Love: Jonathan

Sermon Summary:

This powerful message invites us into a summer-long journey exploring what it means to be difference makers in our world through the fruit of the Spirit. We’re challenged with a compelling truth: no one drifts toward godliness. Being intentional disciples requires us to actively follow Jesus in every area of life, constantly asking ourselves, ‘Is this the Jesus way?’ The exploration begins with love, examining the remarkable story of Jonathan and David from 1 Samuel 18. Here we witness covenantal love at its finest—Jonathan, the crown prince of Israel, surrendering his claim to the throne and pledging allegiance to David, knowing God’s hand had shifted from his father Saul to this shepherd boy. Jonathan’s actions reveal love that is sacrificial, loyal, and oriented toward another’s good rather than personal gain. We’re then reminded of Jesus weeping at Lazarus’s tomb, demonstrating that divine love doesn’t distance itself from our pain but enters fully into our grief. The message challenges us to examine whether our love produces flourishing in others or merely serves our own interests. True spiritual love, we learn, is healthy rather than smothering, sacrificial rather than selfish, and expressed through actions that foster life, growth, and respect in those around us.

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Sermon Points:

Key Takeaways:

• No one drifts toward godliness; intentional discipleship is required to be difference makers
• The theme verse for summer is John 15:8 – bearing fruit proves we are Christ’s disciples
• The fruit we bear is not merely our accomplishments but Christ’s character reproduced in us
• Jonathan demonstrated covenantal love by surrendering his claim to the throne and pledging allegiance to David
• Jesus wept at Lazarus’s tomb, displaying genuine compassion despite knowing He would raise him
• Spiritual love is based on our relationship with God, who is love Himself (1 John 4)
• True love is sacrificial, seeking the best for others rather than personal gain
• Godly love fosters life, growth, respect, and human flourishing in others
• Love reveals itself in a life oriented away from self and toward service of others
• Healthy spiritual love brings hope and healing, not manipulation or control

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Scripture References:

• John 15:8 (theme verse)
• 1 Samuel 18:1-4 (Jonathan’s covenant with David)
• John 11:32-36 (Jesus weeping at Lazarus’s tomb)
• 1 John 4 (God is love)
• Romans 5:5 (God’s love poured into our hearts)
• Galatians 5 (fruit of the Spirit)

Stories:

• Children’s camp vocabulary lessons including “doom scrolling” and “touch grass” from Oxford Dictionary
• Jonathan’s sacrificial friendship with David, surrendering his royal position and protecting David’s life
• David’s later care for Jonathan’s disabled son Mephibosheth, honoring him at the king’s table
• Jesus weeping at Lazarus’s tomb despite knowing He would raise him from the dead
• A youth making ITTJW (Is This The Jesus Way) bracelets in blue/orange and blue
• A little girl at camp writing ITTJW on her arm when she couldn’t make a bracelet

Sermon Transcript:

Well, good morning, church. It’s good to see y’ all this morning. Thank you, Michael, for leading us in worship today and our worship team. Well, I’m glad to be with you today. And as you probably know, I think most of you know, I have been at children’s camp, and we have had a great time with these children.

Children’s camp is. It’s just particularly sweet. There are just a lot of them, though, y’. All. We’ve got about 600 kids and adults that are there and their children that are the youngest ones are going into fourth grade.

We have a whole slew of them that can stand behind this pulpit. And you would not know they were standing up here. They’re little bitty guys walking around camp with a map.

I can’t tell you how many little golf cart rides I’ve given to the little guys looking for the waterfront or the zip line or whatever it may be. We’ve had a great time. So one of the things that we do at children’s camp there, they have a little booklet we give them every year. And in the booklet, we actually have theological terms for them so that they’ll understand some terms. But a few years ago, we started a new tradition where I have been helping them expand their vocabulary.

And we take words that have been added to the Oxford Dictionary since last year’s children’s camp. And so I have a couple of them just to share with y’ all this morning. They’re very easy, so you’ll know exactly what they are. Let me give you the first one. We use this one on Friday.

