Destined for Victory

Guest (Male): Hello and welcome to Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. Before we get going with today's message, Loving Others the Way God Loves Us, here's a special word from Destined for Victory's executive director, Alicia Sheppard Greer.

Alicia Sheppard Greer: Pastor Paul's media ministry is at a crossroads. As executive director and as his daughter, I am sincerely asking for your help. When my father went to be with the Lord earlier this year, you all showed such tremendous support, and we are so grateful for each and every one of you.

But recently, we experienced a change in one of our significant sources of funding, and that change has led to a deficit. So we need your help to keep Pastor Paul's teachings on the air. We're asking you to prayerfully consider giving a gift over and above your normal amount to help us keep this teaching legacy alive. You can make a donation and request the book by visiting pastorpaul.net. Thank you so much for standing with us and keeping this mighty man of God's teaching legacy alive. God bless you.

Guest (Male): We really are so grateful for all that have already responded to this urgent need, and thank you in advance for what you can do to help Destined for Victory continue to share the Gospel all over the world on multiple platforms.

As you give today, we have a great thank you gift to share with you, one that will challenge you to persevere through life's challenges or unwanted changes. It's our booklet, Keep Moving Forward. Drawing from Israel's transition from Moses to Joshua, this booklet will remind you that God has promised to go before you as your leader and your protector, even when you're facing new challenges. It's a great resource for anyone who wants to be more fully equipped to move confidently into the future God has prepared.

Again, that's Keep Moving Forward, our thank you gift for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. You can give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500, or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. Or mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538.

Paul Sheppard: How does God love people who are rather obnoxious or arrogant or just issue-laden? How does God love them? That's how we are to love people.

Guest (Male): As believers in Christ, we're called to love people in spite of, not because of, and that's exactly the way God loves us. Coming up on today's Destined for Victory featuring Pastor Paul Sheppard, we'll be reminded that Jesus loved all the people who hated him, served all the people who doubted him, and he died for all the people who killed him. How can we love people that way? Is it even possible? Let's find out right now in today's Destined for Victory message, Loving Others the Way God Loves Us.

Paul Sheppard: So the question becomes for you and me, how does God love people even when they don't love him? How does God love people who are rather obnoxious or arrogant or just issue-laden? How does God love them? That's how we are to love people.

See, here's the problem with us in Western Hemisphere society. As soon as we hear love, we think romantic thoughts. We think feelings. That's a type of love, eros, romantic, erotic love. That's one. But when the Bible talks about love, there are three other Greek words for love in the New Testament. Eros is not found in the New Testament at all. It's not that God is against romantic love. He's not. Just look at other places in the Bible, Song of Songs, Song of Solomon. God's not against romance. He's just saying you can't base your life on that. It can't be all about feelings. You better not. You're not going to get through this life well if you're looking to feel good all the time.

How many know some people have the gift of working your nerves? It's one of their gifts. You're never going to feel good around them. If they see you trying to feel good around them, they will say, "I got something for that." Oh, do y'all know those kind of people? Don't leave me by myself. There are people who see you grinning, and they say, "Oh, I got to fix that." And when they get through with you, you are asking the Lord, "Please, I don't want to catch a case. Don't want to catch a case."

I know some of my folk who don't know all these Ebonics expressions. They sometimes write me, "Pastor Paul, what did you mean? Somebody did that not long ago on the radio. What did you mean by catch a case?" I wrote them back. I say, "Go to jail." Go to get arrested. And you know sometimes you've got to say, "Lord, I need your help."

Well, that's what we're talking about here. Lord, give me the love for people who do things I hate, say things I hate, represent things I hate. There are people who are the exact opposite of you in terms of their values, in terms of their habits, in terms of their desires. You're on one side, they're way on the opposite side. And yet, you're called to love them like God loves them.

So when you read this, don't think of all the people you like. "Oh yeah, I'm going to love him just like Jesus loves him." Well, that's easy. You like them. That doesn't even count. When you like somebody, good, go ahead and love them and express your love and appreciation for them. That's really good. That's not what this is talking about. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

So this kind of love, this kind of something's caught, not taught, this kind of love says, "Lord, I need to catch from you the love you have for people who, if it weren't for you, I would hate their guts." Do y'all know people who... now just stop it. I know you got your big Bible big enough to choke a mule. But stop it. Don't you know right now, sitting here or watching me online, there are people, if it weren't for God in your life, you would have such a deep-seated hatred for them? Go and admit it. You can't get help until you admit it.

