53.639 --> 00:36:56.159
all you get in return is isolation and loneliness. And

488
00:36:58.159 --> 00:37:02.039
come on now, right now, there's more here I could

489
00:37:02.079 --> 00:37:04.159
go through. I've got a list here of things. The

490
00:37:04.239 --> 00:37:09.440
point is we love others to obtain Now, guess what

491
00:37:10.159 --> 00:37:14.400
we love God to obtain? Why do We love God

492
00:37:15.239 --> 00:37:18.280
because we're trying to obtain We want eternal security, right,

493
00:37:19.599 --> 00:37:22.199
We want the promise of heaven. We want the avoidance

494
00:37:22.239 --> 00:37:26.159
of eternal punishment. Again, would you love God if I'm

495
00:37:26.199 --> 00:37:29.719
sorry you God? Basically, if God responded with you love me,

496
00:37:30.039 --> 00:37:32.320
you still are going to burn in health for eternity?

497
00:37:32.559 --> 00:37:37.079
Do you still love me? I don't know. We love

498
00:37:37.159 --> 00:37:42.079
in order to obtain blessing and provision. We may seek health, prosperity, protection,

499
00:37:42.440 --> 00:37:45.559
or answered prayers through our devotion. Are we doing it

500
00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:48.039
just because we love God and where we want or

501
00:37:48.199 --> 00:37:51.519
are we expecting some level of blessing, some level of protection,

502
00:37:51.840 --> 00:37:55.519
some level of provision. We love in order to obtain

503
00:37:55.559 --> 00:37:58.480
forgiveness and a peace of mind. We want to alleviate

504
00:37:58.519 --> 00:38:01.679
our guilt. We want to find comfort and being absolved

505
00:38:01.760 --> 00:38:04.719
from our sin. We love God because we want to

506
00:38:04.760 --> 00:38:07.400
obtain forgiveness. We want to feel a sense of peace.

507
00:38:08.320 --> 00:38:11.679
We love God because we're seeking to obtain purpose and meaning.

508
00:38:12.119 --> 00:38:15.440
We're deriving a sense of purpose, identity, and significance from

509
00:38:15.480 --> 00:38:20.639
a relationship with God. We love God to obtain because

510
00:38:20.719 --> 00:38:24.920
we want to have our fear reduced. We don't want

511
00:38:24.960 --> 00:38:27.280
any more fear of death, no more fear of suffering,

512
00:38:27.360 --> 00:38:29.960
no more fear of judgment. So we cling to love

513
00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:33.440
for God to alleviate these things, to avoid these things.

514
00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:37.320
I hate to say it, In many cases, people supposedly

515
00:38:37.320 --> 00:38:40.400
love God because it gives them a sense of moral superiority.

516
00:38:40.719 --> 00:38:44.159
We feel righteous, we feel morally superior due to our

517
00:38:44.199 --> 00:38:49.840
religious devotion or perceived spiritual maturity. We love God to

518
00:38:49.880 --> 00:38:59.719
obtain hope, to obtain comfort. I think that we could.

519
00:38:59.760 --> 00:39:03.559
I think that we can be honest here right, that

520
00:39:03.840 --> 00:39:08.719
our noblest expressions, your noblest expression of love for others

521
00:39:08.840 --> 00:39:12.239
and love for God is typically almost always rooted in

522
00:39:12.320 --> 00:39:17.800
self interest, whether consciously or subconsciously. It basically highlights the

523
00:39:17.920 --> 00:39:23.320
contrast between love, our love, human love, and God's perfect

524
00:39:23.360 --> 00:39:37.239
selfless love, emphasizing why grace is essential. Now here then

525
00:39:37.559 --> 00:39:41.960
my hypotheses here. I know it ruins Valentine's Day. I

526
00:39:41.960 --> 00:39:45.639
know it destroys all of your ideas of love. And

527
00:39:45.719 --> 00:39:48.719
I understand it. Right, I'm not saying that this is like, oh,

528
00:39:48.800 --> 00:39:52.000
I welcome this and this, I understand this is a struggle,

529
00:39:52.159 --> 00:39:57.199
But come on, just be honest. How selfish are you?

530
00:39:56.559 --> 00:39:59.920
You show up to get and you get what you

531
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:02.320
we want, and then we go do what we want

532
00:40:02.320 --> 00:40:05.320
to do. It's about us us us us us us

533
00:40:05.440 --> 00:40:10.559
us us us. We like being in a situation where

534
00:40:10.559 --> 00:40:13.360
we're gonna get We like being in a situation where

535
00:40:13.360 --> 00:40:18.840
we have whatever we want. We know, we like that. Now,

536
00:40:18.880 --> 00:40:24.320
I believe this reality should have a profound hermeneutical impact

537
00:40:24.760 --> 00:40:27.039
on you as a Christian. This is really what I

538
00:40:27.079 --> 00:40:31.480
want to get to. I believe if we understand how

539
00:40:31.559 --> 00:40:36.079
flawed our love is, our love for God is flawed,

540
00:40:36.519 --> 00:40:41.079
our love for others is flawed. Right now, I'm gonna

541
00:40:41.079 --> 00:40:42.639
I'm gonna look here. I didn't even think about this,

542
00:40:42.679 --> 00:40:44.360
but I think this is the perfect time to do this.

543
00:40:49.519 --> 00:40:57.599
I believe it's in the book of Matthew. I believe

544
00:40:57.960 --> 00:41:05.039
here here it is all right here it is Matthew,

545
00:41:05.280 --> 00:41:11.880
Chapter twenty two, Matthew Chapter twenty two, Verse thirty four.

