Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry
Speaker 1: of Pastor Rick Warren. Today, Pastor Rick continues in a
Speaker 1: series called Forty Days of Love. In these lessons, Rick
Speaker 1: looks into the Bible to help you better understand God's
Speaker 1: great love for you and to empower you to love
Speaker 1: others the way Jesus does. But first, in just a bit,
Speaker 1: we'll tell you how to get Pastor Rick's Forty Days
Speaker 1: of Love Bible study with six video sessions and workbook.
Speaker 1: It's perfect for individual studying and also great to do
Speaker 1: with a small group of friends. You can take a
Speaker 1: sneak peek by going to Pastorick dot com while you listen,
Speaker 1: or just text the word hope to eight hundred, six
Speaker 1: hundred five thousand and four. That's the word hope to
Speaker 1: eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four. Right now,
Speaker 1: here's Pastor Rick with part two of a message called
Speaker 1: It's All All about Loves.
Speaker 2: So during forty Days of Love, we're gonna have to
Speaker 2: do some healing in your heart because you have been
Speaker 2: hurt in life. You've been hurt by parents, or you've
Speaker 2: been hurt by peers on school, or you've been hurt
Speaker 2: by professionals. Are you been hurt by partners? Maybe some
Speaker 2: of you have been abused, or you've been misused, or
Speaker 2: you've been rejected, or you've been abandoned, or you've been betrayed,
Speaker 2: and you've got some scabs on your heart, and we're
Speaker 2: gonna have to do some gentle surgery on your heart
Speaker 2: because you can't love others until you feel loved.
Speaker 3: Let me say that again.
Speaker 2: We're gonna have to come back to this several times
Speaker 2: this in the next forty days. You cannot give to
Speaker 2: others what you have not received yourself. You cannot give
Speaker 2: to others what you don't possess. Unlovely people are unloved people,
Speaker 2: Hurt people, hurt people. It's like a bottle of toothpaste.
Speaker 2: When you squeeze a bottle of toothpaste, what's going to
Speaker 2: come out? Whatever is inside it. And if you're filled
Speaker 2: with anger and you're filled with impatience and you don't
Speaker 2: feel loved, guess what, You're not gonna be able to
Speaker 2: love anybody else. So you have to learn how much
Speaker 2: God loves you and experience that and let it heal
Speaker 2: your heart so His love can flow through you. It
Speaker 2: is impossible to love others until you really feel love yourself.
Speaker 2: So during forty Days of Love, we're gonna work on this.
Speaker 2: We're going to experience it, and I want you to
Speaker 2: feel the love of transforming love that comes from God.
Speaker 2: First John four sixteen says this, we know and we
Speaker 2: rely on the love that God has for us. Do
Speaker 2: you know the love of God? And do you rely
Speaker 2: on the love of God for you? If you don't,
Speaker 2: you have a hard time love on other people. Oh,
Speaker 2: it's easy to love people who love you, that's no problem.
Speaker 2: I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about loving the unlovely,
Speaker 2: loving the difficult, loving the irritable, loving the people who
Speaker 2: are different, who are demanding, loving people all around you
Speaker 2: who you don't feel like loving. You can't do that
Speaker 2: until you have God's love coming through you. Love happens
Speaker 2: because we are loved by God. Now, Number two, the
Speaker 2: second thing that the Bible teaches us is that love
Speaker 2: is a choice. Love is a choice and it is
Speaker 2: a commitment. It is a choice and it is a commitment.
Speaker 2: You choose to love or you choose not to love.
Speaker 3: It is a choice.
Speaker 2: You see, today, we've bought into this myth that love
Speaker 2: is uncontrollable, that you really can't control it. It just
Speaker 2: kind of happens to you. No, that's not true. Love
Speaker 2: is a choice and love is commitment. In fact, even
Speaker 2: the language we use is this language that it's uncontrollable.
Speaker 2: We say I fell in love like it was a ditch,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 3: I was just walking along.
Speaker 2: One day and I was like coman, you know, I
Speaker 2: fell in love.
Speaker 3: I couldn't help myself. I'm sorry I fell in love.
Speaker 3: That's not love. Now.
