Session 2 - Love Connects us to One Another

There is an old saying that no man is an island. We live our lives surrounded by other people, and interact with those around us everyday. Our lives are continually influenced by other lives. How has your life been affected by other people? The Bible points out that as believers in Christ; we are connected with each other and with God. Ephesians 4: 15-16 states, “We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body (the Church), joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds up in love.” The Church is the accumulation of all believers who have ever lived, and the human body is given as an example of how we are connected to one another and to God. In the Gospel of John, the grape vine is used to demonstrate that we are all connected together by the power and presence of God, like sap, it runs through us giving us a community life and fellowship with one another. This connectiveness supplies us with life in the Holy Spirit, and is defined by the phrase, “Abide in my love” (John 15:9). Love is the glue that binds us all together. How connected do you feel to other believers? The love that emanates from the Father reveals the character and power of God. Love is the glory of God that allows us to know and understand who God is and what he is doing. As Jesus said in his High Priestly prayer, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one . . . that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:22—26). The manifestation of God's glory unities us into one family of faith. We become one with God, and God becomes one with us. We live together in the midst of God’s glory and power. We have a spiritual bond with each other – the presence of God. As we walk in the fellowship of his presence, we are transformed into godly people, who are connected by a common life in the Spirit of God (1 John 1:2-3, 7). The very essence of eternal life is dwelling in the presence of God and abiding in his love.
As we walk in God’s presence, we are to testify to this life we have in the Spirit of God. The study guide mentions that “one way to strengthen your connection with each other is to tell stories about your connection with God” (page 23). As the Apostle Paul stated, “How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” (Romans 10:14). The power of our fellowship together is our confession of the Lord Jesus Christ, the transforming presence of the Holy Spirit, and the saving power of God the Father’s love. We need to talk about our life in Christ, and the common life we have together as the children of God. Our confession brings the power of eternal life to ourselves and to others. How often does your conversation with others mention your life and faith in God? Faith is communicated by the words we speak to each other, for “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). The confession of the gospel brings us into one faith and one fellowship; it is not just for unbelievers, but for believers in Christ. The gospel is our way to faith, and it gives us the desire to practice loving kindness to others, for a true faith manifests the loving works of the Spirit of God. Faith without love is useless (Galatians 5:5-6). Faith leads us to dwell in the community of God’s love.

Session 1 - Learning to Love One Another

In life we have many goals, some involve money, others are about relationships, and still others are about our spiritual journey. As mentioned in the previous lesson, true spirituality involves loving others. In fact, the Bible states that “God is love.” This is an interesting concept, but how do we define what love is? Usually, we use word labels to define love. As 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 states, “Love is patient and kind, love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong-doing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never ends.” These words create a picture in our minds of what true love is about. Another passage that shows what love is like is Galatians 5:22-23. It says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” These beautiful words illustrate that when we walk in the Spirit, we meet the obligations of loving others.
These passages show that love’s source is God, and as the Spirit of God transforms and renews our minds, we become more loving in our nature and respond to the people around us. This reminds us that love needs to be genuine. Not a fanned emotion; but a true spiritual expression of God’s love being channeled through us. Not a love that comes from within us; but a love that comes straight from the heart of God. Our responsibility is to walk close to God, so that his presence saturates our lives with his character and our hearts rejoice that our ability to love others is not dependent on who we are, but on who God is. As the writer of 2 Chronicles 22:21 asserts, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.” We do not know how to love, so we need to keep our spiritual eyes focused on God. How do you think you can do this? (See Hebrews 12:1-2).
Jesus is the greatest expression of God’s love for us: “For God so loved the world he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God’s love is responsive to people’s needs. How does your live show this type of love for others? For us, love is not a natural expression of our natures. We tend to be preoccupied with ourselves and our desires. In order to express the love of God, we need God in our lives. We need to make this our main objective! The great missionary Paul put it well, when he wrote, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and in a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1: 5). These traits of love only come from a life dedicated to prayer, the Word of God, and fellowship. It is a life that is connected to God and others through the power of the Holy Spirit of God, and by having a sensitive heart to those around us. This type of compassion and loving kindness only comes from a mind saturated with godly thoughts and truth. The light that illuminates our hearts and that gives us direction is based on a life that is interactive with God, and has a vision of the Kingdom of God, which comes from “walking in the Light” and the “practice of truth” (1 John 1:5-9).