546
00:41:11.920 --> 00:41:14.119
But when the Pharisees heard that he had put the

547
00:41:14.159 --> 00:41:18.199
Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. That one of them,

548
00:41:18.199 --> 00:41:21.440
which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him

549
00:41:21.480 --> 00:41:25.199
and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law.

550
00:41:25.719 --> 00:41:27.760
Jesus said unto him, thou shall love the Lord that God,

551
00:41:27.760 --> 00:41:29.719
with all your heart, with all your soul, with all

552
00:41:29.760 --> 00:41:32.119
your mind. This is the first and great commandment. The

553
00:41:32.159 --> 00:41:35.360
second is like unto it, Thou shall love thy neighbor

554
00:41:35.400 --> 00:41:40.559
as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law

555
00:41:41.199 --> 00:41:44.840
and the prophets. All of the law, all of the

556
00:41:44.880 --> 00:41:50.039
prophets is basically summarized. It's everything can be reduced down

557
00:41:50.119 --> 00:41:55.599
to love God, love others. Love God, love others. Well

558
00:41:55.679 --> 00:42:00.159
if I, if my hypothesis is correct that are love

559
00:42:00.280 --> 00:42:04.559
is inherently flawed at its very core, then gets where

560
00:42:04.599 --> 00:42:07.480
this leaves you. You will never love God because your

561
00:42:07.519 --> 00:42:11.400
love is flawed, saved or unsaved. You will never love

562
00:42:11.480 --> 00:42:14.719
others because your love is inherently flawed. And when I

563
00:42:14.719 --> 00:42:16.719
say you will never love God or never love others,

564
00:42:16.840 --> 00:42:19.440
you're never going to love them with the perfect kind

565
00:42:19.480 --> 00:42:22.920
of love because your love is inherently flawed. You love

566
00:42:23.159 --> 00:42:26.199
your self, You love yourself more than God. You love

567
00:42:26.239 --> 00:42:29.480
yourself more than others, you love God. You love others

568
00:42:30.199 --> 00:42:33.519
for the benefit that you obtain for yourself. Now, the

569
00:42:33.559 --> 00:42:38.480
minute you realize that, then your entire hermeneutic changes, because

570
00:42:38.519 --> 00:42:41.239
now everywhere in the Bible where it talks about love

571
00:42:41.480 --> 00:42:44.239
tells you to love or expresses love. You know what

572
00:42:44.280 --> 00:42:47.519
you see there, You then see it is a law

573
00:42:47.960 --> 00:42:52.000
in which you cannot obtain. It is a law which

574
00:42:52.039 --> 00:42:55.079
you cannot keep. It is a law that no matter

575
00:42:55.119 --> 00:42:58.280
how hard you pursue, you will never come close to.

576
00:42:58.840 --> 00:43:02.000
So though all all everything the Bible has to say

577
00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:05.800
about love is there to simply condemn you and to

578
00:43:05.880 --> 00:43:08.920
reveal to you your inability, and then it can drive

579
00:43:09.039 --> 00:43:13.840
you only to what true love is. God is love.

580
00:43:14.119 --> 00:43:16.760
For God so loved the world that he gave his

581
00:43:16.880 --> 00:43:22.079
only begotten son, It is God. It is Christ. God

582
00:43:22.559 --> 00:43:27.199
loves Christ is God's love in action. And if you

583
00:43:27.239 --> 00:43:31.360
want to find love, it's in Christ. By pursuing Christ,

584
00:43:31.840 --> 00:43:35.199
by coming to Christ and faith, his perfect love is

585
00:43:35.239 --> 00:43:39.079
imputed to my account. So then I can say, in Christ,

586
00:43:39.159 --> 00:43:41.599
I love God with all my heart, mind, body, and soul.

587
00:43:41.639 --> 00:43:44.280
I love my neighbors myself. But in practice I never

588
00:43:44.360 --> 00:43:47.800
will do any of things because I will never accomplish it,

589
00:43:47.840 --> 00:43:57.960
because I am flawed inherently internally. And I believe this

590
00:43:58.000 --> 00:44:02.119
perspective offers a deep law and gospel centered approach to scripture.

591
00:44:02.360 --> 00:44:05.800
If human love is inherently self centered, then every command

592
00:44:05.920 --> 00:44:09.920
to love becomes a mirror reflecting our inability to meet

593
00:44:09.920 --> 00:44:13.079
God's standard. I believe this aligns with the idea that

594
00:44:13.159 --> 00:44:16.400
law exposes our sin. It shows us our need for

595
00:44:16.519 --> 00:44:20.519
Christ's perfect love and righteousness. I believe this changes your

596
00:44:21.079 --> 00:44:27.239
entire reading of scripture. You can go through everything. It's

597
00:44:27.360 --> 00:44:29.360
Valentine's Day. I don't know what you're doing, but you

598
00:44:29.480 --> 00:44:34.480
can use this weekend. Look up scripture after scripture on love, love, love, love, love, love, love,

599
00:44:34.559 --> 00:44:36.840
and when you see it, don't go. I'm gonna try.

600
00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:39.880
I'm gonna try. Go. I can't do this. I never

601
00:44:39.960 --> 00:44:44.119
will do this, but Christ did because God is love.

602
00:44:45.199 --> 00:44:49.000
Christ is God's love in action, and by my faith

603
00:44:49.039 --> 00:44:53.079
in him, his perfect love is imputed to my account.

