I have to be honest with you, for the first 36 years of my life, I was pretty much living a lie. Here’s what the lie looked like. You’re told in this world that if you work hard enough, you do anything that you want to do. You can be anyone you want to be. You can have anything you want to have. Just work hard and you’ll make it. Just work hard and you’ll be successful.

So I did. I worked incredibly hard – as a military officer, then in my own IT consulting firm – and with my business partners we built a pretty successful, international practice. I drove a big, expensive car. Lived in a big house and was on my way to real success.

The problem was that on the inside – and let’s face it that’s where we live, that’s where our emotions and our feelings and our thoughts are – it didn’t feel satisfying.

That was a real insight for me. Success isn’t satisfying. The world will tell you it is, but it simply isn’t. It’s hollow. Any happiness or satisfaction it brings you is fleeting – here today, gone tomorrow.

So in a very real sense, I felt like a fraud. Other people looked at me and saw success, but I was discovering something else entirely. And when other people looked at me, they saw a tough, hard nosed so and so, that would climb over anybody to get where he was going.

You see that’s the other part of the lie that I was living. I didn’t see people for who they really were. I didn’t see other people’s gifts and abilities and talents and creativity. Other people didn’t have any real worth to me, except to the extent that they could act as stepping stones for me to walk over, to get to where I was going.

That’s quite an admission really isn’t it. But there you go, that was the lie I was living. And these days, as I look around, I see so many other people living out their versions of life’s lie. You’ll be happy if you have this, if you buy a cute puppy, then you’ll be happy. If you hit budget this month, if you do this, if you do that … then you’ll be successful. And so what happens is that the world has become uber–competitive. The world has become transactional. And in the middle of all that, love has become conditional.

As I said earlier, we’re in the middle of a series of messages called “Love Is” based on that powerful Scripture about love that we find in 1 Cor 13. Let’s have a listen:

1 Cor 13: 4–7 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

And the part that I’d like to take a brief look at today, is the bit where it says that love doesn’t rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. To be honest, I think most of us don’t think all that often of love and truth in the one sentence. What does truth have to do with love, after all? Good question.

And the answer is, rather a lot. I mentioned earlier how badly I treated people back in those days when I was living my personal version of the lies that we live. And that’s what happens. When we’re living a lie, when we’re kidding ourselves, when we’ve lost site of the truth, we treat people badly.

And we justify that, by telling ourselves that our career is more important, or success is more important or whatever it is that we’re striving for is more important. And so what we end up doing is exactly what the Apostle Paul writes there in 1 Cor 13 verse 6, we end up rejoicing in wrongdoing.

Now not everyone is a Type A driven person like me. Some people live their lie at the opposite end of the spectrum. Some people believe the lie that they’re worthless. No good. Failures. There’s no hope. Nothing’s ever going to change. These days we have a label for all that – we bundle it together and call it low self–esteem. And those people end up living their lives as victims, and in the process, they treat other people badly as well, because they have no love to give. They’re so insecure, that whenever anyone disagrees with them, whenever anyone doesn’t treat them exactly the way they believe they ought to be treated, they start behaving badly.

Love doesn’t rejoice in wrongdoing. Love rejoices in the truth. Makes sense when you look at it that way. There’s a parable that Jesus told that’s had a huge impact on me, in helping me to see the truth. Have a listen:

Luke 18:9–14: He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income. ’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner! ’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted

I used to be like that Pharisee, all full of self–righteousness. The thing that changed me was encountering Jesus. Having a personal encounter, getting to know Him, giving my life to Him. It didn’t take long for me to realise, in the presence of Jesus, that I was living a lie. And now when I go to God, I feel so much more like the tax collector, totally reliant on God’s grace to deliver me from my sin. Jesus said this very same thing in a different way in His famous sermon on the mount.

Matthew 5:3: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In other words those who are going to inherit the kingdom of God are the ones who realise their spiritual poverty. Those who get real with themselves. Those who see things for what they are – who see themselves and others for who they are.