Doom scrolling. Do y’ all know what doom scrolling is? Who knows? What would you say? What do y’ all think?

Scrolling till you can’t stop. Y’ all never do that, though, right? No, you don’t do that, Right? That’s almost the right answer. That’s close.

But if you were at children’s camp, we’d go, eh, because you got to add a little bit more to it. It’s not just scrolling, but notice scrolling. What’s the first part of that word? Doom. Okay, let me show you.

But that was a great answer. Let me show you the definition. To scroll continuously, as you said, compulsively through large quantities of upsetting material online. Okay? Worrying news, continuing to digest news that is our voices of doom.

Okay, so did y’ all get that? All right, let me give you another one. Just a phrase made it to the dictionary this year, the Oxford Dictionary. This an easy one to touch grass. Does anybody else besides the front Row know.

Here’s what’s funny. Children’s camp Doom scrolling. One of the little kids raised his hand and pretty much verbatim said, what I just read to y’, all. Which I thought, okay. To touch grass.

What does that mean?

To do what? Get outside. Okay, Keaton, that’s. That’s close. Okay, but.

Ah, there it is. Look at this. To engage with the real world, especially as contrasted with being online, gave that phrase and one of the little kids raised their hand and almost gave that exact definition. So I thought, okay, I’ve got to up my game a little bit. So here’s what I’ve started doing now.

I’m teaching them New Testament Greek vocabulary. That’s what I’m doing now. So Cindy told me last night. She said, you know, honey, just being honest, I think the Greek is a little bit too much for the children. And I said, I don’t care.

This is about me right now, okay? It’s been about the children long enough, okay? And that’s what’s wrong with America, you know? So anyway, so we’re going more Greek tonight. Just want y’ all to know.

So they’re going to come home educated. But we’ve had. We really have had a great time with them. And guess what? Y’ all are showing up tomorrow, so the youth are coming tomorrow.

So we’re excited about y’ all coming, and we are. So it’ll be a. It’ll be a sweet time with you all as well. We’re warming the camp up for you and it really has been a great time. Yesterday last night, I had a chance to share the gospel with the children and allow these children to make decisions.

And they are working. Their counselors today are meeting with the kids that are in the process of making the decision to follow Jesus. And it really is a. Just a sweet, sweet time with these children. So thank you all for praying for us.

Appreciate Brad Echols. Brad is preaching right now for me at camp. So there you go. And got his cheering section down here on the front row, Aaron, just in case you’re wondering. And.

But anyway, that way I could come back and be with you all and I’ll be back tonight to preach one more time for them. But anyway, so if you’ve been with us at all, you know that our theme is Flourishing Together, Transformed on the Jesus Way. And we are in really good conversation with our colleagues on the Flourishing journey and the Flourishing in Church journey. We’ve got several meetings lined up for the rest of this summer, and then all of us are coming together in Italy for a retreat. We have churches from here in the us, Churches from Germany, churches from Italy that are participating in the flourishing study.

And so we’re looking forward to learning from them. So as I was away from you last summer during study leave, praying about what we needed to address, I kind of laid out the map for the year and what I felt led for us to address during this summer, which starts today for us, a theme. And I’ve called that theme Making a Difference. And it’s a nine week study. And so I want us to think about that this morning as we get ready for this summer series.

And as I’ve thought about it, what does it mean to make a difference as Christians? I would put it like this. I think what that means is that we need to be difference makers. If you’re going to, if God’s going to use us to make a difference, then we’ve got to be difference makers. And as I’ve looked at the scripture and then just watched church history unfold, it just seems like it’s God’s desire to use human beings just like us to make a difference.

In other words, for his glory to actually be reflected, for his kingdom to be established on earth, he uses people just like me and you. That’s what he’s always chosen to do. And so if you and I are going to be those kind of people, then we need to give some thought to it. And here’s what I would say about that. If we’re going to be difference makers in our society, in our, in our school, in our sphere of influence, then we’ve got to take some initiative.