604
00:44:53.280 --> 00:44:56.000
So then I can stand in perfect love, not because

605
00:44:56.039 --> 00:44:59.360
I do, but because it's been imputed to my account.

606
00:45:03.280 --> 00:45:07.000
So my hypothesis. My hypothesis then would suggest that human

607
00:45:07.039 --> 00:45:10.519
love is inherently selfish, and that the biblical commands to

608
00:45:10.599 --> 00:45:17.400
love function as law that reveal our shortcomings. They direct

609
00:45:17.480 --> 00:45:24.760
us to Christ's perfect love. So let's let's look, let's

610
00:45:24.800 --> 00:45:28.199
just maybe we can finish this in one in one episode.

611
00:45:28.239 --> 00:45:30.159
I was going to do this in multiple parts. But

612
00:45:30.239 --> 00:45:32.280
that's okay. This is a lot of important stuff. But

613
00:45:32.360 --> 00:45:36.000
let's just consider some different scriptures about love. Right, So

614
00:45:36.039 --> 00:45:40.519
let's consider the nature and supremacy of love. Now we

615
00:45:41.039 --> 00:45:44.119
know which chapter we're going to go to, right One

616
00:45:44.199 --> 00:45:47.880
Corinthians thirteen, and this the pinnacle. This is what everyone

617
00:45:49.480 --> 00:45:56.480
everyone talks about. I remember there was a wedding someone

618
00:45:56.559 --> 00:46:01.280
in my church. Well, I mean someone who used to

619
00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:05.000
be in my church, okay, but I remember reading First

620
00:46:05.039 --> 00:46:08.639
Corinthians thirteen at that wedding. Now I wish I would

621
00:46:08.639 --> 00:46:10.679
have went back and go, well, I'm going to read

622
00:46:10.719 --> 00:46:14.599
this today as these two people stand before all of

623
00:46:14.679 --> 00:46:17.199
us and God to get married, and I'm going to

624
00:46:17.239 --> 00:46:20.639
read First Corinthians thirteen. And here's what I want to demonstrate.

625
00:46:21.119 --> 00:46:24.440
You guys are never going to do this. This passage

626
00:46:24.480 --> 00:46:27.320
condemns you to the eighteenth level of hell because you

627
00:46:27.519 --> 00:46:31.119
will never accomplish this. So don't drive off thinking, oh,

628
00:46:31.199 --> 00:46:33.679
I'm going to love you like First Corinthians thirteen, because

629
00:46:33.679 --> 00:46:37.079
you're not. You're gonna fail. She's gonna fail, he's gonna fail.

630
00:46:37.239 --> 00:46:39.880
Everyone here is going to fail. We can't do this.

631
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:43.199
First Corinthians thirteen is not for us to strive to do.

632
00:46:43.519 --> 00:46:45.760
It's to condemn us so that we know we can't,

633
00:46:45.880 --> 00:46:49.079
and then it drives us only two, the only one

634
00:46:49.159 --> 00:46:53.239
who can. But let's look at it. First Corinthians thirteen,

635
00:46:56.280 --> 00:46:59.559
The nature and supremacy of love. Well, First Corinthians thirteen,

636
00:46:59.559 --> 00:47:01.639
I think gives the nature of supremacy of love. Let's

637
00:47:01.679 --> 00:47:04.320
just consider, though I speak with the tongues of men

638
00:47:04.480 --> 00:47:07.599
and of angels and have not charity, I become as

639
00:47:07.639 --> 00:47:11.480
a sounding brass or a tinkling symbol. Well, ladies and gentlemen,

640
00:47:11.639 --> 00:47:14.360
you are a sounding brass. You are a tinkling symbol.

641
00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:17.360
And though I have the gifts of prophecy and understanding

642
00:47:17.400 --> 00:47:20.159
all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all

643
00:47:20.199 --> 00:47:22.719
faith so that can move mountains, and have not charity,

644
00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:26.480
I am nothing. You are nothing. We are nothing more

645
00:47:26.880 --> 00:47:32.519
than sounding brass and tinkling symbols. We make a lot

646
00:47:32.519 --> 00:47:35.199
of noise, we say a lot of things. We may

647
00:47:35.440 --> 00:47:37.800
do a lot of religious things. We may say a

648
00:47:37.800 --> 00:47:40.400
lot of religious things, we may accomplish a lot of

649
00:47:40.440 --> 00:47:44.599
religious actions. But ladies and gentlemen, we are nothing. We

650
00:47:44.679 --> 00:47:54.599
are noise making nothings because we don't have true love

651
00:47:57.559 --> 00:48:00.599
and then it goes on to say, then, and though

652
00:48:00.639 --> 00:48:02.599
I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and

653
00:48:02.639 --> 00:48:04.719
though I give my body to be burned and have

654
00:48:04.800 --> 00:48:07.760
not charity, it profited me nothing. Now, please note this

655
00:48:07.960 --> 00:48:10.800
indicates that you could bestow all your goods to feed

656
00:48:10.800 --> 00:48:13.199
the poor. You could give your body to be burned

657
00:48:13.480 --> 00:48:16.679
and yet not have charity. It's possible to do those

658
00:48:16.719 --> 00:48:19.360
things without love. And guess what, we never do those

659
00:48:19.400 --> 00:48:24.400
things with true love. Our love is always flawed. One

660
00:48:24.440 --> 00:48:27.159
Corinthians thirteen is that this chapter is often referred to

661
00:48:27.360 --> 00:48:30.960
as the Love Chapter. It supposedly provides a profound description

662
00:48:31.079 --> 00:48:35.000
of love's characteristics and its pre eminence over every other

663
00:48:35.199 --> 00:48:38.679
virtue and gift. For example, as we just read, if

664
00:48:38.719 --> 00:48:40.719
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels

665
00:48:40.719 --> 00:48:43.679
but have not love, I'm a noisy gong, or a

666
00:48:43.719 --> 00:48:48.000
clinging symbol, as one translation puts it. He goes on

667
00:48:48.079 --> 00:48:50.360
and we read things like love is patient and kind.

