Love is not about me and my needs or desires. Love is about the one I love. Love is patient and kind.

1. 12-1-10 www.rossvillechurch.com Friday, January 7, 2011 www.blainebowman.com

2. 1 John 4 1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

3. 4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them (false teachers; evil men) : because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the Spirit of Truth, and the spirit of error.

4. 7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. Christianity is all about Jesus, And Jesus is all about love. This godly love ( agapao ) is a product of the Holy Spirit living in our hearts. Anyone able to love this kind of love is born of God .

5. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. If God is in us, then His Love is in us. If God's Love is not part of our nature, then we still need to receive a new nature . Love will not be as perfect or complete in us, as it is in God. But we , who are His children, have God's Nature in us.

6. 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Manifested = shown; revealed; seen We know that God loves us because He showed us His love with His deeds . He gave us Jesus, Who died in our place, shedding His Blood to wash away our sins, And gave us eternal life .

7. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. We were not capable of loving God, until He first loved us and put that love in us. He loved us enough to die for us, and did it. He didn't just talk the talk; He walked the walk.

8. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. John 15 12 This is My Commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Sacrificial love is not about me ; it's about you. It's not about what I need , but what you need. It's not about what I enjoy, but what you enjoy .

9. Love is always patient and kind, Because it's not about me, it's about you. It's not about what irritates me. It's not about my time . It's not about my interests. Love is all about the beloved .

10. 12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us. How can we show God to the world? In loving one another as He loves us.

11. The world watches us as the children of God . Are we demonstrating the Love of God in our dealings with people. Or are we demonstrating our own carnal nature ?

12. We need to be always aware that we represent God in this world. Love is in the little things we do every day, much more than is some big thing we do once.