Y’ all know Kurt Grice has been writing these devotionals for us over, over this year. And one of the things that Kurt has said in his writing is no one drifts towards godliness. And I believe that’s a true statement. We don’t drift towards being more godly. You have to be intentional to be more godly.

And so intentional disciples, that’s what I want us to think about during this summer. Because I think difference makers are intentional disciples. So let me tell you what I, what I mean by that. I would say this about intentional disciples. I believe that intentional disciples, difference makers, there are people who follow Jesus in every area of their life.

Y’ all remember I’ve said to y’ all the little acronym wwjd. What would Jesus do? I told y’ all that I wanted to redo that for myself. And I’ve come up with one for me. And it is ITTJW is this the Jesus way?

Well, one of the youth in our church has made me my own bracelet. I’ve got it on this morning. I T T J W and she made me two bracelets. She said, Dr. Wiles, I made you one that’s blue and orange because I know you like auburn. She said, it’s the fun one.

She said, then I made you a blue one that’s more serious that you can wear with your suits. Because she said, I know you like blue suits. And I just said, thank you, Kylie, but guess what? Blue and orange just goes with everything, you know? So I’m kind of wearing this one right now, but I T T JW Is this the Jesus way?

So we got kids at camp right now making little bracelets. And one of the little girls came up to me last night worship, and she said, well, I didn’t make the bracelet. And then she showed me her forum and she had just written ITTJW on her forum. I said, I think that’s awesome. When you get home, ask your parents, just make that a tattoo.

I think it would be great. So anyway, but the point is intentional. Disciples, to me, they followed Jesus in every area of their lives. So let me tell you what I mean by that. It’s disciples who are shaped by the Spirit, is how I would put it, okay?

That means those of us in whom the character of Christ is being formed, through whom fruit is being born, those are the people that God uses to make a difference in the world. Our theme verse for the summer is John 15, verse 8. So you might just make a note of that. Jesus said, this. This is to my Father’s glory that you bear much fruit.

Showing yourselves to be my disciples, bearing much fruit proves that you’re mine. What does he mean by bearing much fruit? Some people have interpreted that to mean that maybe that means he, you lead a lot of people to Jesus. I believe that’s part of it. But I don’t think that’s really necessarily what Jesus was after in that quote.

That is certainly supposed to happen. But I agree with Roger Frederickson. He’s written a commentary on John. Let me read to you what he says about that fruit in John 15:8. He says, this fruit that the disciples bear is not what they do, but it’s the life of Jesus in them.

It is his character reproduced within them and shared with others in love. This cannot come to pass without the disciple abiding in Jesus, making his home in him. As Jesus makes his home in the disciple, his life is shared with the disciples as their life is given to him. I believe Pastor Frederickson’s right about that. I think what Jesus is talking about in John 15 is the fruit that is born through the work of the Holy Spirit in your life as Jesus abides in you.

So with that said, I guess what I’d like to ask you is, how fruitful is your life? Are you bearing the right kind of fruit? So here’s what I want us to do. This summer, we’re going to spend these next nine weeks studying the fruit of the Spirit. We’re going to pick one each week.

We’re going to highlight one particular fruit from Galatians 5. And we’re going to. We’ve decided to do this together as a ministerial team. We have started a new preaching lab at our church for our ministers. And I facilitate the preaching lab and it’s all of our ministers and we are learning more together about preaching.

And so I asked them to help me. I said, this is what I want to do and I want you to help me plan this series. And so the ministers got together and what I asked them to come up with was this. I said, I want us to highlight one Biblical character that exhibits each fruit each week. And then I want us to highlight one experience out of the life of Jesus that exhibits that fruit and then let’s apply it to our people’s lives.

So our ministerial team got together and we chose nine Biblical characters representing each one of the fruit of the Spirit. Then we chose nine episodes out of the life of Jesus that illustrates that particular fruit. And then we’re trying to decide how to help apply it to your life. Does that make sense? Now we’re going to do something a little bit different this year than we’ve done in the past.

