We have been doing a series @ Hoosier Harvest Church on Sunday mornings called Definition.  It has been all about defining what a Christian is.  To boil it all down in a simple term being a Christian is about LOVE.  Only the love that comes from Christ.  A love that is more than a feeling, more than an idea, more than being nice, more than words.  LOVE is what defines us.

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 

Out of all these characteristics, love is the greatest.  Interesting that love is greater than faith, greater than hope.  You see God defines us by who we are, but the world defines us by what we do.  That is why what we do is so important to the world.  We show the world who we are by what we do.  God looks at the heart but man looks at the outward appearance.  How we love and the life we live is a direct line to who we are for the world.  We a Christians are defined by love.

So what is love? Many people think love is a feeling, that is why people say, “I fell in love” or “I fell out of love.” They are basically saying I don’t FEEL love anymore.  But feelings are fleeting, here one moment gone the next.  Love is so much more than a feeling.  Does love effect our feelings? Of course it does, we are created as emotional beings, but that does not define love.  Love is more.

So define love I want to take the next few days and look at the ingredients that make L.O.V.E.

L = Listening

Love is about listening.  It is about being present in the moment and fully aware of others.  Jesus said,

John 10:27

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

As followers of Christ we are to listen to our shepherds voice.  We show God that we love Him by listening to Him and knowing Him.  We show love to others by listening to them.  Not always talking, talking, talking, but by listening, listening, listening.  God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason, to listen twice as much as we talk.  The question is are you a listener? Are you fully present when others are sharing their needs and heart? Do you know the needs of those around you by listening? Great spouses are great listeners, great leaders are great listeners, great parents are great listeners.  How would you ever assume to know how to connect with someone without listening to them? That is where evangelism and witnessing have gotten messy.  People try to convince people to follow Jesus with some verbal sales pitch where they go on and on.  How do you know what a person needs to know about Christ unless you listen to their needs? You can’t! You don’t know where to start unless you hear where they are at.  No one wants to be sold about something, they want their needs to be met .  So are you a listener? Or are you busy doing all the talking? You don’t impress people because of what you know you impress people by caring.

“No one cares how much you know till they know how much you care”

Theodore Roosevelt 

We show love by being a listener.  Listen to your kids needs, listen to your spouses needs, listen to your employees needs, listen to your co-workers needs, listen to your friends needs, listen to your enemies needs!

James 1:19

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…

Tomorrow we will look at the second characteristic that L.O.V.E. is about…