Okay, so I’ve laid my soul bare before you today. I’ve shared with you part of my journey from a life of lies, to a life of truth – a journey which, by the way, has a long way to run yet. None of us has arrived yet … at least I haven’t. But what about your life. To what extent are you living a life that’s tainted, distorted, misdirected by some lies that the world has dropped on your head and into your heart.

As I mentioned earlier, I really would love to send you a free copy of our latest life application booklet. It’s called Love Is. And as well as picking up on the teaching in this series, each chapter has a series of life application questions, to help you apply God’s Word to your life. To help you lay hold of the freedom that Jesus came to bring you.

So, you can request your free copy right now online at christianityworks.com. You’ll see that free offer right there, front and centre on the home page. Just click on it, pop in your name and email, and it will be winging its way to your inbox in just seconds.

And while you’re there, don’t forget that you can have instant access to the free eDevotional – words of inspiration, hope and encouragement delivered right to your inbox each weekday. It’s all about helping you to live each day in victory.

The name of that free booklet is Love Is … and that web address, is christianityworks.com.

Jesus came to set you free  …

What are you striving for perhaps? Or what sense of inadequacy is robbing you of the ability to love? They’re hard questions, but questions that need to be answered if you’re going to live in the freedom that Jesus came to bring you.

It can be scary to confront those lies. It’s hard to admit that we’ve not been loving people the way we should, because we’re the ones who have been getting things wrong. But there’s no need to be afraid. The Apostle John puts it this way:

1 John 4:18: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.

My friend, Jesus came to set you free. And as He said of Himself, when the Son of Man sets you free, you will be free indeed. The reason we’re chatting about this today, is that I believe that Jesus wants to set you free today – not just a little bit, but completely. Free indeed.

How about it. Love doesn’t rejoice in wrongdoing. Love rejoices in the truth.

The statistics about divorce rates in the western world seem to be on the improve. That’s a surprise to some people. Here in Australia where I live, around 40% of first marriages end in divorce. That’s down slightly from around 43% and all indications are that the trend is continuing. That’s a good thing, right? I suspect things are pretty much the same across the western world.

But what that apparently promising statistic hides, is the reality that far fewer people are getting married in the first place. Most couples these days live together first … the try before you buy model. And a bunch of them come to the conclusion – what’s the point of getting a marriage certificate. Things are just fine the way they are.

And so in a sense, those divorce statistics are being skewed by the fact that, probably, those marriages that were more likely to have failed, didn’t happen in the first place. There don’t appear to be any stats on failed de facto relationships.

It’s funny, although perhaps not all that surprising, how the nature of relationships change, the more affluent a society becomes. When you’re living in poverty, people rely a lot on each other. On community, on family. Those social constructs are vital, in fact, to survival. But the more affluent we become the less reliant we are on one another.

When I was young most wives and mothers worked at home, not outside the home. Marriages hung together more, because it was hard for the woman to leave, even when the man was behaving badly. I’m not saying that men behaving badly is a good thing, nor am I saying that wives being completely financially dependent on their husbands is a good thing. I’m just stating a historical fact.

These days however, many women (depending on where you live of course) are financially independent, so it’s no surprise that most divorces are initiated by women.

My point in all this, is that as we become more affluent, relationships become less important to our survival and therefore more disposable – like an empty takeaway coffee cup. Just through it in the bin. It’s all getting too hard. The pain of dealing with the same faults, the same foibles, the same weaknesses … I just can’t see it getting any better. I’ve had enough. Not just in marriages, but in wider families, amongst so–called friends. That’s it! In the bin.

If you’ve been able to join me on the program over this past week and a half, you’ll know that we’re in the middle of a series of messages called “Love Is”, based on that famous passage about love in first Corinthians in the New Testament. Want to dive into that right now and see what it says about disposable love:

1 Cor 13:7: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Now the Bible says of itself that all scripture is useful for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness. You’ll find that in 2 Tim 3:16 a bit later on in the NT. And that is true. But as scriptures go, I think you’ll struggle to find many verses in the Bible that pack more punch, in so few words, than this one. 1 Cor 13:7. Let me read it again, slowly, just so that you can take it in.

