To Love and Not to Love, Spiritual Warfare: Training Your Hand for Battle, No. 4: Talking About Love

To Love and Not to Love, Spiritual Warfare: Training Your Hand for Battle, No. 4: Talking About Love. Love for God. 1 John 4:8 says the Word, whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Love is a confirmation that we know Him; if there is love in our heart, […]

Love for God. 1 John 4:8 says the Word, whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Love is a confirmation that we know Him; if there is love in our heart, love toward Him, love for His Word, love in keeping with the kingdom of God—because there are two kinds of love: earthly love and heavenly love.

Good morning. We continue our teaching series: Spiritual Warfare: Training Your Hand for Battle. Today's title: Talking About Love. In this battle we're fighting in order to overcome, it is necessary both to love and not to love.

Let me explain: we must love God; to overcome we must love the truth; we must love the brothers, the sisters in the Lord; we must love souls; we must not love the world nor the things of the world. Love strengthens us, and love is the path to perfection, and it also confirms that we belong to the Lord—and those are the points we'll be covering today. For those who haven't heard the first teaching in this series, we're talking about the foundation on which we must fight the spiritual battle, if we want to overcome.

I urge you to listen to it, and love is one of those indispensable foundations—without love we cannot overcome, because we cannot overcome by our own strength. We also have a devil who fights us; we have many opponents who create confusing situations, situations meant to cause division, situations meant to cause misunderstanding—and if there's no love in God, if we don't love the brothers, if we don't love souls, then we become discouraged and start loving things instead, and we cannot overcome; we fall into the traps the devil sets for us. But on the other hand, love is what confirms that we truly belong to the Lord. Love moves the Presence and the Power of God in our lives and in our flesh—by our own personal strength we cannot fight an enemy who is invisible, whom we cannot see with our eyes. So, to overcome, we must fight through our Lord Jesus Christ, in order to remain in Him. To remain in Him we must love—that's the first point for today: love, Love for God. In 1 John 4:8 the Word says, whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love; whoever does not love does not know God. Love is a confirmation that we know Him; if there is love in our heart, love toward Him, love for His Word, love in keeping with the Kingdom of God—because there are two kinds of love: love of the world and heavenly love. If we have earthly love in us, that is not love; earthly love makes us love parties, revelry, focus on money, love the things of the world—and that is not true love. We must love God, we must love souls. In 1 John 5:15 the Word says, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father who begot him loves the child begotten of Him as well; by this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. This is the love of God: that we keep His commandments—and His commandments are not burdensome. See, this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; many say they love the Lord, but they don't keep His commandments, and even if they hear this, they take offense. Well, that is not the love of God. I'm not here to condemn anyone; I'm exhorting you according to the Word of God. Sometimes when we speak words like these, our adversary makes people feel condemned, so that they won't see or listen anymore—but the purpose is not for anyone to feel condemned, because the Lord did not come to condemn us; He shares His Word with us so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life, and if we repent, if we turn our hearts to Him upon hearing His precious Word, which is living and active, then we will have eternal life. In 1 John 5:4 it says, because everyone who is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Everyone who is born of God overcomes the world—see, but to be born again we have to love the Lord, we have to love the truth. But the world is one of our enemies; Satan uses the world in spiritual warfare to try to make us stumble. It's true that many stumble, because they obviously still lack understanding—maybe they haven't heard a teaching like this, and they get involved in spiritual warfare, and Satan has it easy: he just sends a few old friends to invite them to parties and to things Satan knows will open a door to him if they accept. So they do it ignorantly, and that's it, they fall, because they open the door to the enemy through activities that aren't good for us. So the point is that the world, in many ways, is used by Satan against us—that's why it says this is the victory over the world; a victory over someone means we're fighting with someone, and Satan is not our only enemy—the world is also an enemy we have to overcome, and it's one of the things that has many people defeated. That's why so many aren't listening to a teaching like this one right now, aren't in church right now—why? Because there's so much entertainment out there, they're sunbathing at the beach, there are so many other things of the world that are a priority to them. So we have to overcome the world, in the love of the truth that is in Christ Jesus. The Word of God says in 1 John 5:5, who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. In