If it wasn't for God, I would enjoy hating their very guts. I would enjoy making them as miserable as I possibly can. So you got to catch this from God. Because some people, you think, "Lord, how am I going to love them? I don't even like them." It's a good question.

Here's the answer. I don't love them based on who I am. I love them based on the God in me. Oh, this is good. I wish the whole body of Christ would hear this message, because I'm seeing some ridiculous acts from so-called Christians who are hateful on social media and hateful in interviews. And I'm saying you are supposed to be representing a God of love. And they're just as openly hateful as they can possibly be and not even convicted about it.

The Bible says there's a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. And guess what? That's not just talking to unbelievers. There are a whole lot of believers who are walking in ways that seem right to them, but the end thereof are the ways of death. I've never seen such political vitriol among Christians in my whole life. I mean hateful in the name of Jesus. How pathetic is that?

How do we deal with people we don't like? How do we deal with situations that would really cause us to separate ourselves completely based on incompatibilities? Love will teach you how to love. Agape means I don't love you because of. Agape means I love you in spite of. God so loved the world that hated him that he gave the best thing he could give to them, his only begotten son.

"I don't need you," God looked at us all, said, "I don't need you to even like me. I don't need you to believe I exist. You can be as atheistic, as agnostic as you want to be. I love you so much." Oh, I just said something. I just gave you your prayer orders for the next few days, weeks, months, or years. God, give me that part of your nature where I can love people who don't even represent anything I think is good or acceptable. I want to love people when they're hateful, when they're mean. And God, I can't do that by myself.

You love them so much. I love that word, "God so loved the world." You know why you're sitting here? You know why you're watching this service? Because you are so loved. You are here because you're so loved. See, here's the problem. Some of y'all think you're here because you got it like that. Some of y'all are so deceived. Like, "Well, what's not to love? I am, after all, me." That's where some of y'all are. Quit pretending like you're not there.

I love it every now and then. Let me just confess. I love sometimes when I have to counsel people and they're just snotting and crying. And when I get to the bottom of what it is that I'm going to be talking to you about, "Just tell me what happened." They found out somebody doesn't like them that they really thought felt like them, felt so good about them. And the person betrayed them, stabbed them in the back, tried to assassinate their character or their influence. And they're just snotting and crying.

You know what I've learned to do as a pastor? I listen carefully. I do it on Zoom now because y'all not coming in the office like you used to, but I still counsel you on Zoom. And you know what I used to do when they came in the office? I would sit there and listen. You have to learn if you're going to be a good counselor, you've got to be a good listener. And I would listen and let them talk. And I had the box of tissues right there and they're just snotting. And when I let them get it all out, then you know what I have to tell them?

"Now let me just tell you something. They've always felt that way about you. You just found out about it. That's the only difference. I'm sorry it's hurting you. If you had asked me, I'd have told you long ago." They don't like you, and that shocks some people. Like, "How can you not like me? I'm such a great person." According to you. But according to them...

Some of y'all got to do yourselves a favor and look at yourselves through somebody else's eyes every now and then. I know you don't want to do it often, but every now and then, some of y'all just need to say to somebody you really trust, "Would you show me me from your point of view?"

Guest (Male): We'll be right back with more of today's Destined for Victory message, Loving Others the Way God Loves Us, so don't go away. You're always invited to come see us at pastorpaul.net to listen to the broadcast on demand. And when you stop by, be sure to check out our online store, where you'll find books and video messages that feature the teaching and preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Sheppard. That's pastorpaul.net. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.

Well, the Bible tells us that the wounds of a friend are faithful, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Now let's get you back to the rest of today's message, Loving Others the Way God Loves Us.

Paul Sheppard: Tell me some of the things about me that I probably don't realize are irksome or bothersome or irritating. I know you love me, but please give me the gift of truth. Truth-telling was the first habit, remember that. The gift of telling me the truth. You need to every now and then give somebody permission to do that. And when they take you up on it, and they will, then quit copping an attitude. "Well, now you see, see there you go. You just got to understand." No, I know.

No, you can't live your life telling the world they have to understand you. Because they don't understand you, don't want to understand you in many cases. So what you're going to have to learn to do is make the adjustment on your side. So how am I going to do this? The rest of verse 2 here in Ephesians 5 says, "Walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up."