Speaker 2: Attraction is uncontrollable, no doubt about it, and arousal is uncontrollable,
Speaker 2: no doubt about it. But our attraction and arousal are
Speaker 2: not love. They could lead to love, but they are
Speaker 2: not love. Love is a choice. This last week I
Speaker 2: don't get to do weddings anymore, But this last week
Speaker 2: I did a wedding for my personal associate, my assistant, Steve,
Speaker 2: and he and his fiancee Nicole stood right here on
Speaker 2: this stage and they made choices, and they made commitments
Speaker 2: in and their vows.
Speaker 3: They said to each.
Speaker 2: Other, I choose you above everybody else in the world,
Speaker 2: and I choose you for the rest of my life.
Speaker 2: That's a choice, and that's a commitment. Now, you can't
Speaker 2: force somebody to fall in love with you, and you
Speaker 2: can't force them to stay in.
Speaker 3: Love with you. Why Because love is a choice.
Speaker 2: Love cannot be forced, and this is true of all relationships.
Speaker 2: It is a choice. Notice this verse Deuteronomy, chapter thirty.
Speaker 2: Choose to love the Lord your God and commit yourself
Speaker 2: to him. Now, that same principle there is true about
Speaker 2: all relationships. You must choose to love God. God is
Speaker 2: going to force you to love him. You can fund
Speaker 2: your nose to God and go a total different way.
Speaker 2: You can destroy your life if you want to. God
Speaker 2: won't force you to love him because love can't be forced.
Speaker 3: Love is a choice.
Speaker 2: But, as it says, choosed, I have chosen to love
Speaker 2: God and I've chosen to commit myself to him.
Speaker 3: It's the same thing with everything else.
Speaker 2: I choose to love you, and I choose to commit
Speaker 2: myself to you.
Speaker 3: Love is a choice and is a commitment.
Speaker 2: Now, when people say, well, I just don't love her anymore,
Speaker 2: as if you don't have any choice, No, just be
Speaker 2: a man, own up to it. You're choosing not to
Speaker 2: love her anymore. Given the right circumstance, any two people
Speaker 2: could quote fall in love. But love is a choice,
Speaker 2: and you can choose to love anybody, and you can
Speaker 2: choose not to love anybody. So when you say, well
Speaker 2: I don't love him anymore, I don't love her anymore,
Speaker 2: Well that's your choice, but don't blame it on circumstances.
Speaker 3: You are choosing not to love. It's a choice. Number three.
Speaker 2: Love is an action, not just emotion. Love is an action,
Speaker 2: not just emotion. Now, as I said, it's more than
Speaker 2: a traction, it's more than a rouse. It's more than sentimentality.
Speaker 2: You know today the songs of love are. You know,
Speaker 2: I've got to quiver in my liver. You know, it's
Speaker 2: an ocean of emotion. Well, when the emotion is gone,
Speaker 2: does that mean love is dead? No, not at all,
Speaker 2: Because love is an action, it's something you do. Love
Speaker 2: is a behavior. Now, love can cause emotion. In fact,
Speaker 2: it causes the strongest emotions in human beings. It can
Speaker 2: create emotion, It can cause emotion, it can produce emotion.
Speaker 2: But love is not an emotion. Why why do you
Speaker 2: say that, Well, in the first place, in the Bible,
Speaker 2: over and over, we are commanded by God to love
Speaker 2: each other. And you cannot command an emotion. If I
Speaker 2: told you right now be sad, well, you can't just
Speaker 2: be sad on cue. You can fake it, but you
Speaker 2: can't command you know. Have you as a parent, have
Speaker 2: you ever told a little kid, I command you to
Speaker 2: be happy.
Speaker 3: I'll try you, daddy.
Speaker 2: You just can't command an emotion. Emotions are often uncontrollable,
Speaker 2: and if love was just an emotion, then God couldn't
Speaker 2: command it. But love is something you do. It produces emotion,
Speaker 2: but it is an action. In fact, the Bible says
Speaker 2: this first John, chapter three, verse eighteen. Let us love
Speaker 2: not with words or tongue, in other words, just talk
Speaker 2: about it, but with action and in truth. You know
Speaker 2: you can talk a good action. So oh, I love
Speaker 2: people I love, But do you really love them? Let's
Speaker 2: see how you act toward them. It's like the girlfriend
Speaker 2: who said to her boyfriend, you know he's always saying,
Speaker 2: he said, honey, I die for you, I die for you.
