Introduction: Read Galatians 5:13-25. People in the first century struggled with the same sinful issues that plague you and me today. Did you notice that these verses give us the key to this problem?
In Galatians 5:14, the Apostle Paul said, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” This is an amazing statement; however, it did not originate with Paul. Jesus said the same thing in (Matthew 22:37-40) “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.“
Interestingly, “shalt love” is a future indicative statement, not an imperative command. In other words, if from now on, you choose to love sacrificially those around you just as you sacrificially love yourself, you will be fulfilling God’s entire law. That is cool, but is it easy? NO! It is very difficult!
Transition: This morning, as we take a closer look at the facts revealed in Galatians 5:14, I want to show you how they lead us to hope.
The first fact I see is that …
I. We naturally love ourselves.
1. No one had to teach us to love ourselves.
(a) The word “love” here, as we might expect, is agape – Sacrificially giving ourselves to meet the needs of another expecting nothing in return. In this case, it is sacrificing to meet our personal needs. This is how God loves us!
(b) This agape love is not a warm feeling towards another. It is a choice to give in order to meet his needs, even if you do not like the person.
(c) God has placed in us a certain degree of self-love. Without this, we would not eat, avoid danger, defend ourselves, or bandage a wound. This self-love is normal. It may even be considered instinctive.
(d) We also love ourselves when we bathe, care for our hygiene, and brush our teeth. I admit, this kind of self-love does not always come naturally for boys.
2. Loving ourselves is not necessarily wrong.
(a) As I just said, it is part of the way God made us.
(b) Paul use this to illustrate love in marriage. (Ephesians 5:28-29) “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:” We naturally nourish (i.e., to train and educate to maturity) our bodies. We also cherish them (i.e., to keep them warm and pay close attention to them).
The second fact I see is that …
II. We do NOT naturally love others.
1. We were not born with a passion to sacrifice for others.
(a) Watching children, we observe this in them from a very young age. Words like, “Mine!” and fights over toys quickly reveal a child’s self-love.
(b) A child who of his own accord cares for others and shares, seldom if ever exists.
(c) Learning to love others is a quality that parents must display, teach, and enforce in their children.
(d) Cain did not naturally love his brother Abel, and he chose to kill him instead. Joseph’s brothers did not love him.
2. Even when we know better, we often find it very difficult to love others.
(a) Loving those who treat us well, is not all that difficult, but loving those who irritate us is another story.
(b) God knew this, and thus he spelled out the Ten Commandments, which all address our love for others. The first four address our love for God, and the last six address our love for others. If time permits, read Exodus 20:1-17.
(c) God made it clear to us that Love is the Key. It is the key to a happy marriage. It is the key to a peaceful home. It is the key to life-long friendships. It is the key to every pleasant relationship. It is the key to a safe society.
The third fact I see is that …
III. To love like this, we need God’s help.
1. Our hearts must be transformed by God’s salvation.
(a) Unbelievers can love like this to a limited degree. If this was not possible, our wicked world would be far more wicked than it is.
(b) However, to consistently love as God loves cannot be done without the transformation of salvation. We are sinful people. Jeremiah wrote this about our hearts, (Jeremiah 17:9) “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Our sin nature makes us selfish people. Only the blood of Christ can cleanse us from all sin (Rom 5:8-9).
(c) If there is someone whom you struggle to love, you owe it to yourself to examine your relationship with God. Have you truly been saved?
2. We need God’s indwelling, daily cleansing, and grace.
(a) Once we become a child of God, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us. If we will spend time in the Bible cultivating a flourishing relationship with God (i.e., walking in the Spirit), he will keep us from sin. (Galatians 5:16) “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.“
(b) He offers daily to cleanse our sins if we will confess them. (1 John 1:9) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.“
(c) God will give us grace (i.e., divine enablement) to do his will, including loving those who are unlovely.
The final fact I see is that …
IV. Christians can and ought to choose to love others as themselves.
1. In this life, you and I will never love perfectly.
(a) We still have a sin nature that is selfish.
(b) If we could love perfectly, we would fulfill all of God’s law and not need Christ as our Saviour.
(c) However, God never asks us to do something that He will not give us grace (i.e., divine help) to do.
(d) Since love is the key to fulfilling God’s law and obeying Him, it is possible with God’s help.
(e) What hope is there for us?
2. Love is a choice.
(a) We can choose to love others as we love ourselves. God wants us to love even those who irritate us, who persecute us, who hate us, who curse us, who defy us, or who will not submit to us. It is NOT easy, but it is not impossible.
(b) If there is a person in your life whom you find difficult or nearly impossible to love, what can you do? Begin prayingfor that irritating person. Ask God to work in that person’s heart. Forgive that person as God has forgiven you (Eph 4:32). Ask God to give you a biblical love for that person. When negative thoughts about that person come to mind, choose to think of that person as God thinks of them.
(c) We can choose to love people whom we do not like. Remember, love is giving to meet the needs of another. You don’t have to like a person’s character or attitude to meet a need that person has.
(d) With God’s help, you can show agape love to anyone.
Conclusion: As the year comes to an end, it ought to be the desire of every person here to end the year with no unconfessed sin, no bitterness, no hate, no broken relationship, and to have a heart that is truly right with God.
If God has convicted you of not loving Him or not loving someone else as you should, with God’s help, I urge you to get it right with God this morning and get it right with that person before the year ends. If you find it difficult to love someone who irritates you, with God’s help, put into practice the things we have discussed.
If you just cannot do this, perhaps you need to look at your profession of salvation. Without God’s salvation you may not be able to love, but if you are truly a child of God, you can.