other words, we have to overcome the world through faith, through love, through the Lord, because God is love—1 John 4:16-18—and we have known and believed the love God has for us. God is love; whoever remains in love remains in God, and God in him; whoever remains in love remains in God, and God in him. Therefore, love is a trait, a condition, a virtue that we must develop, that we must make sure always remains in us. It's something we have to ask God for even above the gifts—before the gifts, before anything else, we have to seek the Presence of God so He fills our hearts until they overflow with love. Without love we do not remain in God—but if we remain in Him, apart from Him we can do nothing, we cannot bear fruit. But for this purpose of fighting spiritual warfare, if we do not remain in Him, we cannot fight, because it is through His Spirit, through His Power, that we are able to fight; in order to overcome, we need to remain in love. It says in 1 John 4:17-18, in this love is perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears has not been perfected in love. The enemy can throw obstacles and difficulties at us, especially the more we grow in the knowledge of the truth—and for those of you who have a ministry, and even those without one, but who are already interceding, who are resisting the enemy for their families through prayer, fasting, obedience—the enemy sets many traps, tries to intimidate even with death, to see if it will scare us, tries to do things to see if we'll say, 'You know what, I renounce the Lord,' because he's really trying hard to intimidate. But if we love—the Word says perfect love casts out all fear—if we love God above all things, if we're sure in our hearts that if we die we go to be with Him, then we won't love our lives even to the point of suffering death. And the Word says, they overcame him by the testimony of His Word, by the blood of Jesus Christ, and because they did not love their lives even unto death. But to have that courage, to not fear death, to be willing to die for Him, we must love Him, we must love the truth—which is the second point we're covering. It says in 1 John 2:5, but whoever keeps His word, in him truly the love of God has been perfected; by this we know that we are in Him. We see that when we love the truth, the love of God is perfected in us; whoever does not love the truth, even if he says with his mouth that he loves God, does not love Him. I know this may suddenly seem confusing to many, but this is exactly where the devil takes advantage—and people who deceive many, not just now but since ancient times. As in the Word of God, the religious people of that time, the Pharisees, argued with the Lord, because they believed they loved God, they believed they served God, they kept the whole law according to their beliefs, they believed they were doing everything right and thought they loved God—but they did not love the truth, they did not love the Word of God, they did not love what the Lord shared with them. So if we don't love the truth, that distances us from God; if we don't love the truth, we deceive ourselves, believing we love God while not keeping His Word—we are liars. In fact, whoever does not love the Word of God hates God, ignorantly. I believe that many of the Pharisees of that time, and many in this time, out of ignorance, wanted to please God, believed they were pleasing God, were so zealous for the law that they even killed those who didn't keep the law—but in their ignorance the devil deceived them and led them to persecute God, to persecute His disciples, and to oppose the true work of God. 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10: And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the splendor of His coming—the lawless one, whose coming is by the working of Satan, with all power, and with signs and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

Why are these people going to be lost? Because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. There will be wonders—although here the Word refers more to the antichrist—but it's obvious that many who will be deceived by the antichrist will perform deceptive signs and wonders. In other words, maybe they'll be interceding, maybe they'll believe themselves to be warriors of the Lord, maybe there will be many people who go out into the streets to pray and supposedly set people free, and there will be signs and wonders—but they are deceptive signs and wonders. But why are these signs and wonders deceptive? In other words, why does a spirit that isn't of God operate in them to perform these signs? Because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. Do you understand why this is important, why loving is a foundation if we want to fight the true spiritual battle and overcome? Because we don't just want to say, 'I pray, I fast, I've already been anointed by God, I go out there casting out demons, healing, setting people free'—and then on that day have the Lord say to us, 'Depart from Me, you who practiced lawlessness, I never knew you.' What good would that do us? So if we want to stand firm, if we truly want to overcome, if we want to overcome, if we want to begin this process of spiritual preparation to face the darkness, we must do it on a solid foundation, and I would say the most important of those foundations, above all, is love. Ephesians 4:14-15: so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by cunning craftiness in deceitful scheming; but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ.