1 Cor 13:7: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Let’s just pull that apart for a moment. Love bears all things. No, there are no exclusions in the fine print. Love bears all things. All the mistakes of the other person. All their failures and foibles. All that they’ve done, are doing and will do wrong. Love, real love, true love – unconditional love, which is the sort of love that is being talked about here – real love bears all things.

I have some dear friends going back many years. And a good many years ago, the husband had an affair – actually, a couple of affairs. And whilst she had to show some tough love, his wife stood by him and all these years on, they are happily married. ALL things. Love also believes all things and hopes all things.

It’s so easy to get discouraged in relationships. Really it is. You know the old Chinese water torture where they’d torture a man by dripping water on his forehead for days on end until each drop felt like a brick. That’s how it is in close relationships too. A person’s weaknesses, when they impact you again and again, end up feeling like torture. You want to give up. You can’t see any hope of things getting better.

Love bears all things, love believes all things and love hopes all things. Love always looks for the good. Love always believes the best and hopes for the best and tries to bring the best out in the other person. Love always finds a way. Love takes that difficult person to God and hands them over to Him.

Lord I can’t help this person but you can. Lord I can’t get through to them but you can. And Lord while you’re working in their life, in their heart, work in mine too. Make me the best husband, the best wife the best parent, the best son or daughter, the best friend that I can possibly be to them. Show me how I can be a help and not a hindrance. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I can bear all things, so that I can believe in you, home in you for things to change in Jesus’ name … in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen

That’s what love does my friend. And on top of that … love endures all things. Have you ever done endurance training. I have, in the military. There is one thing that all forms of endurance training have in common. They all hurt. A lot. By definition, if you’re doing endurance training, you’re hurting. There is no form of endurance that doesn’t hurt, got it?!

1 Cor 13:7: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Do you see how much punch that verse packs? What would this world look like if we decided just to live out that one verse?

I passionately believe that God is speaking to us – to you and to me – through His Word today. And here’s how it goes. There is such incredible power in the Word of God. I think we Christians often trifle with God’s Word, as though somehow, it’s just words on a page. But no!

Hebr 4:12: Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two- edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

And that’s what I believe is happening here in our hearts today. I want to take you now into your relationships, the ones that are difficult right at the moment. The ones where you’re losing hope, where you’re feeling as though it’s never, ever, ever going to get any better. I believe those are the relationships that the Lord is speaking into today.

And I believe that He wants you to hear this singular message very clearly: in Him there is hope. In Him you can believe for good things. In Him, in His power, in the power of the Holy Spirit, you can endure all things. And while all this is going on. While you feel the hurt and the pain, He is doing a mighty work in you. He is changing you, softening you, humbling you and getting you ready for the amazing things that lie ahead.

Things that you wouldn’t be able to do, if you hadn’t travelled through these difficult days.

Can I tell you, a couple of decades ago, I went through great hurt and what felt like great harm in this area of love in my life. I met Jesus in that place. And if I hadn’t been through that terrible time back then, I wouldn’t be able to share the love of God with you today as I do.

There is hope, in Christ and Christ alone. And I’m absolutely convinced that that’s the good news that He wants you to hear today.

God’s Word is so powerful isn’t it? And I’m praying that right now, and over the coming days and weeks, He will be working in your heart so that His love will pour into you and overflow out of you into the parched, dry lives of so many of the people around you.

And to help you with that, you can listen to each of the messages in this series again, right now, online at christianityworks.com. Just click on the A Different Perspective icon at the bottom of the homepage and you’ll see them all right there.

You can stream them online, download the audio or transcript, even subscribe to the podcast.

And while you’re there, check out the treasure trove of free resources – like the Christianityworks daily eDevotional. Words of inspiration, hope and encouragement delivered right to your inbox, on your smartphone, tablet or computer each weekday.

It’s all about helping you live out each and every day in the victory that Jesus came to give you. And, like everything else on the site, it’s completely free. That web address again is christianityworks.com.

