How do you understand the word, "love?" In the West many people have lost all understanding of the words "love" and "hate." When you were dating, did you wonder whether you were in love? After being married for over fifty years, I know I love my wife! The title of our lesson, "God Loves Freely," describes the love of God. Seeing God's love in the Old Testament is sometimes difficult. This week we look at both a New Testament and Old Testament discussion of God's love. Let's dive into our study of the Bible and see, in different contexts, how God loves us!...
A "covenant" is an agreement. We might call it a "contract" today. For most people, love is "covenantal," meaning that we love those who love us. And we don't love those who do not love us. But is that true for God? In Matthew 5:44-46 Jesus teaches that loving only those who love us is not the goal. We read in John 3:16 that God loved the world, therefore He gave "His only Son" to save us. Jesus came to save a lot of people who had never heard of Him. Obviously, they had not agreed to love Him. Let's dive into our study of the Bible and learn more about the relationship between God's love and our love for Him!...
What is your attitude about pleasing others? Because I'm a professor, my students want to please me. Because I'm old enough that I don't have to work, I could say that I've had enough of pleasing my employer. But that is not my attitude. I want to please my students, my employer, and generally everyone else who crosses my path. Why is that true? Plenty of people simply do not care about the opinions of others. My reason is that I believe my life is better when I make the lives of others better. Is this a Biblical principle? Let's dive into our study of the Bible and learn more!...