If we don't love the truth with all our heart, and we listen to nice, flattering words that those with itching ears rejoice and jump at, if we don't love the truth, then we're easily confused—that's another strategy the devil uses. The more people set their hearts on being disciples of the Lord, one of the strategies the devil is going to use is to send people to speak badly about the path they're following, to sow discord, to plant doubt, to say, 'No, but I don't know,' throwing out different excuses. If they're living a life of fasting, of prayer, reading the Word, if they have a willing heart and are truly ready to be obedient to God and are in a church like this one where we're truly discipled by the Lord, the devil is going to bombard them—he bombards the mind directly, and if not that, he uses many people. But this happens to test whether there's some weakness, whether the love of the truth in someone's heart hasn't been perfected—and that's how he can twist someone. He is persistent; it's a strategy he uses. But if we love the truth, the Lord keeps us, the Lord protects us. Even though we're at war, and in a war I'd say sometimes there are what look like casualties, the Lord always watches over us—the righteous falls, but if he is righteous, if he truly loves the truth, the Lord raises him up again.

The third point we'll cover is love for the brothers. If we don't have love for the brothers, that's serious—that's the second great commandment the Lord gave us; the Lord gave a new commandment, that we love one another. The Lord loves unity, the Lord loves it when we serve together—even when He sent out His disciples, He didn't send them one by one, He sent them two by two. But the church, on its own, cannot effectively fight the spiritual battle in isolation—we're weaker that way; unity strengthens us. Suddenly the enemy throws a dart at someone and they almost fall, but if we also have a brother who walks in the faith, that brother extends his hand and lifts us up. Suddenly the enemy causes an obstacle; if we have other brothers, that brother or sister supports us in that moment of vulnerability. And even in prayer, where two or three are gathered in my name, says the Lord, there He is. So the Lord shows in many ways how important it is that, since we are one body, we work in harmony, supporting one another mutually. There's a mystery there, a great mystery, and the point is that God loves it when His people are united, and Satan hates what God loves. So Satan comes to sow a lot of discord, to try to divide us, to create situations—and it's certain that he is the devil, he is the father of lies and deception; that's the tool he uses to cause division in every church. In every church he sows discord; out of nowhere a commotion or an uproar breaks out, a criticism, a situation—people take sides over various things—and he does this very continuously; he's effective at his wickedness. But what can he not keep from being united, no matter how many weapons Satan deploys to try to divide us? Love. In 1 John 4:7 the Word says, beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. We also have, in—

2 John 1:5-6: And now I plead with you, lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it, in love. Love is a commandment of God; we already know that to overcome we must be obedient, and love strengthens us. The Word also says in 1 John 3:16, by this we have known love, that He laid down His life for us—and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. Not only does the Lord command us to love our brothers and sisters, but here He also gives us this: that whether we love Him is confirmed by whether we're willing to die for our brothers and sisters. So love matters greatly to the Lord—being willing to die for our brothers and sisters is like evidence that we truly love God.

1 Thessalonians 4:9: But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. There are many scriptures in which God admonishes His church about the importance of loving one another, the importance of loving each other as brothers. We must love those outside as well, but the love for those in the household of Christ, for the family in the Lord, overflows even more.

