Key Life Network

Matthew: This is Key Life, here to communicate the freeing truth that God's not mad at his children. Steve invited our friend Jerry Perry to teach this week. Jerry is the pastor of Christian Family Worship Center House of Grace and the author of *Grace: The Real Good News of the Gospel*.

Jerry Perry: Thank you, Matthew. Jeremy, man, this is the third day. I tell you, I absolutely love coming into Key Life. I really like it when Dr. Brown is here. As a solo on the solo myself, I like hanging out with him. But he's allowed me to sit in for him today. If you were looking for the man of wisdom, he says, "Hey, I want Jerry Q. Perry to sit in today and do this for me." Thank you, Dr. Steve Brown, for allowing me to teach this week. I am just tremendously grateful.

I hope that you have joined us on Monday and Tuesday. I want to continue to talk about the unveiling, the extraordinary power and love of Jesus. I'd like to make a confession over your life because I believe death and life is in the power of the tongue. Repeat this after me: the favor of God is over my life. God is 100% pleased with me because of Jesus Christ. God is able to make all grace abound towards me. Wow, that's incredible.

Well, listen, as I said, I'm talking about love this week. I was sharing with Jeremy between the breaks that we had that I'm just concerned. I'm concerned that there is a division that the enemy has placed in our country and with believers. There is a division between believers and unbelievers. The enemy and God—there's always warring in that—but now it seems like we are warring with each other. I just think that the love of Jesus and the extraordinary power of Jesus' love has to become the focus of our lives.

The Bible says, "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples." Not when you sing, not when you drive, not when you make money, but when you show love one toward another. So it is our responsibility—this is what I've been talking about all week—it is our responsibility to love our neighbors as ourselves. In fact, yesterday I said those who love God must—not perhaps—must also love their fellow brethren.

Love is just not a word we say; it's a feeling we show through our actions. When we understand that love must be manifested in a tangible way, once we understand that, we can begin to make a difference in our communities and with people on our jobs. It means extending grace, offering hope, offering help, and being present for those that are in need. By actively demonstrating love, we live out the teachings of the Bible and bring God's love into the world around us. Love is action, speaks volumes, and has the power to transform lives, including our own.

That's why I'm really grateful that God has given me this word today. I want to jump in to talk about First Corinthians, 13th chapter. This is the love chapter. I love this chapter in the Bible, and listen to what it says in 13:1: "If I could speak all the languages of earth and angels but don't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." Have you ever had a cymbal and it's just clanging and clanging? It's a horrible sound and no music with it.

"If I had the gift of prophecy and I understood all of God's plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but I didn't love others, I would be absolutely nothing." That's verse two. Verse three says, "If I gave everything I had to the poor and sacrificed my body, I could boast about it. But if I didn't love others, I would gain absolutely nothing."

Listen to verse four: "Love is patient and kind." Let me say that again: love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. You know, sometimes we see so many rude people and then you ask them what church they belong to. That's not demonstrating Jesus. It doesn't demand its own way. It is not irritable and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

Verse seven: "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance." Then you jump down to verse 13. It says, "Three things will last forever: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love." Wow. This is what the unveiling of the extraordinary power of Jesus' love is all about.

When you have patience with one another, when you're not jealous, when you're not rude, when you keep no record of wrong, that's what it is all about. This is why we need Jesus in our lives. We can't do this on our own. Really, you can't love people who are rude and mean on your own. It has to be the Holy Spirit that's working in you. We need God to remind us of how much He loved us when we were rude to Him, when we were disobedient to Him, when we didn't love each other or love Him like we should. And yet and still, God loved us.

I like what verse four says: love is patient and kind. We all at times get upset and we don't want to be kind. But when you are a child of God, you have to take a breath and remember that you represent Jesus. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. You have people that are going to cut you off while you're driving. You want to let them have some choice words, but you have to be reminded of that spirit—that God is love. The love of Jesus is what is governing my life.

It doesn't demand its own way, it's not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. True love is full of forgiveness. Really, it is. You have to just sometimes let it go. I know there are some people in your family that you may be having some altercations with at this time. I want to encourage you: forgive. Let it go. Pick up the telephone after this message is over. Give them a call and say, "Hey, I just wanted to say I love you. I'm not saying that you were right, I'm not saying you were wrong. I just want you to know that I want to represent Jesus and I want to say I love you."

I want to challenge you to go into your workspace. If you had lunch, when you get there and there's somebody that rubbed you the wrong way, smile at them and say, "Hey, just want you to know that I'm pulling for you and that I love you." Listen, that's the love of Jesus Christ. That's the extraordinary love of Jesus Christ that's supposed to fill our hearts. I want to be that kind of person. You can't love until you receive God's forgiveness for yourself and then be willing to forgive others just as God has forgiven you.

Amen. Listen, I am going to love everyone. I've said yesterday and the day before, my father-in-law said to me, "Who am I to hate someone that God died for?" For God so loved the world—the world—that He gave His only begotten Son. Because God loves the world, we have to love everybody: black and white, red and green. We used to sing that song: "Jesus loves the little children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they all are precious in His sight."

That's true. And when Jesus loves someone, I want to love who Jesus loves. I want to challenge you. This week is the week that we're talking about love. I want to challenge you to go out and love somebody. I want to challenge you to call people that you're having disagreements with. I want you to squash that. I want you to put that forgiveness in. I want you to forgive your husband, your wife, your children, your family members.

Begin to receive the forgiveness for yourself and allow the love of Jesus to permeate your hearts. The sun is going to shine in your life when you forgive. The sun is going to shine in your life when you can let it go. The sun is going to shine in your life when you can just smile and say, "Hey, I love everybody." I try not to have an enemy in the world. I try not to. But because I'm human, there are times that people make me upset. There are times that people get on my nerves. There are times that I want to do what some people do: cuss people out. Yeah, there's times all of that happens.

I also want to remember that I have a God who loves me more. When I can realize that He loves me in spite of me and in spite of everything that I have done, I am going to take that same love and give it to my brothers and sisters, to my neighbors, no matter who they are. So I challenge you: go out and love somebody today. And if you do that, you will be showing the extraordinary love of Jesus Christ. As our Dr. Steve Brown would also say: you think about that. Amen.

Matthew: Thanks, Jerry. That was Jerry Perry teaching us about loving others like Jesus based on the classic text of First Corinthians 13. I trust that you have loved soaking in this teaching from Jerry this week. Good news: we still have one more day with Jerry tomorrow. Do not miss it.

While we're on the subject, you may be interested in some articles Jerry has written for us at keylife.org. It's easy to find them. When you go to the site, just look on the left-hand menu, then click on the authors button and scroll down until you find Jerry's name. Hey, while you're there, bounce over to keylife.org/magazines to find an online archive of our past print and digital magazines.

If you like podcasts, listen up. We created a special hub for grace-oriented podcasts at keylife.org/podcastnetwork. There you'll find shows from Pete Alwinson, Kyle Winkler, Karl Clauson, even one Jeremy and I host called *This Is The Show*. Again, that's keylife.org/podcastnetwork. As always, a big, big thank you to generous listeners like you who make all of this possible. If you'd like to donate, then call us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That's 1-800-539-5433.

If you'd like to send your donation by mail, go to keylife.org/contact for our mailing addresses or email Steve at keylife.org. You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope or just take out your phone and text Key Life to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and 4C in Canada, and Key Life is a listener-supported production of Key Life Network.