Lord I just pray for each one of us. I pray that you will truly fill us with your love. I pray that your power will fill us to overflowing. I pray that your Spirit will show us the opportunities before us to love the unlovable. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Thank you so much for joining me today. I’m Berni Dymet and I’ll catch you again, same time tomorrow , with … A Different Perspective.

So, over the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about Love. L–O–V–E. The one topic that more songs have been written about and crooned over than any other topic. I’m pretty sure that you could think of your top 3, favourite love songs of all times. For me, it’s Sinead O’Connor – Nothing Compares to You, Roberta Flack – The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, and Elvis Presley – Love Me Tender.

There are thousands, I dare say tens of thousands of love songs out there. I wonder which one is your favourite. There is something so beautiful, so wondrous about love isn’t there. To love and to be loved – I just don’t think there is anything that tops that. To have that connection with someone, where when something good happens in your life, you can’t wait to pick up the phone and share that. When something bad happens, you can’t wait to share that with them too.

That deep connection, that bond. That’s what makes the world go round, right? But as many love songs that there are out there, there are also plenty about love lost. James Blunt’s “Goodbye my Lover” I think is one of the most touching ones on the planet. If you haven’t heard it, have a listen. There is a great tragedy when a relationship of great love is broken.

We talked recently on the program/ earlier about the divorce statistics. But behind each statistic, behind each divorce, lies the deep tragedy, the deep hurt of a broken relationship. It’s interesting what Jesus says about the marriage relationship, as He quotes the book of Genesis:

Matthew 19:3–6: Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.

It’s this idea that when a man marries a woman, they become one flesh – they become one unit, in a relationship of love and intimacy that mirrors the relationship between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

And when you tear apart what God has joined together, it is the most incredibly painful thing that anyone can imagine. We’re talking in this series about love – what love is – in fact, that’s the name of the series – Love Is.

Because love is so much more than the romantic crooning of the love songs. Love is so much more than romance and sex, as wonderful and as essential as those things are in a marriage relationship. Love goes so much wider than marriage – to family and yes to friends. You and I can show love to awork colleague, to a neighbour, to a member of our local football club. Love has a place in every relationship.

Yesterday on the program/before the break we took a look at one of the most power packed verses in the Bible. It’s a verse that punches way above it’s weight, way above the very few words that it uses.

1 Cor 13:7: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

It talks about a love that doesn’t give up. A love that bears all things, believes and hopes all things and above all endures all things – as much as that endurance hurts.

At this point, I want to take a look at the three types of love spoken about in the New Testament. There are three Greek words used for love.

The first one is eros from which we get the word erotic. It speaks of physical intimacy and sexual love. The second one is phileo from which we get words like filial. It speaks of the love between friends or siblings. And the third one, is the word Or agape however you’d like to say it. Now, I want to take you to a very clear definition of what this word agape actually means, because that’s the word used here in 1 Cor 13. That’s the sort of love that we’re talking about here.

Agape is selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love, the highest of the three types of love in the Bible. It perfectly describes the love that God has for us, by sending Jesus to the Cross, to pay for our sin so that we can have a new life, a resurrection life, being born again to live with Him for eternity.

Selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. That’s powerful isn’t it and the very next verse after 1 Cor 13:7 that we just read, seals the deal in terms of what that sort of love means.

1 Cor 13:8: Love never ends.

It is so easy to want to give up on love when the going gets tough. When love stops being a feeling and becomes a tough decision that we have to make every day. It’s easy to love someone when the going is good. They’re nice to us, they respond to us, they treat us the way we want to be treated.

But that’s not the way love is all of the time. Imperfect people – which is pretty much, now … let me see, that would be 100% of the people out there – imperfect people are so hard to love. We so want to give up loving them sometimes. We start by hardening our hearts against them to protect ourselves. Then we sart reliving their faults over and over in our minds – which only hardens our hearts more.

Then we start imagining … no, it’s more than that, dreaming about a life without them. And then, sadly, people just walk away from that love.

But God’s love for us never ends. And that’s the sort of love that He’s calling you and me to. The sort that bears all things, hopes all things, believes all things and endures all things. The sort of love that never, ever, ever ends. No matter what.