The fourth point is loving souls. If we don't love souls, then to truly overcome we cannot be selfish. If we truly already know the truth, if we're in a position to be a blessing to people—because when we learn to fight spiritual warfare, we receive spiritual tools so we can do our part, to be light in the midst of the darkness out there—then, using these weapons, we can bring change to other people, other homes, other families, both in health and in finances, because the devil often attacks people's finances, and through prayer we can suddenly be a blessing so that a person suffering in that area finds their path made clear and doors opened for them. But if we don't love souls, then why would we take the time to use what we've learned to be a blessing? If we don't love souls we become like the useless servants the Lord gave something to, but when he returned they had exactly what they were given, because they hadn't multiplied it, hadn't put it to use, hadn't put it to work. But if we love souls, then what we learn, the spiritual tools we receive so we can make an impact on the souls out there, we put to use—and this pleases God; there we're fulfilling another commandment. We must love everyone out there, and by praying for them, interceding for them, being a blessing to them, we're showing—not with words but with deeds—that we love them. In 2 Timothy 2:10: Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Here Paul is saying he endures everything, because Paul endured everything for love of souls—it says so that they too might obtain salvation. If we don't love, we cannot be an instrument God uses to save souls, because if we only love ourselves and don't love others, we'll simply seek our own well-being, simply be concerned about our own needs and not the needs of others. But if we love others, why would we give the time the way Paul did, who suffered and traveled from place to place preaching, healing, and doing the work of Christ? To do the work of God we must love souls, we must love others, and we show this love when we put to use the wisdom, the anointing, and everything God has given us—just as Paul did, for love of souls, so that they too might obtain salvation. The primary purpose of learning to fight spiritual warfare is not necessarily to bless ourselves—it's to be a blessing to others. That's the secret. Those who seek God only for their own benefit stay small, but those who seek God because they want to serve others—the Lord increases and multiplies them; they keep climbing, like going up a staircase, going up, going up, going up—because those who seek God because they want to serve others, and who are faithful with the little they receive and put it into practice, immediately start interceding for others, fasting—they do it because they want to, because they want to be a blessing to others. The Lord takes note of this, and to these He gives more, because they are faithful with little, so over much He sets them.

2 Corinthians 12:15: And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. Once again, God speaking through Paul expresses what the Lord had placed in Paul—he says, I will spend, and I will even be spent, for love of your souls. In other words, Paul walked in love for souls; he wanted to be an instrument of God to save souls, so that hearts would turn to the Lord, so that we Gentiles would receive the promise of salvation—and that love drove him. For that love he suffered; for that love he was willing to go through every obstacle, to suffer in the flesh out of love. This is necessary to overcome the devil—if we have no love we cannot be vessels of honor for Christ, we cannot be instruments that shine for the edification and blessing of many. 1 Timothy 1:5: For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.

Once again, Paul mentions that the gospel did not come only with words but with power—that's one of the reasons we're also sharing a teaching like this one, so that those of you who have a calling won't preach only with words but with power. But very importantly, it's not only necessary to preach with power—even more important than preaching with power is preaching with love, just as Paul says his gospel did not come only in word, or the gospel of God that was shared with him did not come only in word but in power and out of love for them. Love is that energy, that fuel the Lord uses to make us overcome difficulties, obstacles, and to endure any discomfort—everything necessary to suffer for the sake of saving souls. The fifth point: love is a catalyst; love strengthens us; through love, love is really also like a shield—love strengthens us. Later I'll share a passage that speaks of putting on the breastplate of love, that is, putting on the shield of love. In Colossians 2:2 the Word says, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ. That their hearts be encouraged, knit together in love—that's another thing; love is the perfect bond. Love—the devil comes wanting to divide us and cause every problem in the world, but if there's love, a lot of love in the Lord, even though a situation suddenly seems to break apart, love is like glue, a powerful spiritual glue that holds us together. The devil has a great deal of difficulty achieving his goals, no matter how hard he tries, when we walk in love.

