YOUR LABOR OF LOVE

9/4/88
YOUR LABOR OF LOVE
I THESSALONIANS 1: 1 - 5
(PAGE 1724 COME ALIVE BIBLE)
JESUS CHRIST said, "If you love me keep my commandments." What
then did He command? "This is My command, that you love one
another."
Love for Christ spread through the early church with life-
changing force. The Apostle Paul in writing to the church in
Thessalonica spoke of their "labor of love." The term "labor"
meant to continue to serve the Lord under cutting, abrasive, and
abusive conditions. They were committed to letting nothing and
no one keep them from expressing their love for Christ by
faithful service. The word "labor" meant to succumb to no
fatigue and overcome every obstacle.
It is in that light that we should weigh everything we do. Do we
do it out of love for Christ or for some other self-deceiving
reason?
Sometimes loving is labor. To love when you are not loved in
return is challenging. To love when you receive bitterness or
even hate in return is even more demanding. It is under such
circumstances that our labor of love is all the more essential.
It is easy to love those like you, who like you, and who do what
you like. It is Christ-like to love those not like you, who
don't like you, and don't do the things you like. That is when
love labors.
Love such as is advocated in the Bible will always express
itself in three dimensions. We will - - -
I. LOVE LABOR
Jesus Christ said, "I must work the work of Him that sent me..."
(Acts 9:4).
He also said, "My Father worked hitherto, and I must work" (John
5: 17).
If Jesus worked, it is not unfitting that I should wor ...

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