Sometimes you've got to love enough to lay down. Love enough to not win the argument. I'm bringing it close to home now. I was talking about your sho-nuff enemies before. Now let's just talk about folk closer to you. Because a lot of times, some of y'all are losing the battle with the people closest to you because you don't hate them, they don't hate you, but when conflict comes, you still mishandle it because you don't let love lead you through the conflict.

If you don't let love lead you through your conflicts, you're going to live in conflict. Just because we're different, we think different, we are not the same people. "Yeah, but this my spouse, and I've always... we've loved, we've been married for God knows how long." Guess what? They've been changing the whole marriage. You've been changing the whole marriage. So who you married at the altar that many years ago, trust me, that's not who you're married to today. That's not your spouse today.

The one you got today, sometimes you haven't been recognizing that they've been changing, but they were steadily changing and now suddenly you are irritated by them. It's going to be some interesting life group discussions this week. Some of y'all need to call the office Tuesday morning. "Get me a life group to get in. I need to talk to somebody." And we'll put you in one. We'll get you hooked up.

Because you've got to realize that people change. My wife and I were 24, 25 when we got married. We're in our 60s now. Some things are not the same. And we have to have enough love to love the 60-something the way we love the 20-something. And you got to do it even when there's not the same level of honey on the moon.

Now see, y'all perpetrating a fraud. I need some old people to walk with me. I know you hate to admit it, but you can't do all the stuff you used to do. Oh, you loved it back in the day. Oh, that was... oh, that was me. But that was you decades ago. That was you pounds ago. That was you nerves ago. You know your nerves are not what they used to be. You used to have a higher level of tolerance for things you didn't necessarily like, but you were just packing tolerance. But over the decades, the tolerance has waned.

You've had kids, you've had jobs, you've had situations. "I can't put up with what I used to put up with in the same way I used to put up with it." Now I need Jesus. I keep telling you, some of you literally can't afford to be prayerless. You can't afford not to have a prayer life. You got to have a prayer life if you're going to make it through this life. You got to have a prayer life.

Oh God, help me. Every morning you got to say... I know some of y'all wasn't never Baptist, but you've got to go grab something from the Baptist book: "Father, I stretch my hand to thee. No other help I know. If thou would withdraw thyself from me, oh, whither shall I go?" Go ahead and pray them old prayers. I thank you that my sheet wasn't my winding sheet and my bed wasn't my cooling board.

You've got to pray differently because you've got to live through some things and some feelings and some lack of tolerance and lack of patience that you didn't even have to think about before. So you and I have to decide, "Lord, I need you to grant me the ability to access the promises," 2 Peter 1:4, "of God that will help me live the way I'm supposed to live today and love the way I'm supposed to love." Because this isn't talking about loving people you like.

You got to love people that otherwise you would hate were it not for God's influence in your life. People who get on your last nerve. People who are gunning for you, you know they're gunning for you, they don't mind you knowing they're gunning for you. You can't be a Nehemiah and not run into Sanballat and Tobiah. You just can't do it. You're not building a wall with all your friends around.

Do you know that Sanballat and Tobiah didn't live in Jerusalem where Nehemiah is building the wall? You do realize that? They came from out of town. You got friends who will travel to betray you. I'm not telling you what I think, I'm telling you what I've experienced. They will travel. They will buy plane tickets.

So what you're going to have to do is say, "God, I want to love the way you love. So I need the traits of my Daddy to become my tendency in the area of love. And I need to hang out so much with you, God, I need to spend so much time around God that I'm catching God's stuff because I'm hanging out with God all the time. I would cut you, but because I'm hanging out with God, I'm going to bless you instead. I would cuss you out, but because I'm hanging out with God, I'm going to speak life over you."

That'll only happen if we let the traits that are divine become our tendencies, if we spend enough time with him where we catch what he's got.

Guest (Male): The Word of God can be infectious, and it's the best infection you'll ever get. Immerse yourself in it, and you'll not only begin to fall more in love with its author, you'll begin to love all people the way God loves you. We're so glad you stopped by for today's Destined for Victory message, Loving Others the Way God Loves Us. To find out more about Destined for Victory's mission and purpose, or about the special gift reserved for you when you give generously today, please come see us at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net.

Paul Sheppard: Let's start there by acknowledging we were all in darkness at some point in our lives. Once darkness, but now because of Christ, you are light in the Lord. Then he says, live as children of light.

Guest (Male): And that's next time in our continuing message, Living as Children of Light. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.