## What is Real Love?

## John 3:16

If any one word is more misused and misunderstood today it is the word LOVE. There are more marriage ceremonies performed with couples who do not love each other than there are that do. Lives are wrecked because of a wrong understanding of love.

Love is more than a present satisfaction. Love is more than just today. Love is more than saying "I do" in a ceremony, and then rushing off on a honeymoon trip. If every couple getting married would study the true application of love, marriages would be more secure today. Real love survives at any cost.

To get a real picture and an understanding of love we must study the love Christ had for a sinful world. What I am going to tell you today could revolutionize your home and marriage, if you will permit it to do so.

I. LOVE IS A SACRIFICE

A. A Sacrifice Must Die.

1. John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

2. A Sacrifice dies to every thing that is alive.

a. Dies to self.

1) Your object of love becomes #1, your marriage partner.

2) If every husband in this auditorium would die to himself, his marriage would live forever.

3) If every man would look at his wife with the love that Jesus looked at us with, his marriage would never end.

4) If every wife here today would die to herself, her marriage would live forever.

b. Must die to individual pursuits.

1) More homes are wrecked because one marriage partner puts a hobby or profession above the marriage.

2) I’ve heard wives say, "If only he thought as much of me as he does his golf, or his boat, or his antique car.

3) When he gets home from work he heads straight for the garage, and I don’t see him until bedtime.

4) What a shame, and it is also true of some wives!

c. Must die to the past.

1) Whatever you were before is now secondary.

2) Your obligation now is to make a home and a marriage work.

3) The past is gone.

B. A Sacrifice Must Suffer Long.

"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up." cf 1Co. 13:4

1. Real love is long suffering.

2. Jesus suffered long hours on the cross.

3. He suffered for hours in the garden, before going to the cross.

4. If you display godly love, you will be long suffering.

5. So before you pack your bags and move out, read 1 Cor. 13:4.

C. Love Gives Itself.

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." cf Gal. 2:20

1. You will never find Christ leaving us. It is always that we leave Him.

2. Giving yourself makes the marriage permanent.

3. If you gave yourself to your mate, you won’t ever back out. "Who loved me, and gave himself for me."

4. One of the greatest disabling factors to any marriage is "selfishness". Give yourself.

II. Love is a Commitment.

Note: John 14:24-27

A. When Jesus left heaven He was committed to the cross. "...for this cause came I unto this hour."

1. That was a commitment.

2. Nothing WOULD change that.

3. Nothing COULD change that.

B. Marriage vows are a commitment.

"When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay." Eccl. 5:4-5

1. When we stand at the marriage altar and repeat a vow before God, He doesn’t take it lightly!

2. If we enter our marriage with the thought or possibility of ever getting out, then we shouldn’t enter.

C. When Jesus made His commitment to us it was forever.

1. It wasn’t a trial basis.

2. It wasn’t a test to see, if it would work.

3. IT WAS A COMMITMENT.

4. Some may say, "We weren’t meant for each other."

5. After the wedding vows you are, because you are committed.

The Japanese W.W.II Air Force Pilots would dive bomb their planes into US War ships, thus destroying the ship while killing themselves as well. They were committed to their task. There was no turning back.

III. Love is Inseparable and Forgiving.

Note: Rom 8:35-39

A. Real love cannot be separated.

1. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. cf Ep. 5:25

2. If we love our wife like with the love described in these verses, our marriage can survive any attack.

3. This issue of submission is settled with love...

B. Real love is forgiving.

1. "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do".

2. The Lord could have called legions of angels and been set free, but He didn’t seek revenge.

3. He could have rained down fire from heaven and destroyed them all.

4. But He chose to forgive...

a. No we didn’t deserve forgiveness.

b. We didn’t deserve mercy and grace...

c. But because of His love for us, He chose to forgive us!

5. Our marriages will be severely damaged if we try to seek revenge.

6. We may even think that we are justified in seeking revenge, but it will only bring heartache.

C. Real Love is Eternal.

1. Never-ending love.

2. Christ’s love for us is eternal.

3. Nothing shall separate us from His love.

You might think, "Pastor, that is just too much to ask." I agree. It is too much to ask of us to do in our own power, but when we experience real love from Jesus Christ we can in turn make the sacrifice, the commitment, to love with an inseparable - forgiving - never-ending love.

I thought that I knew what love was all about twenty-five years ago when I spoke my wedding vows to my wife. But it wasn’t until I came to Christ, that I even began to truly love my wife.

Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? Have you experienced the great and marvelous love of God? Why not come today?

Christian, how does our love compare with "Real Love"? Why not recommit yourselves to love each other right now? Only then can we truly love others as we should!