668
00:48:50.639 --> 00:48:53.440
Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant

669
00:48:53.599 --> 00:48:56.239
or rude. It does not insist on its own way.

670
00:48:56.440 --> 00:48:59.960
It's not irritable, it's not resentful. It does not rejoin

671
00:49:00.159 --> 00:49:03.639
said wrongdoing. But it rejoices with the truth we see.

672
00:49:03.840 --> 00:49:06.679
So now faith, hope, and love abide. But the three,

673
00:49:07.239 --> 00:49:11.519
these three, but the greatest of these is love. This

674
00:49:11.599 --> 00:49:15.000
passage emphasizes that without love, even the most impressive spiritual

675
00:49:15.039 --> 00:49:19.599
gifts are meaningless, highlighting love's essential and selfless nature. Love

676
00:49:19.719 --> 00:49:22.960
is the supreme thing, and we don't have the supreme

677
00:49:23.079 --> 00:49:27.519
thing because we don't have love, so we fall short.

678
00:49:27.760 --> 00:49:30.320
This passage is to say, this is what it is,

679
00:49:30.440 --> 00:49:33.039
and this is what we end up becoming nothing, just

680
00:49:33.079 --> 00:49:35.920
making noise because we don't have this kind of love.

681
00:49:36.039 --> 00:49:44.079
We are to see it as law, condemning us when

682
00:49:44.119 --> 00:49:47.199
we consider it. So the Bible in one Corinthians thirteen

683
00:49:47.280 --> 00:49:49.840
speaks of the nature and supremacy of love right, and

684
00:49:49.880 --> 00:49:52.679
we could go through all of all of those characteristics.

685
00:49:52.840 --> 00:49:56.960
Love suffereth long and is kind, love envieth, not love vaunted,

686
00:49:57.119 --> 00:49:59.639
not itself. It's basically when you start reading that, you

687
00:49:59.679 --> 00:50:03.159
sh start feeling like you're standing, you know, on the mountain,

688
00:50:03.280 --> 00:50:05.760
and God is giving his law and saying do this,

689
00:50:05.920 --> 00:50:08.039
do this, do this, and you're like, I can't, I can't,

690
00:50:08.159 --> 00:50:10.679
I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't

691
00:50:10.760 --> 00:50:19.639
because you'll never do any of those things perfectly. But

692
00:50:19.840 --> 00:50:22.760
if we go through scripture. If we go through scripture here,

693
00:50:22.920 --> 00:50:24.800
I got to go find all the scriptures I have Here.

694
00:50:26.119 --> 00:50:31.840
We also see that love is the fulfillment of the law.

695
00:50:32.400 --> 00:50:36.519
For example, Roman's thirteen eight, oh, no one anything except

696
00:50:36.559 --> 00:50:39.559
to love each other, for the one who loves another

697
00:50:39.920 --> 00:50:42.800
has fulfilled the law. See, if you can love someone else,

698
00:50:43.000 --> 00:50:45.119
you can fulfill the law. Well, do you believe you

699
00:50:45.159 --> 00:50:49.480
can fulfill the law? I don't believe you can fulfill

700
00:50:49.559 --> 00:50:51.960
the law, meaning you can never going to love anyone,

701
00:50:52.360 --> 00:50:56.360
and that the logical conclusion. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna

702
00:50:56.360 --> 00:50:59.000
look at this text from a different translation, go to

703
00:50:59.079 --> 00:51:05.159
Romans thirteen, Oh, no man anything but to love one another,

704
00:51:05.239 --> 00:51:07.840
for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Do

705
00:51:07.920 --> 00:51:10.519
you believe you can fulfill the law? Do you believe

706
00:51:10.519 --> 00:51:12.760
you can fulfill the law. If you can fulfill the law,

707
00:51:12.800 --> 00:51:15.119
then you don't need Christ and his fulfillment of the law.

708
00:51:15.320 --> 00:51:17.760
You can't fulfill the law Christ did. How did Christ

709
00:51:17.760 --> 00:51:22.519
fulfill the law? Because he loved perfectly and he obeyed

710
00:51:22.519 --> 00:51:25.840
it perfectly. Okay, we can go beyond just that. But

711
00:51:26.199 --> 00:51:28.480
I'm just saying we can't fail. I wish I could

712
00:51:28.480 --> 00:51:30.960
fulfill the law because I could love others, But my

713
00:51:31.079 --> 00:51:34.159
love for others is flawed. Therefore I never truly fulfill

714
00:51:34.239 --> 00:51:36.159
the law. The only way I can fulfill the law

715
00:51:36.280 --> 00:51:41.039
is in Christ Galatians five fourteen. For the whole law

716
00:51:41.119 --> 00:51:43.360
is fulfilled in one word, you shall love your neighbor

717
00:51:43.400 --> 00:51:46.559
as yourself Galatians five fourteen. Well, the whole law, the

718
00:51:46.599 --> 00:51:49.599
whole law is fulfilled and one word. I'm sorry. Then