I don’t know, but my hunch is that there’s a relationship in your life right now, a relationship that’s supposed to be filled with love, that you want to walk away from. A relationship where you’re fed up, where you’ve had enough, where you’ve lost hope. And it’s right into that situation that I believe the Lord is speaking. Right into that difficult place.

I just believe with all my heart that He’s wanting to write these words onto your heart: love … never … ends.

Don’t give up. How many times have you had to go to God and ask for His forgiveness through what Jesus did for you? Has He ever not forgiven you? Has He ever said to you, nope, that’s it, I’ve had enough of you. You’ve just hurt me one time to many. I don’t think you’re ever going to change. I don’t think I can put up with you anymore. I’ve just had enough of you, I’m out of here.

Has He ever, ever said that to you? No! Every time you turn back to Him, he rejoices like the father of the prodigal son who returned. When the prodigal son came to his senses …

Luke 15:20: … he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.

That’s God’s love for you. That’s what it looks like and it’s that love that His Holy Spirit would pour into your heart. So when the person you love hurts you, offends you, disappoints you … it won’t feel anymore like it’s about you. Instead the love of God for that person will ache in your heart. The same love that God has for you will be the love, the unconditional love, the never ending love with which you will love them.

The love that never ends.

Here at Christianityworks we’ve just published a life application booklet called Love Is. It picks up on some of the teaching in this series and each chapter has a series of life application questions, to help you live out God’s Word in your life.

And you can request your very own FREE copy right now, online at christianityworks.com. You’ll see that free offer right there, in the middle of the home page – you can’t miss it. Just click on the offer, pop in your name and email, and it will be on its way to your inbox in a flash. It really is that easy.

And while you’re there, don’t forget to check out the audio lounge. A treasure trove of teaching resources, arranged by topics that will interest you. You’ll find the Audio Lounge in the Resources section of the site.

But back to that free booklet. It’s called Love Is … and the web address, is christianityworks.com.

Remember, God loves you with the most amazing love and He is ready, willing and able to pour that love into your heart, in your most difficult and most painful relationships.

Hatred is rather a strong word isn’t it? But then again, according to Wikipedia, there are 54 armed conflicts underway in the world right at the moment. So yeah, there’s more than enough hatred to go around.

But maybe in your everyday life, hatred doesn’t quite fit. You perhaps don’t necessarily hate anyone. I know I don’t. So let’s now step it down to systematised, institutionalised self–interest. That’s a bit long winded and high falutin’ so what do I mean? Well, we all by clothes – and the chances are that the majority of the clothes that you buy and wear, not all, but the majority, were made in a sweatshop in a developing country, where the workers face harsh and dangerous conditions.

Some countries even have designated zones where labour laws are suspended and people live like battery hens, to produce the well known brands we wear. Not to mention the smartphones and tablets we use.

Well, Berni – you may say – I can’t help that. It’s not that I want to exploit those people, it’s just how things are. I can’t change them. Fair enough.

Then let’s drill down and get even closer to home. Think about your attitudes and behaviours towards people at work. Many people work in a competitive environment, where you not only have to succeed but be seen to succeed to get ahead. You get up in the morning, shower, breakfast, and then it’s off on the commute. Struggling through the traffic, honking your horn at the selfish idiot who won’t let you merge lanes. Or perhaps it’s the train or the bus where everybody jostles for a seat, or even just a bit of personal space.

By the time you get to work, you’re frazzled and in no mood for that incompetent boss of yours, so you join in the gossip in the tea room, complaining about this and that. Does any of that sound even vaguely familiar. And then by the time you get home, you’re snapping at your husband or wife or the kids. You feel like kicking the dog instead of patting him. Okay, maybe I’, taking the metaphor just a bit far, but you get my point.

Be it the geopolitical level, the economic level, or the personal level, there’s a whole lot of room for us to live out a whole lot more love, would you agree. Growing in this area of love is something that would make such a difference to the world – in our own lives, in the lives of those whom we love, those whom we work with …. Our whole circle of influence.

