A New Years Resolution
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us.
I John 4:15-18
This past Saturday the disciples in Eugene were together in each other’s homes bringing in the new year. The brothers and sisters gathered in the homes of the Hacketts and the Ciaramellas to spend New Year’s Eve with the family of God. Amy and I were very encouraged to have the “saints” in our home, and just like the disciples in the 1st century (Acts 2:42-47), we broke bread together “with glad and sincere hearts.” (Acts 2:42-48). The singing and guitar playing filled our home with a spiritual warmth and made it a special time together.
The sermon was entitled, “A New Years Resolution” (speakers notes)/(streming audio) which the focus was 1 John 4:7-21. Rich Hackett, Jr. and I had decided to preach this to our ministries after we had a discipleship time together last week with our wives. During that time it became clear to us that we all could use a solid reminder of how deeply we are commanded by God to love each other. The four of us had come to the conclusion that God is calling us back to loving each other with depth and perseverance in 2006.
As I preached I John 4 the call to being totally committed to each other rang out from the scriptures. We all have our reasons for the temptation to pull back our hearts from one another. In any relationship that we have there is going to be sin, because we are all sinners - Romans 3:23. Since none of us are Jesus, all of us must be like him and be merciful in our relationships. “Perfect love drives out fear.” (I John 4:18) We cannot use being afraid to get hurt or reliving past hurts we have suffered as excuses to not be totally committed to loving the fellowship. It is a matter of how we are going to view meetings of the body - are they opportunities to love the brothers and sisters? This is why we have bible talks, midweeks, Sunday church services, and Campus/Singles Friday devotionals. These are opportunities to love those who do the will of God - His family by His definition. (Mark 3:31-35)
The first point was “Got Love? Get God!”. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” (I John 4:7) If we are going to have a sound idea of what love is, then we need to go to God’s word and get conviction on what it really means to be loving. The scriptures teach clearly the manifestations of love in I Corinthians 13:4-8. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” I asked the disciples to think about how patient they were with their spouses, with their roommates, their co-workers and bosses as well as the brothers and sisters here in the Eugene church. The saying goes, “familiarity breeds contempt” - because the closer you are to someone then the easier it is to see their faults. I shared that when I put my wife on “eggshells” or I lack patience - it shows me that I must get more time with God! Get more God, so we have more love!
It is so critical to have a wholehearted devotion when it comes to a daily walk with the Father. This is because we are commanded by Jesus to love each other no matter what the circumstances. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) Rich pointed out that Jesus loves us even when we must look very awkward and “quirky” in His perfect sight. Jesus continues to love us, even though many times we have hurt him with our sin. Jesus was a “people person” by all means. I have heard the excuse before - “I don’t believe in ‘organized religion’, me and God and that’s enough…”. It is against God’s commands if we are not engaged and devoted to one another in brotherly love just like Jesus! There will always be times when we don’t feel good spiritually, mentally, or physically (tired, sniffle, long day at work). At such times a meeting of the body seems like a lot to ask. If we lack a “sold out” attitude when it comes to meetings of the body it is because we do not have enough God in us. Got love? No? Get God!
The last point was “Got Excuse? Get Truth.” God’s word says “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.” (I Peter 1:22) The bible is very clear - if we do not obey the truth then we are not pure and do not have sincere love for one another. When we do obey God’s word - the truth - we have a deep love for each other that is sincere and from the heart. Amy and I are very grateful for the sincere love we have in our discipling relationships with the Hacketts and with the McKeans. The consistent involvement in each others lives has built friendships that call us to obedience to the truth in our day to day walk. We all need depth like this and love like this. If it was not a need, these scriptures commanding us to love each other daily (Hebrews 3:12-14) like this simply would not exist.
“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.” I John 4:16-17. The scripture here teaches us if we “Got Excuse” then we “got no reason” to have confidence on the day of judgment. Clearly this new years resolution to love one another is critical in the eyes of our God.
The fellowship after the communion together was inspiring! We spent the night having a lot of fun together - playing cards, eating, and have great talks with each other. It was certainly a refreshing time of taking advantage of an opportunity to love one another, and a perfect way to start the new year - resolved to love.
Jeremy Ciaramella