Normally for me, you all know that I take some time off in the summer for study leave. I usually do that in July. The staff met with me, our upper level staff, and just said, look, when you get back at the end of July, we’re already a good bit into our planning. Could you go a little earlier and get back earlier? So this year what I’m going to do is I’m going to preach next Sunday when we get back from youth camp, but then I will take the next four weeks as a study leave.

And so while I’m away, several of our ministers are going to preach while I’m away. So. So Katie’s going to preach and Connor Torialba will preach and Luke will preach and Brad will preach and they’re going to address different fruit of the spirit. Okay. And so when you look at how it is laid out today, we’re going to start with love.

Next week, we’ll do Joy. Katie will do peace. Then here’s a little bit of a fun one, I think. On Father’s Day, the fruit is patience.

And I’ve asked Connor Torialba to preach that day. And if y’ all don’t know this, Connor’s wife is named Patience. So Connor will be addressing that topic. I told him we’ll call it forbearance, just to make it a little bit easier for him since he doesn’t have to talk about patience. But we’ll let him work that out.

It’s his very first Father’s Day to be a father, so they’ve just had a baby, as y’ all know, so it’ll be a sweet time. Well, anyway, we’re going to address love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, good faithfulness, gentleness, self control, all of those. So we’re going to start today with love. So let’s do that. So the character in the scripture that we’ve chosen as a group is Jonathan.

Okay? So if you have your Old Testament today, I want you to look with me at first Samuel 18, and we’re going to look at the example of Jonathan under the spiritual fruit of love. Okay, so are y’ all still with me? Got the idea what we’re going to do. So we’re going to look at Jonathan, and then we’re going to look at Jesus, and then we’re going to evaluate ourselves.

Okay? So let’s start with Jonathan’s example. Now, lots happened. I don’t know how much some of y’ all know about Jonathan and his history. We’ll address that in just a second.

Okay? But we’re. We’re kind of walking into this story midstream. When you get to 1st Samuel 18, Jonathan’s already been introduced in the scripture. Scripture, okay.

But if you look at verse one of chapter 18, the scripture says, after David had finished talking with Saul, Saul was the king of Israel, Jonathan, who’s his son, became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day, Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing, gave it to David along with his tunic, even his sword, his bow, and his belt. Okay, so I want us to look at this example and learn about love this morning.

So what do we know about Jonathan? Well, Jonathan was the crown prince of Israel. Here’s what we know. By the time we get to chapter 18 of 1st Samuel, Jonathan was a victorious warrior, and he eventually acknowledged that God’s hand was no longer on his father, but rather on the future King David. So, y’, all, this is this page, page 18 of First Samuel.

This is a crucial page in the history of Israel, okay, When you begin to study how Israel’s history unfolds, because Jonathan is the crown prince. In other words, his dad is king. He’s the oldest son. He’s in line to be king of Israel, and he knows it. And we have already encountered him earlier in 1st Samuel, for example, chapter 14.

He is a warrior, and he leads part of the army of Israel against the Philistines, and he’s victorious in battle. So he becomes very famous in Israel among the army, a trusted leader, if you will, and he’s the future king. However, Jonathan was very familiar with his dad, and he was aware of the brokenness of his dad, King Saul. He knew how complex a person King Saul was. He knew about the disobedient spirit in King Saul, and he knew how disturbed his father was.

And so by this time in history, Jonathan has realized that God had removed his hand from his dad, and now his hand was on David. And so this is a pivotal moment in history, y’, all, because this is the crown prince. This is the man next in line to be king. And he makes an incredible decision in the text that we just read. Now, here’s what’s happened up to this point.

Saul is the first king of Israel. Y’ all. Remember, he’s a Benjamite. He was head and shoulders taller than the rest of all of his brethren. And Israel was clamoring for a king.

And so God allowed them to have a king. And Samuel, who was the prophet, anointed Saul to be king. And y’, all, when you read about the early days of Saul, he was a good king. He was effective. He expanded Israel’s protection, and Israel prospered for a season under Saul.