I want to take you back now to the central scripture that we’ve been looking at in this series. Let me read it to you and presuming that you’re not driving at the moment or operating heavy machinery, just close your eyes and soak it up. Think about what God’s saying in the context of the love that you try to live out in your life:

1 Cor 13:1–13: If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Yeah, at the end of the day, there’s be three things left. Faith – well, that’s super important, right. Hope – can’t keep going through it all without hope. But without a doubt, the greatest one is love.

Without love, it doesn’t matter how clever, or talented, or sacrificial or industrious we are, it’s worth nothing – you know people like that. So do I – in fact, I used to be one.

I’m thinking what my little corner of the world would look like, if I picked up and owned and lived just these few verses, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day – much more so than I do now. I’m thinking what your little corner of the world would look like if you did the same:

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

Darkness can never consume light, since, after all, as a young Einstein pointed out to his atheist teacher, darkness is simply the absence of light. And so hatred, apathy, selfishness can never snuff out love, because they are simply the absence of love. And, selfish creatures that we are, the place where we discover an absolute abundance of love is in God Himself.

1 John 4:7,14–18: Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. …

And the nearer we draw to Jesus, the more we get to know Him personally, the more His love starts to change how we see things. How we feel about other people. How we behave towards other people.
All too often, we here a message like this one and what we take away is “I have to love people more.” Okay, who am I not being nice to? What do I have to change? What are the opportunities to love them better? And whilst none of those are bad questions to ask, if we think that it’s all about what we have to do, then we’ve completely missed the point.

Over the years I’ve had some people in my life who I’ve found incredibly frustrating. There are a couple of people who betrayed me deeply. And I used to think, I just have to change my attitude. I just have to change my behaviour. But I don’t know if you’ve noticed, it’s pretty much impossible to do. Because before we can change on the outside, something has to change in our heart.

Matthew 15:17–20: Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.

In other words, if we want to change on the outside, first we need, as we would say today, to have a change of heart. And that’s exactly what God promises you:

Ezekiel 36:26–27: A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.

Real, lasting, powerful change doesn’t happen when we work harder. It happens when God the Holy Spirit changes our hearts. When he replaces the heart of stone with a heart of flesh. Then, all of sudden, living God’s way becomes a whole bunch easier. Why don’t we get that?

I’m truly praying that God’s Word will have a real impact in your life today, tomorrow and over the coming months and years. When all is said and done, the most important thing is love.

And that’s why in our audio lounge at christianityworks.com you’ll find a whole section dedicated to the topic of love. The reality is that the more we receive God’s Word into our heart, the more the Holy Spirit transforms us and achieves the changes that, no matter how hard we try, we can’t make on our own.

So please, stop by at christianityworks.com, check out the audio lounge, the TV programs, all the free booklets and downloads. It’s all designed to help you grow and mature in the Lord, to experience the peace and the joy that Jesus came to give you. I’m so passionate about seeing that happen in your life – in fact, it’s the reason I do what I do.

And listen, while you’re there, don’t forget that you can have instant access to our free, daily eDevotional. Words of inspiration, hope and encouragement delivered right to the inbox on your smartphone, tablet or computer.

That’s all at christianityworks.com.

It’s been great to be able to spend this time with you today. I’m Berni Dymet and I’ll catch you again, same time tomorrow, with … A Different Perspective.

The Bible says that God is love. The Bible says that God loves us – you, me and every other homosapian on this earth. The Bible says that we’re created in His image, and that despite our rebellion, despite the fact that that original image has been marred and disfigured almost beyond recognition, He wants to restore us back into that original image. The Bible says …

Now at this point, I know what more than a few people are thinking. The BIBLE says! Whoop. Big deal. Come and look at my life. Come and look at my lousy marriage, my rebellious children, my loneliness, my pain, my financial hardship, the losses I’ve been through, the complete lack of hope for the future.

Come and look at that … and then tell me what the Bible says. And if you relate to any of that, just a bit of that, then today, I want to share some good news with you. I want to put God’s love under the microscope for you. Let’s make like we’re in a court of law, in a trial that accuses God of loving us.

