Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Speaker A: Welcome to the weekday podcast of Sugar Hill Church where we desire to help you know God and discover your purpose, whether you're exercising, driving, meditating, or just hanging out while you tune in with us today. Thanks. We hope these next five minutes help you feel encouraged and inspired for your day.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: Hi everybody and thanks so much for joining me on another weekday podcast. This is Pastor Chuck Allen and I'm so glad that you're here today. I want to talk about Uncle Unselfish Motives. If you've ever heard me preach or you've listened to this podcast much, you know I'm big on this one statement that the Gospel story through from Genesis through the book of the Revelation is truly all about the heart. Listen to what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13. He says, if I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains but do not have love, I'm nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship, that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. You know, when he was writing this, there was a rampage of persecution happening in the church and there in Corinth it was really, really strong. And to this day it still rages on in some parts of the world. There were some early Christians who thought their suffering, especially death by martyrdom, was the most important part of being a Christian. But Paul teaches them the importance and priority of love, that without it nothing is gained. Not only do we gain nothing, we are nothing without love. Love is the absolute most important thing, so important that any sacrifice we make is no value without it. That's where it gets to the matter of the heart. There's four words to describe love found in the Greek language, the Greek language being what the New Testament was written in. In this verse, the word agape is used A G, A P, E. It's a self sacrificing love given without, without expectations, without repayment or ulterior motive, unselfish motives. It's not given out of pride. It's not there for somebody to get a pat on the back or for personal gain. And no condition can be met by the receiver agape. Love has little to do with the feeling of love and a lot to do with self denial for the sake of someone else. It's service with another's best interest in mind, it's the acts of service given not only to the easy to love, but to the obnoxious. Obnoxious, intolerable, unloving. And for that one difficult family member that drives you crazy every holiday. The second greatest commandment after the first, which is to love God with everything in us, is to love others, all of them. Agape love is awakened when we realize God's agape love for us. And we only understand agape love because he agape loved us first. 1 John 4:19 tells us that we'll never truly be able to live agape love for someone else until we first grasp how wide, how long, how high, and how deep is God's love and his sacrifice for me and you. You know, when I think of agape love, I think of those who had nothing to gain from what they forfeited to care for me. I think of friends who genuinely step in in times of need and do what they can because they just love.
I mean, according to Paul, love surpasses all the gifts we have, all the genuine good that we can do, and all the insincere good we can do. I mean, that's pure love. It's our calling.
Can you think of a time you made a sacrifice, but its purpose was to gain something, maybe admiration or an upward climb, or maybe a false kindness with hopes of getting something in return. I mean, I have. I've done that.
I guess the question should be, could our prayer include God? Thank you for offering me your unconditional sacrificial love, and might I in return, Lord, pass that on to others, show me the gifts and sacrifices that you would have me offer and place the people in my path that would allow me to know how best to serve them and love them. God bless you friend. Thanks so much for joining me on today's weekday podcast and may you go in peace.
[00:04:23] Speaker A: Thanks so much for joining us today for the weekday podcast. Our prayer is that the encouragement you just heard would help you live more like Jesus today. Today we would love to see you at Sugar Hill Church for one of our gatherings each Sunday at 9, 15 and 11. And we're always streaming live at live Sugar Hill Church. Thanks again for joining us today. As always, if today's message encouraged you, share it with friends and family by tapping the share button. Have an awesome day.