However, Saul had a disobedient spirit in him, a rebellious spirit in him, and he disobeyed God, and God judged him for it. In fact, God finally sent Samuel, who had anointed Saul as king, to tell him earlier in 1st Samuel, God has now rejected you as king because of your disobedience and that rebellious spirit in you. As a matter of fact, God then led Samuel to the home of a man named Jesse. And God told Jesse told Samuel, one of Jesse’s sons, you’re going to anoint the future king. And so Samuel went to Jesse’s home.

You remember that story? And he asked Jesse, where are all your sons? And he brought all the sons out. And Saul, the Lord told Saul, it’s none of these. I mean, I’m sorry, Samuel.

And Samuel said, well, Jesse, do you have any more children? He said, well, I have one more son, but he’s just a shepherd boy. And Samuel said, well, bring him to me. They go get David. Samuel said, the Lord tells Samuel, anoint this one.

He anoints David as king. Now, when that happens, y’, all, the Bible says earlier, 1st Samuel 16, verse 13, the spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. And then the very next verse, 1st Samuel 16, 14, the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. In 1st Samuel 16, verse 1, God told Samuel, I have rejected Saul as king. So now we come to this story, and there’s this sense that Jonathan is aware of all of this and everything is about to change.

And so what does Jonathan do now that he knows this has happened? Well, scholars refer to this experience here, these four verses, as an expression of covenantal love. It’s what many scholars refer to it as. Jonathan expressed a deep love and respect for David by doing something incredible. He surrendered his claim for the crown and he declares his allegiance to David.

This is a remarkable turn in Israel’s history. It’s a profound story because here’s what this text says. If you look at verse three, Jonathan made a covenant with David. Now, this covenant that he makes with David is. It’s a royal covenant.

It’s political in nature, but it’s got personal overtones. So let’s just think about what happened. He declares his loyalty to David. Now, David does not become king in this text. As a matter of fact, it’s going to take about 20 more years.

So Jonathan and David are going to exist together in this relationship as brothers for about 20 years before David will ever become king. In fact, Jonathan will not ever see David become king because he’ll be killed in battle before that actually happens. But he’s acknowledging him. Now, think about how this worked. You remember the story of David going to face Goliath and Saul put his armor on David.

Y’ all remember that story? David said, this is just not suitable for me. I just. I can’t wear this. So he wasn’t suited for Saul’s armor.

But I want you to notice what Jonathan does. Jonathan takes the symbols of his authority, his robe, his tunic, his Sword, his bow, his belt, all of those symbolize who Jonathan is. He’s the crown prince of Israel. And in this covenant that he makes with David, here’s the political side of this. He gives all of that to David.

And what he’s saying to David is, I’m giving my allegiance to you as the future king. This is a monumental moment in Israel’s history. So there’s the political side to all this, the royal side, but there’s a personal side to this, because notice what the text says in verse one. Jonathan became one in spirit with David. He loved him.

He loved him as much as he loved himself. Verse 3. He loved him twice. It says that there’s this profound depth of consistent loyal love that Jonathan displays toward David. And so there’s an example of love expressed in a relationship in a very healthy way.

It’s a deep friendship. Now, that friendship is going to grow over the next 20 years, and Jonathan is going to have to somehow navigate a relationship with David, all the while trying to remain loyal to his father. It’s going to be very difficult. As a matter of fact, his dad is going to tell him one day, I need you to go kill David. And Jonathan refuses to do it.

As a matter of fact, Jonathan will do his very best to protect David’s life so that David one day can be crowned king. And he does just that. And if you fast forward y’, all, you get to the end of Jonathan’s story. Jonathan and his dad, Saul, are killed in battle. And Saul’s body was humiliated and he was decapitated.

As a matter of fact, there’s a town in Israel called Beth Shan. Cindy and I have been to it. There’s a very famous wall in Bethshan. They actually hung Saul’s body on that wall to humiliate him, for the enemies to let everybody know that they had killed the king of Israel. David founds out about it, and he is burdened about this because Jonathan was also killed.