719
00:51:49.639 --> 00:51:51.199
it's never going to be fulfilled, because I'm never going

720
00:51:51.280 --> 00:51:54.639
to love my neighbor as myself. These verses underscore that

721
00:51:54.719 --> 00:51:59.880
genuine love encapsulates the essence of God's commandments, positioning love

722
00:52:00.159 --> 00:52:03.440
as the ultimate fulfillment of the law. Love is the

723
00:52:03.519 --> 00:52:06.639
ultimate fulfillment of the law. I will ultimately never fulfill

724
00:52:06.679 --> 00:52:11.239
the law. Logically, that means I never truly love. That's

725
00:52:11.320 --> 00:52:22.119
my whole hypothesis, all right, So what about the source

726
00:52:22.159 --> 00:52:24.679
of love? Well, first John four seven, be love. Let

727
00:52:24.760 --> 00:52:27.519
us love one another, for love is from God. Whoever

728
00:52:27.599 --> 00:52:30.800
loves has been born of God and knows God. We

729
00:52:30.880 --> 00:52:34.320
love because He first loved us. This passage indicates that

730
00:52:34.800 --> 00:52:38.519
that love originates from God. And our capacity to love

731
00:52:38.719 --> 00:52:43.840
is a reflection of His love for us. Now, some

732
00:52:43.880 --> 00:52:45.960
people will say, well, if if we come to God,

733
00:52:46.000 --> 00:52:49.199
then we can love. We're not going to love perfectly.

734
00:52:49.480 --> 00:52:52.800
Whatever love you think you have, it still inherently flawed.

735
00:52:52.960 --> 00:52:55.480
It never will be perfect, it will never be right.

736
00:52:56.000 --> 00:53:04.320
That's why you unied Christ. We have the greatest commandments.

737
00:53:04.360 --> 00:53:05.920
You shall love the Lord that God with all your heart,

738
00:53:05.920 --> 00:53:07.400
with all your soul, with all your mind. We have

739
00:53:07.440 --> 00:53:09.880
Matthew twenty two thirty seven through thirty nine, which we've read.

740
00:53:10.400 --> 00:53:13.519
Jesus identifies the love for God and neighbor as the

741
00:53:13.559 --> 00:53:18.159
foundation of all divine instruction, emphasizing the paramount importance. We

742
00:53:18.239 --> 00:53:20.559
are told to love our enemies, and Matthew five p.

743
00:53:20.679 --> 00:53:25.360
Forty four. We are challenged to extend our love beyond

744
00:53:25.480 --> 00:53:31.440
just family, just friends, just you know, romance. We have

745
00:53:31.519 --> 00:53:38.679
to love even our very enemy. We are told that love.

746
00:53:38.760 --> 00:53:41.480
By this all people will know that you are my disciples.

747
00:53:41.519 --> 00:53:45.000
If you have love one for another, we have this

748
00:53:45.079 --> 00:53:47.559
idea of sacrificial love. Greater love has no one than this,

749
00:53:47.639 --> 00:53:51.039
that someone laid down his life for his friends. We

750
00:53:51.079 --> 00:53:54.719
have the idea that above all, keep loving one another. Earnestly,

751
00:53:54.840 --> 00:54:00.400
since love covers a multitude of sins, going through all

752
00:54:00.440 --> 00:54:02.000
the different things, I'm just going through a number of

753
00:54:02.039 --> 00:54:06.639
scriptures about love. So I think we can say scripture

754
00:54:07.039 --> 00:54:12.039
on a pretty consistent basis, would describe love as self less,

755
00:54:12.239 --> 00:54:16.760
It would describe love as being sacrificial, it would demonstrate

756
00:54:16.840 --> 00:54:23.519
love as being central to the Christian life. But this

757
00:54:23.679 --> 00:54:29.719
is a high standard. I think the Bible, including one

758
00:54:29.800 --> 00:54:34.000
Corinthians thirteen, highlights the ideal of love that believers are

759
00:54:34.039 --> 00:54:39.920
called to embody and guess what that call is law.

760
00:54:40.360 --> 00:54:43.840
It's telling us what it should be, what it looks like,

761
00:54:44.199 --> 00:54:46.480
so that we can then be confronted with what we

762
00:54:46.559 --> 00:54:49.320
do not possess, what we do not have, and what

763
00:54:49.360 --> 00:54:55.880
we do not give. So I believe my hypothesis then

764
00:54:56.000 --> 00:55:01.880
comes along and demonstrates that at law when it comes

765
00:55:01.920 --> 00:55:06.199
to law, reveals human inadequacy, driving individuals towards reliance on

766
00:55:06.239 --> 00:55:10.920
divine grace. The commands to love when viewed as law,

767
00:55:11.400 --> 00:55:17.920
they expose our self centered, self centered tendencies, are that

768
00:55:18.880 --> 00:55:21.000
at least state it this way. I believe when we

769
00:55:21.039 --> 00:55:24.079
see all the all the descriptions, all the discussion about

770
00:55:24.079 --> 00:55:30.320
love in the Bible, as law. Then it exposes our

771
00:55:30.519 --> 00:55:38.280
self centered tendencies towards towards selfishness. It's that it demonstrates

772
00:55:38.280 --> 00:55:40.719
how self centered we are, that our tendencies is to

773
00:55:41.079 --> 00:55:43.760
only love in order to get that. Everything about it

774
00:55:43.800 --> 00:55:49.440
is that that's we are self centered, and that ultimately

775
00:55:49.639 --> 00:55:53.960
this underscores the necessity of Christ's redemptive love. And I

776
00:55:54.039 --> 00:55:58.840
believe that my theological perspective then aligns perfectly with reality.

