The DNA of Love

1 John 4:7-8 NIV
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone
who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love
does not know God, because God is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of
these is love.
John 13:34-35 NIV
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you
must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,
if you love one another.”
Ephesians 3:17-19 NKJ
…that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted
and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is
the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which
passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Four Dimensions of Love:

1. LOVING THE LEAST
   Matthew 25:31-40 NKJ
   “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,
   then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered
   before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd
   divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right
   hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right
   hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
   you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me
   food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me
   in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in
   prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying,
   ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You
   drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and
   clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
   And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch
   as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”
   1 John 3:16-18 NKJ
   By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also
   ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s
   goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how
   does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word
   or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
2. LOVING THE LOST
   Matthew 18:11 NKJ
   “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.”
   Luke 15:1-7 NKJ
   Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.
   And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives
   sinners and eats with them.” So He spoke this parable to them, saying:
   “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does
   not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost
   until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders,
   rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and
   neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep
   which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven
   over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no
   repentance.”
3. LOVING CROSS CULTURALLY
   Matthew 5:46-48 NKJ
   “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the
   tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you
   do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you
   shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
   2 Corinthians 5:15-17 NKJ
   …and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for
   themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from
   now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have
   known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.
   Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have
   passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Living the Higher Order of Life:

1. I must value every person the same as Christ values them.
2. I must be intentional in reaching out to people of other cultures.
3. I must give up my rights for the higher order of unity.
4. I must seek to understand rather than be understood.
5. I must learn to love people in spite of how they treat me.

4. LOVING MY ENEMIES
   Matthew 5:43-44 NKJ
   “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate
   your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse
   you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use
   you and persecute you…”