David mourns their death. As a matter of fact, when you read Second Samuel, the opening of Second Samuel, David expresses his grief over the death of Jonathan, his friend. He even says, the love I have for Jonathan is profound and deep. The women that I’ve known, the women that I’ve loved, he says, is one thing, but this love I’ve had for this friend of mine is deep. David is crowned king.

And then David, once he’s king, he says to his servants, I want you to find for me any relative, any person who’s still alive, who’s a Part of Saul’s family. Y’ all remember this story. His servants went looking and they came back and they said, we have found one person. It’s Jonathan’s son. Now, you know David loves Jonathan.

Y’ all remember that son’s name? Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth. He was lame. His feet were damaged.

He wasn’t able to work. He wasn’t able to provide for his family. And they told David there. They said, david, Jonathan has one son, and he’s not able to provide for his family. David said, go get him.

Bring him and his family to me to Jerusalem. So they did. And the Bible says that Mephibosheth, for the rest of his life, he ate at the king’s table. And David took care of him and his family out of his loyalty for Jonathan. So these men had this deep covenantal love for each other.

Powerful, loyal, and a beautiful expression of love in that kind of brotherly relationship. Well, when you think about love, the scripture teaches us that actually all love comes from God. God is love, the Bible says. But here’s the thing about God’s love. His love brings us healing and hope and perspective.

Profound ability to share that love with other people. God’s love is always hopeful. God’s love brings healing to our lives. God’s love brings health to our lives. The apostle John says in First John, chapter four, God is love.

And when you and I love others, that’s God’s love inside of us now. So there’s Jonathan, and he’s expressed his love for David. Does that make sense? What about out of the life of Jesus? Can we think of an example out of the life of Jesus where Jesus showed his love?

Well, my goodness, y’, all, there’s so many. So can I just pick one? Let me remind you of what Jesus did. In John 11, verses 32 through 36, we see the love that Jesus had for his friends on display at the tomb of Lazarus. You remember the story John 11?

Lazarus has died. Jesus goes to Bethany to visit. When he gets to Bethany, Martha runs to meet him. And Martha kneels down in front of him and says, lord, had you been here, my brother would still be alive. In other words, you could have healed him.

And Jesus said to her, you know your brother will rise again. She said, I know he’ll rise again. At the resurrection of the last day. Jesus said, I am the resurrection. Now, I believe Jesus had every intent in his heart when he went to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead.

Okay, but if you keep reading the story, John 11. Mary comes to Jesus. Okay? And when Mary comes to Jesus, let me just remind you, in John 11, verse 32, she fell at Jesus feet. And she said the same thing.

Lord, if you’d been here, my brother would not have died. She’s weeping. And here’s what the Bible says. When Jesus saw her weeping, he saw all the other people who came with her weeping. John says he was deeply moved in his spirit.

He was troubled. He says, where is Lazarus? Where did you put him? And they said, come and see. And then John 11:35, that memory verse that everybody has already memorized, Jesus wept.

And then the Jews said, man, he must have loved Lazarus. People have asked ever since that was written, why did Jesus cry? You know why he cried? He was sad. That’s why he cried.

His friends were sad. They were grieving. Now, I believe he had ever intent to raise Lazarus from the dead. He knew that. But you know what?

He also knew Lazarus was going to have a second funeral, and they were all going to be there crying again. He also knew all of us are going to have a funeral. In other words, when Jesus stood at the tomb of Lazarus, it was a reminder that the wages of sin is death. God told Adam, don’t eat that, because if you eat that, when you do that, you’ll die. Death is going to be introduced into this world.

And guess what? That’s what’s happened. And so Jesus loved this family, and he cried. He was sad. Just a powerful expression of the love of Jesus because Jesus always desired everyone else’s good.

Bishop Stephen Neal says that love is a steady direction of the will toward another’s lasting good.

So let’s just close with this. So how should the fruit of the spirit love look in my life? Okay, well, let me just do that really quickly. Here’s what I’d say about the fruit of the spirit love, if it’s in your life. First of all, it’s based on an experience you have with God.

