On June 25, 1967, before a television audience of an estimated 400 million people watching in 26 different countries the Beatles performed a song written by their own John Lennon called “All You Need is Love.” The United Kingdom had commissioned The Beatles to write a song containing a simple message that could be understood by all nationalities to better the world. This song was their offering.
I personally believe that saying love is allwe need is taking it just a step too far. Life is about more than just love. How many young men and young women have walked down the aisle and committed themselves to one another in marriage on the basis of nothing more than love only to later find out that that emotional attachment wasn’t quite enough? Such is the same with life. There are additional factors to consider in making life what it needs to be. But while I think its taking it just a step far to say that love is allwe need, I do believe that love fills the largest part of what we need in life.
This week’s sermon starter is about the need for more love in our world, particularly displayed between those who normally care little about one another. Love needs to rule in all things, but it particularly needs to rule where strife is the norm. And love will come to reign if only we will learn to “Love Life by Living Love.”
Title: Loving Life by Living Love
Text: Titus 3:3-7
Introduction: Paul wrote that three things abide: faith, hope, and love, “but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Faith and hope will be fulfilled in eternal victory, but love will last forever. It is the single most factor in life that can change everything in our lives and in the lives of those around us. True love can and will bring about the full life that allows us to “live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18). So it is a lifestyle cycle – you love life by living love and you live love by loving life. Love puts life into perspective and in Titus 3 Paul explains why it should be a major commitment in life.
Discussion Points:
§ He Begins With a Contrast Between Peace and Strife – Few things are as frustrating in life than seeing people that are consumed by the pursuit of strife. Some people are only fulfilled by fighting. They live to rile things up that are better left alone. Some in Corinth were like that and Paul plead with them that when he came he would not find them engaged in “debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tulmults” (2 Corinthians 12:20). Each of these words contributes to division but the word “debates” specifically carries with it the idea of fighting merely for the sake of fighting, with no other clear intention. In Titus 3:3-4 Paul wrote about a great change that has occurred in the lives of those Christians. The past was very much different from the present and one of the changes that had been made was that their life had once been defined by strife but now it was defined by peace. The life of strife was characterized by foolishness, disobedience, deception, selfishness, malice, envy, and hate. The life of peace was characterized by kindness and love. Now which naturally sounds more appealing? But that life of peace demands love. It requires a commitment to doing what is best for everyone involved. After all, that’s what love is all about – pursuing the greatest good in everyone’s life. And when that greatest good is pursued how can peace not be found?
§ He Then Talks About the Change That is Made by God – When sin is deeply engrained in a person’s life how is it possible to shed that burden and truly build a life you can love? Paul answered that in Titus 3:5. He said that it was only through God that sin can be conquered, therefore without that presence of God in our lives we are hopeless in view of sin. We must rely wholly on God’s mercy to save us. We are saved because of His mercy – a mercy that ultimately develops a servant’s heart within us that promotes the works of God (Ephesians 2:8-10). It is that humility that makes us recipients of His mercy. It is His mercy that allows us to be washed and regenerated. It is the regenerating power of our obedience that renews us by the Spirit. We can change, but it is a change that is wrought by God and that change not only affects our eternal destiny but it affects how we interact with those around us. When we become different we will act differently, talk differently, and treat others differently. In that sense, when we become God-lead we become God-given. The very essence of our being changes and we become a blessing to all those around us, pursuing peace and goodness through godliness.
§ He Concludes by Discussing the Consequencesof Peace – Making peace with all men is hard because not everyone is peaceable. So what motivation do we have to be the bigger man in these situations? There are consequences to every action, either a positive consequence or a negative consequence and all the consequences of peace are positive. They are three fold as discussed by Paul: (1) By His mercy “He saved us…” (vs. 5). Paul could look back through his own life and see the very moment when his life was changed by the redeeming power of Jesus Christ. When he changed his destination changed. (2) By His mercy He “justified” us… (vs. 7). Justification is what results in salvation – we are saved because we are justified (Romans 5:8-9). To be justified means taken from a life characterized and defined by sin and having it all taken away to be made pure before God. In fact, Paul says that being justified is synonymous with being “washed” and “sanctified” (1 Corinthians 6:11). (3) By His mercy “we should be made heirs…” (vs. 7). Justification and salvation ultimately culminate in being made heirs of eternal life. An inheritance is obtained simply by virtue of birth, but in this case our inheritance comes as a result of the new birth (John 3:5) which allows us to be adopted into the family of God and made joint-heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:15-17). These are the consequences of peace – this is our motivation.
No, love is not all that we need, but it is a very major factor in developing the life God wants us to have. But in order for us to truly love life it means we must live love in every conceivable way – both toward God and all men.
-Andy Brewer