Colossians 3:12-14: Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. Here it speaks to us of many virtues, like humility, patience—having patience with one another, forgiving each other if someone has something against another—but above all, that we put on love, which is the perfect bond. In other words, love is what brings that beautiful unity, the kind of unity where, even though unpleasant things happen from time to time, love still wins out; love gives us the victory; through love we overcome; love is that strength that fortifies us. We must walk in love; we must ask for that virtue. In fact, at the end of this teaching we're going to pray to the Lord and ask that even if we already have love, we want the Lord to give us a double portion of love; we want Him to fill our hearts until they overflow with love—first for Him, then for the brothers, then for souls—a love that comes from Him, so that we love what He loves and hate what He hates. That's the love we want in our hearts. Ephesians 4:1-2: I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beg you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love. Once again it speaks of several virtues: patience, gentleness—He also gives us the strength to bear with others when they're suddenly struggling with some weakness—but in what manner must we do this? In love. Love, I would say, is also like the door that opens to all those other virtues, because if we walk in the opposite of love, which is hatred, then resentment comes in, unforgiveness, and many other things that don't please God—the works of the flesh come in. With love there is fruit; if there's already love in our hearts, it's easier to understand others, easier to be more tolerant, easier to be more patient, easier to forgive. So love is that substance we want filling our hearts. 2 Corinthians 12:10: Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. For love, for love of Christ, he rejoiced even in persecutions; for love of the Lord, he rejoiced even in his weaknesses, in reproaches—that is, when he was confronted, when he was persecuted, when he was criticized—in distresses, when there were moments very unpleasant to the flesh that brought anguish—even in the distresses, it says that even when he was weak, Paul rejoiced in everything. Why? For love of Christ. But what happened when he was weak and going through all these things? Because he remained in love for the Lord, he was strengthened; another passage tells us that the power of God was made perfect in his weaknesses. But in order to endure these things, and for the power of God to be made perfect in us, we must walk in love. But we said at the beginning of this teaching that it's also important that there are things we must not love—yes, there are things we must not love: we must not love the world, nor the things in it. The Word says in 1 John 2:15: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. You see? There are things we must not love. We must love God, we must love the truth, we must love the brothers, we must love souls—but we must not love the world nor the things in it, because if we love the world or the things of the world, the love of the Father is not in us. How will we overcome if the love of the Father isn't in us? How will we overcome if the Lord withdraws from us? 1 Timothy 6:10: For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. That's another one of those things we must not love—if we love money, how will we overcome, when it's the root of all evil, as the Word of God says, and some, in coveting it, have strayed from the faith? So we cannot love the world nor the things of the world, we cannot love money. If we loved it in ignorance—and I think many of us did, before we knew the truth—now we have to reject that; now we have to seek God to be set free from that love that doesn't serve us. That is love from below, and it drags you further down the more you hold onto it. We want the love from above, which lifts us up. Philippians 3:7-8: But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. If we don't learn to stop loving many things, we cannot overcome, because in the process of seeking God, the more we seek Him, the more He will show us things that we love but that pull us away from Him. This could be sports—there are people who play a sport, for example, and spend four hours a day on it, or three hours a day, and that's all the time they have. How are they going to serve Christ? How are they going to fill themselves with His Word, with knowledge of Him, if all the time they have to serve Christ they spend on the sport instead? But just like Paul—if we're not willing to lose everything we loved, for love of Christ, for the knowledge of Him, we cannot overcome, because we're enslaved. There are things that pull us away from the Lord, and the more we seek Him, the more He will keep showing us—what things, what other things. We have to be like Paul in order to overcome; for love of Christ we must count everything as rubbish. In other words, here is the Lord on the right, once we know Him, and everything we had is on the left: 'Lord, I can, I want to follow You; whatever You show me that doesn't please You, I turn away from it, I leave it behind; whatever is a stumbling block to my walk with You, I leave it behind.' We have to be like Paul; if we aren't like Paul, willing to count everything we used to do as rubbish for love of Christ, we cannot overcome, because the devil is going to use that thing we love, that stumbling block, that thing in our heart—it's an idol, and everything that's an idol gives power to the devil, everything we love so much that we're not willing to give up for Christ. Now, in one way or another, there are things we may not necessarily have to lose—like Abraham. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, for love of God; the Lord did test him, told him to sacrifice him, but when he actually went to sacrifice him, the Lord did not let him lose his son—the Lord only allowed him to keep his son, but he was tested. So there are things we might not have to lose, but if God doesn't test us with it, the devil, the tempter, comes to use it against us; he'll watch, he'll set up situations, put obstacles in the way, to see whether we're truly willing to give that up for Christ. And if we're not willing to give up anything at all for the Lord, then the Lord Himself says in His Word that whoever is not willing to lose everything for Him is not worthy of Him. So how are we going to overcome the devil if we're not willing to lose everything for Him, in order to be worthy of Him? Does what I'm saying make sense? Our heart has to be, so to speak, sold out to the Lord; we have to be willing to lose our life, which is the greatest thing we have—the greatest thing you and I have; the most valuable thing, I would say—practically, it is our life. For the Lord says whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for love of Him will find it. We have to be willing to lose our lives, even as it says, and they overcame him. Why? By the testimony, by the blood, and because they did not love their lives even unto death. If we love our life, if we're not willing to die even unto death, we're not overcomers either. I know I'm giving you strong words, words that maybe many of you who want to fight will say, 'But pastor, I want to fight, I want, I want doors to open for me, I want my marriage restored, I want my problems to go away, and that's why I want to learn to fight—but I don't want to die.' Well, I'm speaking to you in the love of Christ, and I'm sharing with you the true way to overcome. If we want to overcome, we must love God above all things; we must submit our heart, our mind, our soul, our being, everything we are, to His will, which is perfect and expressed in His words. That is the way to overcome. If we don't know what the Lord expects and desires from us, and receive it into our hearts with humility and love, we're fighting an incomplete battle—a battle we will not win.