It’s our relationship with God. The only reason we can love the way we’re supposed to love is because we’re in a relationship with God. Romans 5:5 teaches us that. In fact, the Scripture teaches us that God himself is love. And because God is love, you and I can love.

And so the love that’s supposed to be alive in me is related to the relationship I have with God himself. I experience God’s love. Therefore, I’m able to share that love with other people. Now, the kind of love that’s on display in the life of a Christian is not the kind of love that we talk about in our world. Because our world’s love is flimsy.

It’s surfacey. You know how I know that? Because you can fall in and out of it. Well, I just don’t. I just don’t love him anymore.

Okay. Interesting. It just comes and goes. That’s not the spiritual fruit of love. That’s not what God produces in us.

The love that God produces in us, I will tell you this is helpful. It’s sturdy. It brings health and healing to people. It brings hope to people. In other words, the love that God brings to us, that’s a spiritual fruit, doesn’t smother people.

You know, sometimes love can be smothering, and it’s very manipulative, and we call it love, but that’s not what it is. All it is is smothering, manipulation. It’s a way you control other people because you can just remove it on a whim. You can threaten people with it. That’s not a fruit of the spirit.

The fruit of the spirit is a healthy kind of love. It’s a powerful force alive inside of us because it’s a part of the character of Jesus. I would also say that the love that God provides for us as a fruit of the spirit is sacrificial. You’re willing to make sacrifices because of the good of the other person. What did Jonathan do when he realized that God removed his hand from his father?

And there he is, the crown prince. Rather than fighting for his position, rather than jockeying for more power, rather than looking at David as a threat, and his dad said to him, you need to kill David instead of doing that. He loved David and he sacrificed his future because of his belief that God had put his hand on David. What an example of sacrificial love. What’s the greatest or who’s the greatest example of sacrificial love?

Come on, y’. All. Jesus, right? I mean, Jesus. His atoning sacrifice for our sin.

That’s what the Bible says. That’s what John says about love. Jesus sacrificed for us. But then also I would say the love that’s supposed to be alive in me and you is expressed in our actions toward other people. You see, the spiritual fruit of love is not selfish.

It’s not driven by what it does for us. So often worldly love is rooted in what we get out of it. The spiritual fruit of love is defined by what we give, by how we share with others, and it produces good in others lives. It’s a beautiful thing Y’ all may remember we talked about love during the season of COVID And we talked about this theologian in our Patrick Mitchell. He wrote this book called the Message of Love.

Let me remind you of one of the quotes that Patrick says about love. He says this love reveals itself in a life oriented away from the self and towards the service of others. It’s the antithesis of selfishness. It seeks the best for the other in a relationship that fosters life growth, respect and human flourishing. Now, he wrote that before we joined the Flourishing Study, by the way.

Can I just say that. But that’s a good test. Ask yourself this. The love that I have that’s on display in me toward others, is it helping others flourish? If that’s what’s happening, that’s a really good sign that that’s the spiritual fruit of love alive in you.

If it’s diminishing others, if it’s controlling others, if it’s manipulating others, that’s a pretty good test. That’s not the spiritual fruit of love that’s growing out of a selfish, sinful desire. But if we’re able to live in these healthy relationships that are hopeful, God ordained, then the love that we display will cause others to flourish. That’s a really good sign that the spiritual fruit of love is being produced in your life. My prayer is, is that that will be so in your life and in mine.

Let’s pray together.

Well, Father, we’re grateful for your love for us. Thank you for what the Scripture teaches us about love. I thank you that your word says God is love and that you have displayed your love in so many ways, but certainly through the person of Jesus. And we want to thank you for that. And Lord, I just pray right now.

There are people within the sound of my voice, perhaps who feel unloved. Let’s ask you, Lord, to draw them close and just help them to see, experience. Know that yout love them. Surround them with youh love, Lord. Help them to know that they’re deeply loved by youy.

And Lord, for those of us who know that love, I ask you, Lord, to help us to be thoughtful about how we love others. And may that love be on display in us and through us. And I pray that in Jesus name, amen.