The question I want to answer here is this: Is there enough evidence to convict Him. Now please don’t right in or email or call – I don’t mean that disrespectfully at all. I simply want to see what the evidence tells us as to whether God loves us or not. So … where do you begin. I’d like to suggest that we begin at the beginning. Let’s take a look:

Genesis 1:26–31: And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

So God goes on to create the whole universe and then … then He gives it away to you and me. The whole, cotton pickin’ lot. But it’s not just that. It’s not just an act of incredible generosity, it’s an act of incredibly vulnerability. Not on our part, but on God’s. Because He creates us knowing full well, that, having given us a free will, we would turn our backs on Him. We would rebel against Him.

In fact, if you like, that’s the whole story of the Old Testament in a nutshell. God’s people rebelling against God. The name “Israel” literally means to struggle with God. And through all the ups and downs of the Old Testament, one thing becomes abundantly clear. It’s this: that in our relationship with God, we will never, ever, ever be able to hold up our end of the bargain. We will always fall short. And that’s exactly what the Apostle Paul writes in the New Testament:

Romans 3:23: For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. … and

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death.

So … what to do? Now God has a dilemma. If He truly is a God of love, does He put sinners to death? That is after all what it says there. I mean if He truly is a God of justice, He has to follow through. So His response to this dilemma is a real test of His love for us.

So, what is His response? Well, let’s look at the whole of Romans 6:23:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The price of justice is paid when Jesus, the Son of God, takes our sin on His shoulders so that we can be forgiven. In fact, when you think about it, this is the only way to solve the dilemma, by meeting the requirements of both justice and love.

So, forensically, what does this tell us about God’s love? Again, Jesus puts it this way:

John 15:12–13: This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.

Just the other night on the evening news where I live, there was a story of a father who died, drowned in the surf saving his sons who were caught in a rip. Now, you might expect a father to do that for his sons. They after all HIS sons. He loves them. If I had to put my life in harm’s way for my children, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t even think about it. I love them. They’re my children.

The question however is, would you put yourself in harm’s way for someone who has treated you badly? Would you lay down your life for someone who has rebelled against you, spoken badly of you, turned their back on you? Well, would you? Have a listen:

Romans 5:6–8: For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

And that my friend, right there, is proof positive of God’s love for you. I know that things in your life may not be perfect in every department. I know that you may be suffering over this thing or that thing. And I know, believe you me, I know – I’ve been there – that life can sometimes look so bleak, so desperate that you can’t even see how you’re going to make it through until tomorrow.

But right in the middle of whatever it is that you’re going through at the moment, God has something to say to you. Through His Word today, He’s saying “I love you more than words can ever say. Just look at my Son. Look at how He suffered and died for you.” That’s how much I love you. That’s what you are worth to me.

And you know, it’s not until we feel loved that we can ever love other people. If you don’t feel secure in love, you don’t have any love to give. So many people are missing out on the abundant life that Jesus came to give them because they know about God, they just don’t know Him personally.

And if that’s sounds like you, then why not pray this prayer with me:

Father God, I’ve heard about your love today. I’ve heard about Jesus and I want to accept Jesus as my Saviour and the Lord of my life. I want to experience for real this love that I’ve heard about. So please forgive me, please accept me just as I am, please fill me to overflowing with your Spirit and your love. In Jesus name. Amen.

If you just prayed that prayer, you are forgiven, you have been made whole. And your life has just completely changed, for ever and ever. Amen.

And please don’t forget about that free life application booklet I’ve been telling you about. It’s called Love Is … and it’s all about picking up on some of the teaching in this series, and helping you apply it to your life.

You can request your free copy right now, online at christianityworks.com. You’ll see that free offer right there, in the middle of the home page – you can’t miss it. Just click on the offer, pop in your name and email, and it will be on its way to your inbox in a flash. It really is that easy.

And while you’re there, don’t forget to check out the audio lounge. A treasure trove of teaching resources, arranged by topics that will interest you. You’ll find the Audio Lounge in the Resources section of the site.

But back to that free booklet. It’s called Love Is … and the web address, is christianityworks.com.

Love Is.  My prayer for you …