777
00:55:59.280 --> 00:56:02.880
If you observe, if you just watch humans, watch yourself,

778
00:56:03.719 --> 00:56:09.000
observation of human behavior, observation of your own motives, you

779
00:56:09.039 --> 00:56:12.719
know what it reveals over and over, over and over

780
00:56:12.760 --> 00:56:18.079
and over that your selfishness taints even your well intentioned

781
00:56:18.199 --> 00:56:25.360
acts of love. I believe reality supports my theory that

782
00:56:25.480 --> 00:56:28.920
humans struggle to achieve the selfless love described in scripture.

783
00:56:29.199 --> 00:56:34.719
And this emphasizes the need for transformation through Christ. Or

784
00:56:36.119 --> 00:56:38.480
that's how one source put it. I don't I don't

785
00:56:38.480 --> 00:56:43.280
even like that way of describing it. It emphasizes our

786
00:56:43.360 --> 00:56:49.440
need to be transformed positionally, it emphasizes my need for

787
00:56:49.519 --> 00:56:53.480
imputed righteousness because I'm never going to be transformed, transformed

788
00:56:53.480 --> 00:56:56.239
to love perfectly. If you think when you become a Christian.

789
00:56:56.280 --> 00:56:59.159
You now can love perfectly? Well, then Christian should love perfectly?

790
00:56:59.320 --> 00:57:01.119
How how how long have you been in the church?

791
00:57:02.960 --> 00:57:04.760
How long have you been around other Christians?

792
00:57:05.480 --> 00:57:05.639
Oh?

793
00:57:05.639 --> 00:57:10.360
Come on? Have you seen the selfishness that Christians will

794
00:57:10.400 --> 00:57:15.280
have in supposedly loving people. They'll stab you in the back,

795
00:57:15.760 --> 00:57:21.159
They'll lie, they'll deceive, they will be selfish. Come on,

796
00:57:21.440 --> 00:57:24.239
the church is filled with that. Everyone knows that. You

797
00:57:24.280 --> 00:57:33.119
know why, because we are inherently flawed. Now, I have

798
00:57:33.199 --> 00:57:34.880
a lot more here. I have a lot more here.

799
00:57:35.440 --> 00:57:37.360
All right. I was trying to skip around because I

800
00:57:37.360 --> 00:57:39.000
was going to try to finish this, but I literally

801
00:57:39.000 --> 00:57:42.639
have another probably four or five pages here because what

802
00:57:42.679 --> 00:57:44.679
I wanted to do was I wanted to break down

803
00:57:44.760 --> 00:57:48.239
First Corinthians thirteen, and I wanted to show how we

804
00:57:48.280 --> 00:57:51.360
perpetually fall short of First Corinthians thirteen. And then I

805
00:57:51.400 --> 00:57:54.400
want to show you First Corinthians thirteen and how it

806
00:57:54.559 --> 00:57:59.199
actually reflects God's attributes and Christ's actions when you read

807
00:57:59.239 --> 00:58:02.639
first we read First Corinthians thirteen. How is it always preached?

808
00:58:02.719 --> 00:58:04.840
All right, we're gonna talk about love. Guys. Are you

809
00:58:04.880 --> 00:58:07.239
doing this? Women? Are you doing this? Children? Are you

810
00:58:07.280 --> 00:58:09.639
doing this? You fall short? You fall short, you fall short,

811
00:58:09.679 --> 00:58:11.519
You fall short, you fall short. Now what we need

812
00:58:11.559 --> 00:58:13.840
to do today is come to the altar, confess it,

813
00:58:13.920 --> 00:58:16.320
and we all need to leave here trying to do

814
00:58:16.400 --> 00:58:19.000
it better. And I know because I've preached that same

815
00:58:19.079 --> 00:58:21.519
kind of sermon on First Corinthians thirteen. One of the

816
00:58:21.519 --> 00:58:24.119
sermons where I had the most people ever come to

817
00:58:24.199 --> 00:58:26.920
the altar was when I was younger, and I preached

818
00:58:26.920 --> 00:58:30.159
on First Corinthians thirteen and how the church doesn't actually

819
00:58:30.159 --> 00:58:32.920
demonstrate this kind of love. And while everybody was convicted,

820
00:58:33.119 --> 00:58:36.079
I was convicted. Everyone was crying. It was an emotional

821
00:58:36.159 --> 00:58:38.719
It wasn't a powerful service. And then everyone got up

822
00:58:38.800 --> 00:58:40.840
and you know what we did. We continue to do

823
00:58:40.880 --> 00:58:43.239
the same thing we always do. It didn't change a

824
00:58:43.280 --> 00:58:46.639
stinking thing, because you know why, we are inherently flawed.

825
00:58:46.800 --> 00:58:49.719
So guess what. I preached a law based message that

826
00:58:49.800 --> 00:58:52.159
convicted people. It got a lot of people coming to

827
00:58:52.239 --> 00:58:54.920
the altar. I felt like I'd preached really good. It

828
00:58:54.960 --> 00:58:57.800
was a great sermon. I feel Oh God moved im.

