PROOF
OF YOUR LOVE
2 CORINTHIANS 8:24; JOHN 14:15
SUNDAY
SCHOOL LESSON
Lesson
updated: February 05, 2023
Scheduled Teacher: Sis. Roxan
Velena
MEMORY VERSE:
2 Corinthians 8:24 (KJV)
Wherefore shew ye to them, and before the
churches, the proof of your love, and of our boasting on your behalf.
INTRODUCTION:
People are not
fully aware how God’s love is shown to the world. If we see how the world
rotates around the sun and how the balance is done every day to make the people
experience comfortable in the place, they were put in to live, we would fully
have amazed not just the wonderful creations God had done but His love all
throughout the humanity. Bible says in Matthew 5:45 “… he maketh his sun to
rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the
unjust.” So, you see, whatever your treatment to God, even you love God, or you
don’t love God, He sends rain for everyone. How about us? What are the proofs
of our love?
Humanly
speaking, do we need proofs that we are loved by our loved ones? (Ask few people
for response)
What is your
feeling if your girlfriend or boyfriend says he/she loves you, but he hides it
to other people? It seems like He doesn’t know you. This is painful, isn’t it?
Another thing, if a man is in love to a woman, he’ll reach the point to ask her
to marry him, right? He wants to spend their whole life together and build a
family. That is one of the proofs of human love.
Do you love God?
If you truly love God, what is the proof of your love? True love cannot be
hidden; it is expressed in words and actions. It is not enough to sing and say
that you love God; you must also put action to it. Maybe there are times we
meet people who claim to love God but their words and especially their actions
say otherwise. True love is not self-seeking, it desires to please whom it
loves. If we love God, we will long do what pleases Him all the time.
If you’ve
watched the movie the “Passion of Christ.” That was 2004 if I’m not mistaken.
If we would just see and feel the agony of Christ that time, we were deeply
touched of His sacrifice for every one of us. That was a great proof of Christ’s love to
God, the Father and most especially to us. Bible says, “For God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16 (use any testimony
or illustration to this part)
You can’t love someone,
and the person will not know it because if you truly do so, you will show it.
God too knows when you really love Him, because your words and especially your
actions will express it. God is the God
of knowledge; by Him actions are weighed – 1 Samuel 2:3. So how will God know
that you truly love Him?
(most words are
taken from http://stepswithgod.com/proof-love-god/)
LESSON OUTLINE:
1) OBEDIENCE (JOHN 14: 15)
-
Your obedience
to God and His words is the number one evidence of your love for Him. Christ
Himself said, “If you love me, keep my commandments”. You can’t love God and be
disobedient to His commands. God cannot be mocked; He who made ears and eyes
can certainly hear and see the things that you do.
-
Jesus proved
His love for the father by obeying all His instructions, even to death on the
cross: the most shameful death of His time, (Philippians 2:8, Galatians 3:13).
He judged as He heard from His father because He was seeking the will of
His father who sent Him – John 5:30. His primary assignment on earth was to
carry out the plan and purpose of God for man, which He completed successfully.
At the end, He said, “It is finished”. –John 19:30
-
God demands
that you obey Him absolutely, not as convenient. He showed an example for us by
sacrificing His only son. And on the cross for the first time, He forsook His
son because of your sin and mine – Matthew 27:46. It certainly was not
convenient for God, but He did it for the love He has for you and me.
-
Therefore,
your obedience must be total. God will not accept half commitment from you,
which is why He said He prefers you being cold or hot and not lukewarm. Christ
will not condone a lukewarm service; He will spew you out of His mouth if you
are lukewarm – Revelation 3:15-16
(say a testimony on this part if needed)
2) SOULWINNING (JOHN 21: 15-17)
-
Another
important proof of your love for God is your love for lost souls. If you love
God, you will love what He loves and hate what He hates. Soul winning is God’s
heartbeat and passion. Whatever God does is geared towards reconciling people
back to Himself.
-
God the father
sent Jesus to earth and allowed Him to be crucified in order to reconcile man
to Himself – 2 Corinthians 5:18-19. His target was to win as many people as
possible, that whosoever believes in Christ will not perish but have eternal
life.
-
And Christ’s
great commission to His disciples, including you if you love Him is to go and
teach all nations to observe all things that He had commanded, Matthew
28:19-20. Also, that you should bear fruit that will remain in the Lord – John
15:16.
-
Christ
demanded that Peter proved his love for Him by preaching the word of God – John 21:15-17. “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?”
It is not God’s desire that anybody
should perish but that all should come to repentance – 2 Peter 3:9 and so He
has committed the ministry of reconciliation to the disciples – 2 Corinthians
5:18.
-
Christ
emphasized the importance of soul winning in the whole 15th chapter of Luke, through the parables of the
lost sheep, lost coin and lost son.
-
God is
interested in bringing back lost souls and He has chosen you to work with Him
in accomplishing this task. If you love Him, you will partner with Him in this
ministry of reconciliation.
(say a testimony on this part if needed)
3) GIVING (2 Corinthian 8: 1-5, 8, 24)
-
Giving is an
expression of love. You cannot have true love for someone and not give to the
person. There’s a saying “You can give without loving but you cannot love
without giving.” So also, you cannot love God and not give to Him and for His
kingdom work. It is a proof of your love for Him. If you love Him, you will
give without being coerced to do so. It will be a thing of Joy to you to do so.
-
God first
loved us (1 John 4:19) and gave His only son for us all. And He had promised
that if He could give His only son then, there is nothing He cannot freely give
us – Romans 8:32. Love is a giver and if you love God, you must be a giver too.
-
God expects
you to give willingly, cheerfully and bountifully, but according to what you
have and not to what you don’t have – 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, 2 Corinthians 8:12.
It is a test of the sincerity of your love – 2 Corinthians 8:8.
(say a testimony on this part if needed)
(points
are taken from http://stepswithgod.com/proof-love-god/)
CONCLUSION:
SACRIFICIAL
LOVE ILLUSTRATION:
Maria
Dyer was born in 1837 on the mission field in China where her parents were
pioneer missionaries. Both her parents died when Maria was little girl, and she
was sent back to England to be raised by an uncle. The loss of her parents,
however, did not deter her young heart from the importance if sharing the
gospel. At age sixteen she, along with her sister, returned to China to work in
a girl’s school as a missionary herself. Five years later, she married Hudson
Taylor, a man well-known today for his life of ministry, faith, and sacrifice.
Hudson
and Maria’s work was often criticized – even by other Christians. At one point
Maria wrote, “As to the harsh judging of the worlds, or the more painful
misunderstandings of Christan brethren, I generally feel that the best plan is
to go on with our work and leave God to vindicate our cause.” Of their nine
children, only four survived to adulthood. Maria herself died of cholera when
she was just forty-three. But she believed that the cause was worthy of
sacrifice. On her grave marker these words were inscribed: “For her to live was Christ, and
to die was gain.”
In a
day when many are self-absorbed and care more about what they can get rather
than what they can give, we need a renewal of sacrificial love. It was God’s
love for us that sent Jesus into the world to die for our sins, and it is that
kind of giving love that our world needs so greatly today.
In
aspect of God’s love, sometimes we ask God for proofs most especially during
dark hours of our lives. Though His love is so evident we still question Him
when we face trials. We easily ask for
proofs, but we don’t see ourselves. What if God return our question to us: “Do
you love Me? If you love Me, prove your love!”
We are blessed because though God hasn’t received love in return from
us, He still loves us.
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