The week after Christmas can often seem like a bit of a low point in the year. All the hype is passed. All of the food has been eaten. The songs have been sung. The gifts have been opened. The busyness has slowed. Now we face the bitter months of cold. Our life with Christ can often seem like this as well. One season of life we are at a high point – excited about going to church, eager to get into the Bible, happy to serve – the next we face a low point – going through the motions, making excuses, experiencing little joy in Christ. If you feel like your faith is at a low point let’s reverse that trend.
Revelation 2:4-5
see also: Matthew 22:37-40; John 13:34
*Love is not…
- Unlimited
- Merely a feeling
- Easily defined
Love is…
- Demonstrated by God
- self-sacrificing
- self-originating
3 prescriptions to elevate you from your low point
- Remember
- see also: Exodus 13
- Repent
- see also: 1 John 1:9; 1 Timothy 2:5
- Repeat
Big Idea: Elevate your love
*These are merely some general thoughts on the definition of love. This is not meant to be exhaustive.
Further Notes
Penance:
- Catholic Catechism – specifically paragraph 1444, 1445, and 1456
- The Roman Catholic sacrament of Penance is primarily taken from the following verses:
- John 20:23
- Matthew 16:18-19
- Matthew 18:15-20
- In the Protestant view the Roman Catholic theology of penance misinterprets those 3 verses and fails to take into account 1 John 1:9; 1 Timothy 2:5, as well as Paul’s entire doctrine of justification by faith alone.