Speaker 2: She said, you always say that, but you never do it.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope Rip will be
Speaker 1: back in just a moment with the rest of today's lesson.
Speaker 1: If you've missed any part of today's teaching, you can
Speaker 1: listen online anytime at Pastorick dot com. That's Pastorick dot com.
Speaker 4: Jesus said there's nothing more important than loving God and
Speaker 4: loving others. That's why Pastor Rick created the Forty Days
Speaker 4: of Love Bible Study that comes with a six session
Speaker 4: DVD in workbook. In these sessions, Rick helps you understand
Speaker 4: how deep and wide God's love is for you and
Speaker 4: reveals how you can enjoy happy and successful relationships with
Speaker 4: others by focusing on the spiritual principles of patience, kindness, truth,
Speaker 4: and forgiveness. This resource is perfect for personal study, or
Speaker 4: you can invite a few friends over and do it
Speaker 4: in a small group setting. And today, when you give
Speaker 4: a gift to share the love of Jesus with people
Speaker 4: here and around the world, Wilson to you Pastor Rick's
Speaker 4: forty Days of Love Bible Study to say thanks. Get
Speaker 4: yours now and experience more fulfilling relationships as you live
Speaker 4: a life powered by the love of Jesus. Go to
Speaker 4: Pastorick dot com right now to get your copy, or
Speaker 4: you can call eight hundred at six hundred eight five
Speaker 4: zero zero four that's Pastorick dot com. Or call eight
Speaker 4: hundred six hundred at five zero zero four. Thank you
Speaker 4: so much for your support, and don't forget to let
Speaker 4: us know which radio station you heard us on.
Speaker 1: Now back to more from God's Word with Pastor Rick Warren.
Speaker 2: You know you can talk a good action, so oh,
Speaker 2: I love people I love, But do you really love? Well,
Speaker 2: let's see how you act toward them. It's like the
Speaker 2: girlfriend who said to her boyfriend, you know he's always saying,
Speaker 2: he said, honey, I die for you, I die for you.
Speaker 2: She said, you always say that.
Speaker 3: But you never do it.
Speaker 2: Love is something you do. Now, let me say a
Speaker 2: couple of things about love and action. Actually, acting in
Speaker 2: love when you don't feel it is the highest form
Speaker 2: of love. It's actually a more mature love when you
Speaker 2: act loving toward a person when they're not responding to
Speaker 2: you or you don't feel it. I mean, it's easy
Speaker 2: to love somebody who loves you. That's nothing, that takes
Speaker 2: nothing at all. But real love acts and does the
Speaker 2: loving thing when they don't deserve it, when they don't
Speaker 2: respond or when you don't feel it. Anybody who's had
Speaker 2: children knows that when they're growing up as babies, as
Speaker 2: little babies, and you get up five or six times
Speaker 2: in the night to take care of.
Speaker 3: That little baby. You don't do it because you feel
Speaker 3: like it. I think I'll get up again. I've had
Speaker 3: too much sleep.
Speaker 2: I think I'll just get up again and go check
Speaker 2: on that baby. No, you do it because you feel
Speaker 2: like it.
Speaker 3: No, you do it because it's the loving thing to do.
Speaker 2: Anytime you've held a sick pen for a loved one
Speaker 2: who was nauseated, you didn't feel like doing that, but
Speaker 2: it's what they needed, and you were being loving when
Speaker 2: they were sick. You were giving them what they needed,
Speaker 2: not what you felt like doing.
Speaker 3: That is the ultimate form of love.
Speaker 2: When you are patient with somebody who's irritable, a clerk
Speaker 2: who's being a jerk, and every bone in your body
Speaker 2: wants to be sarcastic back to them, and you respond
Speaker 2: in kindness and politeness and in love to that clerk
Speaker 2: who's being a jerk, and you're giving them not what
Speaker 2: they deserve, but what they need.
