Love Isn’t Always Easy. Love Costs Something. Love Sees Beyond the External.

Love Isn’t Always Easy

Loving someone can be risky and difficult. It takes vulnerability and can be hard.

1 Cor 13:4-7. Loving someone is easy when people are nice but can be quite a challenge when there is tension, disagreement, or pride involved.

Luke 19:1-10. Jesus’ was judged for his association with people that others viewed as “sinners” and “unclean”.

Love Costs Something

Loving someone often requires sacrifice and giving of yourself in ways that are not preferred (or undesirable).

John 15:9-13, 17. Jesus commanded his followers to love each other as he loved them and to be willing to sacrifice everything.

John 13:1-15, 34-35. The example Jesus left his disciples is to be willing to do the lowest task in serving each other. By loving each other in this way, you will make known to other people that you are Christ’s disciples.

Love Sees Beyond the External

Appearances can be deceiving. What is on the outside is not what is important, but what is on the inside is what matters.

1 Samuel 16:1-12. As humans, we can get caught up with thinking about how things look and miss the more important traits of who a person is.

Romans 2:11. God does not show favoritism but welcomes everyone to come to Him through His Son, Jesus.

John 4:1-30. Jesus’ disciples only saw a Samaritan woman and missed the whole point of what was happening.