829
00:58:57.800 --> 00:58:59.840
Patted myself on the back. And you know what, I

830
00:59:00.079 --> 00:59:03.039
didn't change. They didn't change. No one changed, because guess

831
00:59:03.039 --> 00:59:05.960
why the point is I should have preached One Corinthians

832
00:59:05.960 --> 00:59:09.280
thirteen and said we all fall short. But First Corinthians

833
00:59:09.280 --> 00:59:12.440
thirteen describes the attributes of God, and it describes the

834
00:59:12.480 --> 00:59:14.760
actions of Christ. And if you see it that way,

835
00:59:14.960 --> 00:59:17.840
then you will say, I can't do it. Christ did this.

836
00:59:18.119 --> 00:59:20.920
Put my faith in him and his obedience to First

837
00:59:20.960 --> 00:59:23.840
Corinthians thirteen is imputed to my account. Then I can

838
00:59:23.840 --> 00:59:27.719
stand totally transformed in my position, knowing I will never

839
00:59:27.760 --> 00:59:37.079
be truly transformed in my practice until glorification. Right, So

840
00:59:37.159 --> 00:59:39.239
we can just go through First Corinthians thirteen. Just so

841
00:59:39.440 --> 00:59:41.320
I'm in Romans thirteen. So that's not going to help

842
00:59:41.400 --> 00:59:48.000
us very much. First Corinthians thirteen, and you can see

843
00:59:48.000 --> 00:59:56.760
this charity suffrith law, love suffereth long. Now, if we go,

844
00:59:57.039 --> 01:00:05.119
if we do this really quick, if I just I'm

845
01:00:05.119 --> 01:00:06.719
gonna break it down this way, I'm gonna break it

846
01:00:06.800 --> 01:00:09.199
down this way. I was, I'm just gonna go to

847
01:00:09.239 --> 01:00:11.800
my nose, I was gonna pull up, I was gonna

848
01:00:12.400 --> 01:00:14.039
I'm just gonna go through this quickly so that you

849
01:00:14.079 --> 01:00:17.880
get the basic idea. Right. So, if we look at

850
01:00:17.880 --> 01:00:20.599
First Corinthians thirteen one through three, we have the necessity

851
01:00:20.599 --> 01:00:23.559
of love without love, even the most impressive spiritual gifts

852
01:00:23.559 --> 01:00:26.320
and self sacrificial acts are meaningless, meaning that we can

853
01:00:26.360 --> 01:00:32.639
do a lot of those things without love. Love is essential. Eloquence, knowledge, faith, generosity,

854
01:00:32.679 --> 01:00:36.280
and martyrdom, all of those are all lose their value

855
01:00:36.280 --> 01:00:38.880
if not driven by love. Meaning we can actually do

856
01:00:38.960 --> 01:00:41.920
those things without love, but we need love. And then

857
01:00:41.960 --> 01:00:45.000
if we look at the attributes of love, we'll go patient.

858
01:00:45.679 --> 01:00:48.440
We'll just go Love is patient. Well, this means we

859
01:00:48.599 --> 01:00:52.079
endure wrong and we delay retaliation. Are we? How patient

860
01:00:52.079 --> 01:00:55.519
are we? How long does our patient last? How long

861
01:00:55.599 --> 01:01:00.800
does our patience last? Kind? We act with goodness and care.

862
01:01:01.159 --> 01:01:04.840
We're not envious. We do not resent other success or blessings,

863
01:01:05.599 --> 01:01:09.440
not boastful, arrogant. We have no pride or self centeredness.

864
01:01:09.840 --> 01:01:13.840
We're not rude. We respect others, not self seeking. We

865
01:01:13.880 --> 01:01:19.039
prioritize others' needs above our very own. We're not irritable.

866
01:01:19.199 --> 01:01:22.280
We're not resentful. We do not rejoice and wrong. We

867
01:01:22.800 --> 01:01:25.719
rejoice with the truth. We bear all things, We believe

868
01:01:25.760 --> 01:01:29.840
all things, We hope all things. Just go through all

869
01:01:29.840 --> 01:01:32.719
of those things? Do you do those perfectly? You fall

870
01:01:32.760 --> 01:01:36.159
short constantly, But you know who does these things? Perfectly God.

871
01:01:36.440 --> 01:01:39.400
You know who lived these things out perfectly Christ. So

872
01:01:39.480 --> 01:01:42.800
when First Corinthians thirteen, what you should see is not us,

873
01:01:43.760 --> 01:01:45.840
We should see Christ. And you know what, the Church

874
01:01:45.880 --> 01:01:48.800
of corinth they failed. And everything in First Corinthians thirteen,

875
01:01:50.519 --> 01:01:53.639
everything you read in First Corinthians, they fail in First

876
01:01:53.679 --> 01:02:03.800
Corinthians thirteen. So what was their hope? Christ? That changes

877
01:02:03.840 --> 01:02:06.519
the whole way we should interpret First Corinthians thirteen. So

878
01:02:06.639 --> 01:02:10.760
my hypothesis is human love is so inherently flawed, so

879
01:02:10.880 --> 01:02:15.880
inherently messed up. It's self seeking. We love to get. Therefore,

880
01:02:15.960 --> 01:02:18.880
everything in the Bible that speaks about love is law

881
01:02:19.159 --> 01:02:23.760
showing us our inability to do it, and that I

882
01:02:23.800 --> 01:02:26.840
can only love now. I think this is important when

883
01:02:26.840 --> 01:02:30.440
those scriptures talk about that that I love, that if

884
01:02:30.480 --> 01:02:32.840
I love God, then basically I get the ability to

885
01:02:32.880 --> 01:02:36.079
love or or I somehow we find these scriptures that