The final point of this teaching is that love is the path to perfection—love is what leads us to that perfection. When we come from the world, when we begin our walk with the Lord, and even after we've been on God's paths for a while, we still have impurities, we still have imperfections. It's as if we're a precious stone, a diamond just pulled out of the earth—the potter has to come and begin polishing us, cleaning us, so that the beauty, the loveliness, the preciousness contained in that gem keeps shining more, keeps being cleaned, keeps being perfected. So love—love as I've been sharing it, and giving up loving certain other things—is what carries us through that process of perfection, allowing our potter, our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep perfecting us, whether in our character, our wrath, our anger, our hatred, our feeling of rejection, our impatience, whatever the situation—there are many things hidden away in us. But if we stay in the Lord's love, He keeps perfecting us. The Word says in 2 Timothy 1:7, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind—the Lord gave us a spirit of love. 1 Peter 4:8: And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins. Once again, about love—through love our sins are forgiven; out of love the Lord came into the world, out of love the Lord gave His life for us, so that all of us who believe in Him would not perish. 2 Peter 1:4-6: by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

Here God is essentially giving us instructions—after we seek Him, these are the virtues we should desire, that we should seek to develop in our hearts, so we can continue in this process of growing into His likeness. He mentions various virtues: patience, faith, knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, love, brotherly affection—and on top of all this, love, which is like a process of perfection. These things—even though we give our heart to Christ, even though we love with all our heart—we don't necessarily have all these virtues in our hearts from the start. It's as though, once again, when we begin, we still have many imperfections, and the Lord in His mercy rescues us from the mud we were in, but then He puts us through a process in which we're being perfected. These virtues—when all of them become more and more present in the way we live—patience, love, godliness, affection for others, knowledge, self-control, meaning we don't behave the way we don't want to—all these things show that we're growing more in the Lord, that we're being perfected.

1 Timothy 6:11: But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Once again, we're being shown different virtues, virtues we should have. First we're commanded to flee from other things, from what doesn't serve us, but then we're commanded to pursue—it's something we have to, something we have to desire in our hearts, that we want to seek, that we want to pursue. We also have, in—

1 Corinthians 13:1-4: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up.

In other words, if we have everything else, if we're filled with every gift, and we don't have love, we have nothing. If we do every good thing in the world and don't have love, we have nothing. So love is what we must seek before all else.

Sometimes I think many of us have made the mistake of fervently seeking God for gifts—we want to speak in tongues, we want an anointing for healing, an anointing for deliverance, an anointing for prophecy, we want to be anointed by God—but I think we've taken the wrong path, because the first thing each of us should seek from God is to be filled with love, because if we're filled with love according to His will, then everything else will come. And whatever we do out of love will definitely be well received up above. The Word says in 1 Corinthians 13:8: Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

Love will never fail—only knowledge will pass away, prophecy too; we see how, to a certain point, we've been seeking what perishes rather than what is incorruptible. Love remains, because God is love, and He remains.