Speaker 3: That's love.
Speaker 2: When you do the loving thing, when you come home
Speaker 2: at night and you're as tired as everybody else is,
Speaker 2: but you do the loving thing not because you feel
Speaker 2: like doing it, but you do it out of love.
Speaker 2: That's ultimate love. Does that make sense? So love is
Speaker 2: an action more than an emotion. In fact, the Book
Speaker 2: of James James says, you know, if you do all
Speaker 2: this big talk about love and all this talk about faith,
Speaker 2: but you don't follow it up with actions, it's worthless.
Speaker 2: What good is that? It doesn't matter. The second thing
Speaker 2: I'd say about love is action, is that it is
Speaker 2: always easier to act your way into a feeling than
Speaker 2: it is to feel your way into an action.
Speaker 3: Let me say that again.
Speaker 2: It's always easier to act yourself into a loving feeling
Speaker 2: instead of waiting for the feeling to come and then
Speaker 2: you're going to act loving. Some of you have been
Speaker 2: in marriages for a long time, and the truth is
Speaker 2: the flame's gone out and the thrill is gone, and
Speaker 2: you're living separate lives in the same house. How do
Speaker 2: you rekindle that romance? How do you rekindle the feeling
Speaker 2: of love? You act your way into a feeling. Now,
Speaker 2: if you say, now, when I don't feel like acting
Speaker 2: loving toward him, well so what or I don't feel
Speaker 2: like acting loving toward her? If you start acting in love,
Speaker 2: I guarantee you the feelings follow, because feelings follow behavior.
Speaker 2: In the Book of Revelation, Jesus says to the church,
Speaker 2: you have left your first love, and then he says
Speaker 2: three things. So remember what it was like at first.
Speaker 3: Repent.
Speaker 2: That means change your mind and do the things you
Speaker 2: did at the start. And what he tells the church
Speaker 2: is the same thing for renewing the love in a
Speaker 2: marriage or any other relationship. You remember, you repent, and
Speaker 2: you do the things you did at first. The reason
Speaker 2: the love went away is you stop doing the things
Speaker 2: that created the love feelings in the early days. Now,
Speaker 2: if you say, well, I wait till I feel romantic
Speaker 2: to be romantic is never going to happen. It's kind
Speaker 2: of like prayer.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: If the only time I pray is when I feel
Speaker 2: like it, the devil makes sure I never feel like it. Actually,
Speaker 2: I need to pray when I don't feel like it.
Speaker 2: In fact, that's when I need it the most. When
Speaker 2: I don't feel like praying, that's when I really need
Speaker 2: to pray. And actually, when I don't feel loving. This
Speaker 2: is a test. God is saying, are you going to
Speaker 2: learn to love me and to love other people when
Speaker 2: you don't feel like it. God doesn't want you living
Speaker 2: by your feelings. He wants you living by faith, so
Speaker 2: you know what he does. Sometimes he lets the feelings
Speaker 2: go away, and then you have to love by faith
Speaker 2: and live by faith. And when you love somebody and
Speaker 2: do the loving thing, even when they're not responding, and
Speaker 2: even maybe when they're retaliating, you are loving by faith.
Speaker 2: And that is an action. You act your way into
Speaker 2: a feeling, not vice versa. Now you say, well, I
Speaker 2: don't feel very loving, Well, so what just do the
Speaker 2: right thing during the forty Days of Love.
Speaker 3: That means we're going to have some practical assignments for
Speaker 3: you to do.
Speaker 2: You don't learn to love by listening to a sermon,
Speaker 2: and you don't learn to love simply by reading a book,
Speaker 2: and you don't learn to love simply by going to
Speaker 2: a small group and discussing and watching some videos. Those
Speaker 2: are all helpful things, but you actually learn to love
Speaker 2: by practicing it, by doing it. And so we're gonna
Speaker 2: have some assignments for you to do each week to
Speaker 2: help you practice learning how to love.
Speaker 3: And that brings me.
Speaker 2: To the fourth thing the Bible teaches us about love.
