The House That Love Built Pt. 1
Pastor Daniel Kolenda
August 22, 2021
Read Ephesians 3:14-17
It’s important that we build our lives, family, community, and church on God’s love because God’s love is unshakable. In Ephesians 3:14-17, Paul is petitioning for spiritual strength and that as believers, we may be rooted and grounded in the love of Christ. It’s important to note that Paul is talking to Gentiles and urging them to remember what life was like before Christ. Paul’s aim is to emphasize that living in Him and knowing Him will help us in sharing God’s love and overcome hate for our fellow brethren.
Why Is Love So Important?
Did you know that the word love is mentioned over 300 times in the Bible? God holds love very dear to His heart and He gives us a clear outline of not only who we should love but also what exactly love entails. In John 3:16, we are reminded that God loved His children so much that He sacrificed His only Son. God’s love is the purest form of love, and by all means, the true standard of how we should measure and define love in our relationships.
Understanding and knowing God’s love is very important for us as believers because often times we forget that God’s love is superior to what man has to offer. It is easy for people to fall out of love or choose hate but God wants us to remember that His love will never fail. 1 Corinthians 13:2 says “And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”
Paul wants believers to understand that their spiritual gifts or prophetic powers are worthless when their actions are not done out of love. If we do not consider God, our fellow neighbors, and brothers, then who are we trying to glorify? Every single action that we undertake should be done in love and out of the goodness of our hearts. Nothing should be done through strife or vain glory.
The Right Relationships
Now that we understand how important love is as believers, the next question we must ask ourselves is, ‘Who should we direct this love to?’ Christianity is all about the right relationships and how we align these relationships. The common phrase ‘Love God and love people’ comes to mind. It depicts the essence of what our walk with Christ should be about. We ought to love Christ just as He loves us, and we ought to love His people as well. We cannot serve God and proclaim that we love Him, yet we dislike His people. Christ instructs us to love one another just as He loves us and by doing this, we not only obey Him but we are also working towards being rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, which is the ultimate goal.
Mark 12:30-31 says “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ There is no commandment greater than these.” These two verses not only reinforce that Christianity is about relationships but also indicate how much God values loving not only Him but His people. The evidence of the real Christian life according to Jesus is love.
Love Is The Strongest Foundation
God’s Love is the strongest foundation
In the latter portion of Matthew 7, Jesus teaches His disciples about foundations with the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. Matthew 7:25 states “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”
Now, imagine building up your church and by extension, your community upon a strong foundation such as love, which in this case is symbolic of solid rock. With love and true sacrificial love, as a church, we can touch so many lives and build a strong community that can make a true impact. With love as the mortar, the foundation cannot be shaken.
God does not desire for us to build a church that will constantly fall down as though it was built upon a rocky foundation. Our focus should not be on having the fanciest building or even on how nice the outside looks, because if the foundation is not built on love, then it will not stand strong.
Let’s be a loving community that is rooted and grounded in love.
Application Questions
When you think of your own church, do you feel God’s divine love? Do you feel loved by your fellow brethren?
Do you understand what it means to be loved by God? Do you know what it means to love God?
Who can you show love to today? Is it a family member? Is it someone on social media? Is it someone who you have not seen in a while?
