Today we continue our series entitled, “God Loves You”, under the overall theme for the year of, “Supernatural Manifestation.” Yesterday I shared a message from the following passage, I feel led to go back to it today. John said:
“Dear friends, we should love each other, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become God’s child. And so everyone who loves knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love to us: He sent his only Son into the world to give us life through him. True love is God’s love for us, not our love for God. He sent his Son as the way to take away our sins… We love because God first loved us.” (1 John 4:7-10 & 19 ERV)
In yesterday’s message I said, “The opposite of love is not hate. When you truly know God and you get the revelation of His love, you realize the opposite of love is selfishness. Love is always focused on others, not self.” I would like to ‘pull the string’ on this thought today with a message entitled, “Love and Selfishness”.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. The opposite of love is not hate, but rather selfishness.
a) The opposite of love is not hate. God IS love and there are certain things He hates.
b) You can have the love of God in your heart and hate the things God hates. But if you have the love of God in your heart, you will NOT be selfish.
2. When you allow the love of God to fill your heart, you live your life focused on others.
a) If you read the beatitudes, you will see that Jesus put great emphasis on our conduct. He wants us to live a certain way, and that is with a heart yielded towards God and focused on being a blessing to others.
b) Jesus summed up the Old Testament, the entire Law and all the writings of the prophets, into two things: Love God with all your heart and love others the way you love yourself. Your treatment of others is SO important that Jesus included it as one of the two things that summarize the entire message of the Bible.
c) The way you prove your love for God is by showing love towards others. If you are selfish, you are most certainly NOT operating in God’s love.
3. The purpose of God’s blessing.
a) When God’s love fills your heart it gives you a DESIRE to want to be a blessing to others. But unless you have the RESOURCES to do something about your DESIRE, you will have a great dream in your heart, but you will be frustrated that you cannot bring it to pass. This is where The Blessing comes in. God is not opposed to blessing you richly. But the purpose of blessing you, is so that you can BE a blessing to others.
b) It is clear that God does not want you to live a selfish life. He does not want you to spend your life focused simply on you and your family. This is why He has NO PROBLEM blessing you with excess. If you read the Old Testament, you will see a God who always provides MORE than enough. But He gives you the excess so you don’t have to worry about you and yours. He gives you the excess so you can live your life focused on others. He gives you an excess of love, peace, grace, favor, and finance, so you can be a distribution center for Him in this world.
c) The purpose of prosperity is evangelism. Once your needs are met, you live every day focused on sharing the love of God with the world.
Closing Confession: Father, this is a year of Great Victory for me. I can say this without reservation, because I know You love me. Your love has filled my heart. I now have an overwhelming desire to reach the lost for Jesus and to share Your love with everyone. This is why You bless me richly. You bless me to the point where my family is taken care of and I am free to live every day focused on BEING a blessing to others. I will share Your love and light in this world, because Your love is in my heart and Your blessing is on my life. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