886
01:02:36.079 --> 01:02:40.119
seemed in and maybe infer that I can now love

887
01:02:40.320 --> 01:02:42.960
because God loved me. Let me make it very clear,

888
01:02:43.079 --> 01:02:48.679
I only love perfectly in my position in Christ, I

889
01:02:48.800 --> 01:02:55.159
love people perfectly, and Christ, I love my enemies perfectly,

890
01:02:56.159 --> 01:02:59.800
and practice I don't love others perfectly. I don't love

891
01:02:59.840 --> 01:03:12.599
my enemies perfectly, but in Christ, I do so. Valentine's Day,

892
01:03:14.280 --> 01:03:16.960
I hope you have a wonderful one. I hope you

893
01:03:17.079 --> 01:03:19.880
celebrate it. I hope it's full of passion. I hope

894
01:03:19.880 --> 01:03:23.000
it's full of romance. I hope it's wonderful. I hope

895
01:03:23.039 --> 01:03:27.119
it's great. I hope I hope you have a playlist today.

896
01:03:27.400 --> 01:03:30.559
I hope you're filled with all of those perfect feelings

897
01:03:30.599 --> 01:03:33.199
and it's amazing and it's great, and you just have

898
01:03:33.320 --> 01:03:39.599
the time of your life. But just know that it's

899
01:03:39.639 --> 01:03:45.599
a celebration of a flawed love. Now we can find

900
01:03:45.599 --> 01:03:49.000
a lot of satisfaction and fun and excitement and our

901
01:03:49.079 --> 01:03:53.639
flawed love. Not in any way denying that, but from

902
01:03:53.679 --> 01:03:58.719
a philological perspective, just know it's flawed. It's flawed, and

903
01:03:58.760 --> 01:04:02.159
you're going to feel that law in it more than

904
01:04:02.199 --> 01:04:06.719
you probably want to admit. But the only true source

905
01:04:06.880 --> 01:04:13.880
of a selfless, perfect love is God. And all of

906
01:04:13.920 --> 01:04:17.480
the scriptures that talk about love, they reveal our inability.

907
01:04:17.880 --> 01:04:22.239
They condemn us, and they drive us right to Christ.

908
01:04:23.320 --> 01:04:27.800
Write to Him and write to his perfect love. I

909
01:04:27.880 --> 01:04:30.480
wish human love could be perfect, but it is not.

910
01:04:32.320 --> 01:04:37.519
You know it, and I know it, and God knows it,

911
01:04:39.360 --> 01:04:42.880
but he sent his son. Why Because God has perfect love.

912
01:04:43.119 --> 01:04:46.480
He sent his son to die for us, not because

913
01:04:46.480 --> 01:04:49.280
of what we can do, because we can't, not because

914
01:04:49.280 --> 01:04:52.480
of what we should do, because we never will. It's

915
01:04:52.760 --> 01:04:56.000
because he did so out of grace and mercy and

916
01:04:56.159 --> 01:05:01.960
a selfless love. So when you read the Bible and

917
01:05:02.119 --> 01:05:06.400
you see anything about love, you can say, low, I

918
01:05:06.480 --> 01:05:11.880
know I should, but I don't. I can't, I never will.

919
01:05:12.360 --> 01:05:25.719
But Christ did.

920
01:05:26.440 --> 01:05:31.159
Now that's probably the worst Valentine's Day message ever preached.

921
01:05:34.239 --> 01:05:39.360
But come on now, just think today. Come on, just

922
01:05:39.400 --> 01:05:43.760
think today to really, I'll leave you a two questions.

923
01:05:44.239 --> 01:05:50.119
Would you love God? Come on, be honest. If God

924
01:05:50.199 --> 01:05:54.480
said no, heaven in eternity and hell, would you still

925
01:05:54.519 --> 01:05:58.079
love him? Number one? Number two, I want you to

926
01:05:58.119 --> 01:06:02.079
think about how much of your life, how much even

927
01:06:02.119 --> 01:06:10.039
of your perceived love is influenced it's impacted by self selfishness,

928
01:06:10.159 --> 01:06:13.519
not selflessness. How much is self centered? How much do

929
01:06:13.599 --> 01:06:16.920
you love in order to get? What if you've got nothing?

930
01:06:17.280 --> 01:06:24.320
What if you had nothing? What would you love? Now?

931
01:06:24.400 --> 01:06:27.880
That will put you in a very hopefully a convicted state, going, Man,

932
01:06:28.039 --> 01:06:29.960
I don't really love God. I don't really love others,

933
01:06:30.360 --> 01:06:34.800
but I sure do love myself and I'm right there

934
01:06:34.840 --> 01:06:46.480
with you. So go celebrate your flawed love, but it

935
01:06:46.599 --> 01:06:51.039
is flawed, and you can be honest. Hey, I'm looking

936
01:06:51.039 --> 01:06:55.639
forward to Valentine's Day because of what I'm going to get.

937
01:06:56.519 --> 01:06:58.159
And if you don't feel like you're going to get

938
01:06:58.719 --> 01:07:01.280
something equal in return, and it's all going to be

939
01:07:01.320 --> 01:07:05.079
about you giving, you typically become frustrated and bitter and

940
01:07:05.800 --> 01:07:12.400
bothered and not as excited. Right, It's kind of the

941
01:07:12.400 --> 01:07:14.760
way it works. Everybody's expecting a certain thing.

942
01:07:16.519 --> 01:07:18.800
All right, I'm going to stop right there.

943
01:07:19.599 --> 01:07:27.039
Thank you for listening. God bless