Speaker 2: The Bible says that love is a skill. It is
Speaker 2: a skill, it's something you can get good at now.
Speaker 2: You may think you're a good lover, but I'm talking
Speaker 2: about becoming a great lover, a skilled lover, a master lover,
Speaker 2: learning to love. Like most people never learn how to love.
Speaker 2: Love is a skill that can be learned. I can
Speaker 2: learn it. Did you know that? Did you know that
Speaker 2: love can be learned? And you can get good at it,
Speaker 2: and you can get better at it, and you can
Speaker 2: become an expert at relationships. And God wants you to
Speaker 2: become a skilled lover. We want our church to be
Speaker 2: known as the most loving church around. We don't want
Speaker 2: saddleback Church to be known for, well, that's the big church,
Speaker 2: or that's the church that has the good music or whatever.
Speaker 3: We want that people say, that's the church where they love.
Speaker 2: And they don't care who you are or what you
Speaker 2: look like, or where you've been or what you've done,
Speaker 2: or where you're from.
Speaker 3: They love you there.
Speaker 2: And not only do they love you there, they teach
Speaker 2: you how to love. And So what we're going to
Speaker 2: do for the next forty days is.
Speaker 3: Have some lessons on loving Now.
Speaker 2: The Bible says this and one John four seven, Dear friends,
Speaker 2: let us practice loving each other circle the word practice.
Speaker 2: The only way you get skilled at something is you
Speaker 2: practice it. You do it over and over, and the
Speaker 2: first time you do it feels awkward, and the more
Speaker 2: you do it, you get better and better at it.
Speaker 3: Same as to you with love.
Speaker 2: Let us practice loving each other, and we're going to
Speaker 2: practice during these forty days, for love comes from God,
Speaker 2: and those who are loving and kind show that they
Speaker 2: are the children of God and that they're getting to
Speaker 2: know Him better. He said, it's proof that you're really
Speaker 2: a believer, that you're in the family of God, that
Speaker 2: you're saved, he says. The proof is that you love
Speaker 2: other people. He says, let us practice this skill. Now,
Speaker 2: we're going to practice that. In fact, in one Timothy
Speaker 2: four fifteen, let's read this one aloud. Together, practice these
Speaker 2: things and devote yourself to them in order that your progress.
Speaker 3: May be seen by all.
Speaker 2: In just a minute, we're going to set up a
Speaker 2: little example of how we're going to measure our progress
Speaker 2: between today and between the end of the forty days
Speaker 2: of purpose journey, because I want you to be able
Speaker 2: to see your progress in love if you will do
Speaker 2: the things that we ask you to do during these
Speaker 2: forty days, not just to tend and listen. But if
Speaker 2: you'll do all the different assignments, I guarantee you will
Speaker 2: become a better lover. You will become a more loving man,
Speaker 2: you will become a more loving woman. Your character will
Speaker 2: be transformed, and you will see your progress. But it
Speaker 2: says in order to see that progress, it said, you've
Speaker 2: got to practice, and you've got to devote. You've got
Speaker 2: to make the commitment to do it, and you then
Speaker 2: you have to to practice it.
Speaker 3: Now. The fifth thing.
Speaker 2: That the Bible teaches about love is that love is
Speaker 2: a habit. It is a habit. You can't claim to
Speaker 2: be a loving person unless you are habitually loving. See Basically,
Speaker 2: your character is the sum of your habits.
Speaker 3: Let me see it this way.
Speaker 2: If you only love off and on like a light switch, Boom,
Speaker 2: i'm gonna love that person. Boom, I'm not gonna love
Speaker 2: that person. Boom, I'm gonna love that person. Boom, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna not love that If love is a light switch,
Speaker 2: which you are not a loving person. Now you may
Speaker 2: think you're a loving person, but love happens when you
Speaker 2: love the unlovely. Look at this verse on the screen.
