How do we identify a follower of Jesus? The answer isn’t easy; it’s obvious, but it isn’t easy. The feature characteristic of one who follows Jesus is an evidencing of the love of Jesus.
Observations:
- Love is intentional
- Love is a verb
- Love defines the ministry of a disciple
Conclusions:
- If your discipleship isn’t characterized by love it is worthless
- If your discipleship isn’t characterized by love it is Spiritless
- If your discipleship isn’t characterized by love it is temporary
Application: Make the love of God intentional in your discipleship by:
- Identify: Am I doing this for me for someone else in Jesus name?
- Ask for the Spirit’s help, leadership, direction, and power
- Pattern your discipleship after Jesus
John 15:9-12
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
1 John 3:18
“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
James 2:15-16
“Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?”
John 13:34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Romans 5:8
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 8:12-13
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
Galatians 5:16-17
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”
Galatians 6:7-8
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
1 John 4:7-12
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”