2. 11 For his unfailing love toward those who
fear is as great as the height of the
heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
Psalm 103:11-12
3. PSALM 103:11-12
The Lord’s love and forgiveness are infinite and complete.
PSALM 103:12
East and west can never meet. This is a symbolic portrait
of God’s forgiveness: when he forgives our sin, he
separates it from us and doesn’t even remember it. We
need never wallow in the past, for God forgives and
forgets. We tend to dredge up the ugly past, but God has
wiped our record clean. If we are to follow God, we must
model his forgiveness. When we forgive another, we must
also forget the sin. Otherwise we have not truly forgiven.
4. Matthew 22:37-39
37 ‘You must love the LORD your God with all your
heart, all your soul, and all your mind’ 38 This is the first
and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally
important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’
Revelation 2:4-5
4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love
me or each other as you did at first!” 5 Look how far you
have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at
first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your
lampstand from its place among the churches.
5. PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES
1. If you really love God, you will long for personal communion with Him. When you really love someone,
you like to spend time with them. You enjoy their company as well as their companionship. In the same way, if
you really love the Lord, you will strive to be in fellowship with Him.
2. If you really love the Lord, you will love the things He loves and hate the things He hates. We know
what He loves by what He has declared in His Word. Do you love the Word of God and long for fellowship with
other believers? Do not meditate on things that the Lord hates; instead turn away from them and stay focused
on Him.
3. If you really love God, you will love other Christians. How can you love God, whom you cannot see, when
you do not love the people you can see? Do not claim to love the Lord and then harbor hatred toward fellow
believers.
4. If you really love God, you will long for the return of Christ. A Christian who loves God will eagerly look
forward to His return.
5. If you really love God, you will keep His commandments. Your actions must be aligned with your words. If
you are not willing to keep His commandments, stop talking about your love for God; the proof is in your
actions.
6. RELEVANT REMINDERS
• When you love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, and mind,
then you will naturally do what He wants you to do. So when you
really love God, everything else will find its proper place.
• Love God with all your heart (the center of your core or being),
with all your soul (your heart and emotion), with all your mind
(your energy and strength). Genuine love for the Lord is
intelligent, it is feeling, and it is willing.
• Have you left your first love? When the affection is gone, the
passion is gone, the communication is broken down, and the
honeymoon is over, you must return and “do the first works.”
7. APPLICABLE ACTIONS
Jesus gives the three R’s to getting back to your first
love.
The first R is remember. Remember when you were at
your highest point of love for Jesus.
The second is repent. Change your direction and go
back to where you were before with Christ.
Lastly, you must repeat, consistently remembering and
returning to your first love.
9. LOVE ONE ANOTHER
• Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each
other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us,
and his love is brought to full expression in us.
1 John 4:11-12 NLT
• Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other for love
covers over a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8 NLT
• Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each
other.
Romans 12:10 NLT
10. LOVE ONE ANOTHER
•There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:13 NLT
•“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so
that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 NLT
• So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I
have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will
prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
John 13:34-35 NLT