1 Corinthians 13:13: And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

When all things have passed, when this age is over and we're taken up with the Lord, faith, hope, and love will remain—but the greatest, the greatest of these virtues, is love. What must we seek? Why must we seek the presence of God? What must be, from now on, our first goal—that our hearts be filled with love? And to close this teaching, I'm going to read something that expresses my desire for you—and I also want you to stand up, and we'll pray for a moment. Philippians 1:9 says, and this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment. And just as this passage says, I ask God and I pray for you, that the love of God be perfected in you, that your hearts be filled until they overflow with love—love that comes from above, not the love of the world—that your hearts be emptied of the love of the world and be filled with heavenly love. I also want to invite, or give the opportunity to, those of you who want to support us, if that's what you feel in your heart—under each video there are different links where you can support us; your offerings are needed, they help us keep going, keep sharing the Word we share, for the glory of God and for your blessing.

Let's pray. Let's seek the presence of God now in prayer, so that He fills our hearts with love. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, we come before Your presence, Lord. We thank You for Your Word, which is living and effective, because Your Word is alive, Lord, and we thank You for the understanding You've given us about love. We thank You for allowing us to understand that love is the most important virtue, even more important than the gifts and everything else. And so, Lord, since we know it is so important, we want that love that comes from You, we want that love, we want a heart like Yours, a heart that loves what You love and hates what You hate. We want a heart, Lord, just like Yours, and we come as vessels surrendered at Your feet, empty, so that You may fill our hearts with love; may Your heart, may Your love, fill our hearts until they overflow. We want to walk in love, we want to speak in love, we want to share Your Word in love, we want to understand those who oppose themselves, in love, we want to correct others in love, we want to do everything we do in love. Those of us who have a ministry, as is my case, we want to minister in love; if we minister healing, we want to minister it in love; if we minister deliverance, we want to minister it in love; if we work in the physical world at a secular job, we want to work in love; in how we treat others, we want to treat them in love. We want, Lord, since love remains, since love is the greatest, the most important virtue, the greatest one, we likewise, Lord, place it as a priority in our lives; we want to do everything we do in love. But we can do nothing without You, Lord; without love we cannot overcome. We are training our hand for battle, but we want to be overcomers through You, and we understand that love is the most important thing. Therefore, Lord, we ask You to fill us with love; we want love to overflow; we want love for souls; we want love for the brothers and sisters; we want love for those we know and those we don't know; we want love, Lord, for everything; we want to walk in love; everything we do, we want to do in love. And we thank You, Lord, we thank You for hearing us, we thank You, Lord, because Your Word is faithful and true, because You are faithful and true, and Your Word says that where two or three are gathered in Your name, there You are; and we thank You, Lord, because through faith we know You are in our midst. We thank You, Lord, because in Your presence there is peace, and love perfects that peace You give. Love, Lord, is wonderful because You are wonderful, and You are love. Thank You for this opportunity You have given us to be in Your presence. In the name of Jesus Christ Your name is exalted, Heavenly Father; we give You all the glory and honor. In the name of Jesus Christ we have prayed, amen. Thank you all for being with us, until next time.

Order it now—our book is available in English and Spanish, Digital and Print.

Coming Soon: Our Book Will Be Published—subscribe to be notified when it's available.

Subscribe to be notified of new posts.

Categories

• Blog
• Teachings
• Prayers
• Biblical Prayers
• Verses

Subscribe so you don't miss any of our YouTube broadcasts

Recent Posts

• Deliverance from Autism | Spiritual Warfare PDF
• Prayers from the Old Testament
• Exposing End-Time Apostasy – No Need for Spiritual Warfare: Apostasy in the Christian Church. #9
• Exposing End-Time Apostasy: Doctrines of Demons. #8
• Exposing End-Time Apostasy: False Baptisms in the Christian Church. #7

Support Us — Your offering helps change lives all over the world and for eternity. Thank you for your contribution.

SHARE THIS POST

Pastor Francisco Gomez

Thank you for reading our posts. It is our greatest desire that you be edified and blessed. Greetings in the name of our entire congregation, Jesus King of Kings.

Keep Reading

Deliverance from Autism | Spiritual Warfare PDF

Prayers from the Old Testament

Exposing End-Time Apostasy – No Need for Spiritual Warfare: Apostasy in the Christian Church. #9

Exposing End-Time Apostasy: Doctrines of Demons. #8