Speaker 2: Luke six p'int thirty two. If you only love those
Speaker 2: who love you, what credit is that to you? In
Speaker 2: other words, well, big deal, big whoopee. The point is
Speaker 2: you think I'm a loving person because I love those
Speaker 2: who love me, I love my family. That's not being
Speaker 2: a loving person. Being a loving person is when you
Speaker 2: love the unlovely, when you love people who don't love you,
Speaker 2: when you love people who irritate you, when you love
Speaker 2: people who backbite against you, who gossip about you. Anybody
Speaker 2: can love people who love them. That's no that takes
Speaker 2: no character at all. Shoot, a dog can love that
Speaker 2: kind of love. You pet the dog, you feed the dog.
Speaker 2: Guess what it all? Wag it's tail. Okay, you don't
Speaker 2: feed it, you don't pet it. It's going to learn
Speaker 2: something else, But it is. God says love must become
Speaker 2: a habit.
Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. If you've missed any
Speaker 1: part of this message, or if you'd like to find
Speaker 1: out more about Pastor Rick Warren in this ministry, just
Speaker 1: visit Pastorick dot com, where you can listen online anytime.
Speaker 1: That's Pastor Rick with two rs inthemiddle dot com, and
Speaker 1: be sure to sign up for Rick's free daily email
Speaker 1: devotional while you're there, Rick will be back in just
Speaker 1: a moment. But first, Jesus said there's nothing more important
Speaker 1: than loving God and loving others. That's why Pastor Rick
Speaker 1: created the Forty Days of Love Bible Study that comes
Speaker 1: with a sixth session DVD and workbook. In these sessions,
Speaker 1: Rick helps you understand how deep and wide God's love
Speaker 1: is for you and reveals how you can enjoy a
Speaker 1: happy and successful relatetion reationship with others by focusing on
Speaker 1: the spiritual principles of patience, kindness, truth, and forgiveness. This
Speaker 1: resource is perfect for a personal study, or you can
Speaker 1: invite a few friends over and do it in a
Speaker 1: small group setting. And today, when you give a gift
Speaker 1: to share the love of Jesus with people here and
Speaker 1: around the world, We'll send you Pastor Rick's Forty Days
Speaker 1: of Love Bible Study to say thanks. Get yours now
Speaker 1: and experience more fulfilling relationships as you live a life
Speaker 1: powered by the love of Jesus. Go to Pastorick dot
Speaker 1: com right now to get your copy, or you can
Speaker 1: just call eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four
Speaker 1: that's Pastorick dot com. Or call eight hundred, six hundred
Speaker 1: five thousand and four. Thanks so much for your support,
Speaker 1: and don't forget to let us know which radio station
Speaker 1: you hurt us on. Here's Rick with a letter from
Speaker 1: one one of our listeners.
Speaker 2: I love the letters that you send to me. Here's
Speaker 2: one from a guy named Mike. He says he's learning
Speaker 2: so much from Daily Hope that he wants to pass
Speaker 2: it on to others. And here's what he writes, Rick,
Speaker 2: I've been reading Daily Hope devotional since two thousand and nine.
Speaker 2: I started listening to the Daily Hope audio teachings daily,
Speaker 2: and sometimes I listen to three or four per day.
Speaker 2: Wow Wow, Mike, he says. With the cup of coffee
Speaker 2: in my hand and Daily Hope in my ear, at
Speaker 2: the beginning of every day, I just feel uplifted.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: Oftentimes so I'm pretty convicted, but I always come away
Speaker 2: knowing that my father in Heaven loves me. Mike writes,
Speaker 2: you know, last September, after listening to your daily messages
Speaker 2: on the Forty Days of Love series, I ordered that
Speaker 2: series and I have listened to it six or seven times,
Speaker 2: and I am so impressed with all the truth in
Speaker 2: this series that I'm going to be ordering a series
Speaker 2: for each of my children and a special friend of
Speaker 2: mine that's Christian, but because of upbringing, is having difficulty
Speaker 2: understanding the love that God has for her. You know,
Speaker 2: part of your relationship with Jesus is being able to
Speaker 2: tell your life story to others, to let them know
Speaker 2: how God has transformed your life. Did you know that
Speaker 2: when you share your story of transformation and hope, other
Speaker 2: people get blessed as well. So tell somebody today about
Speaker 2: God's work in your life. I want you to just
Speaker 2: think about this. Who could you tell your story to today?
Speaker 2: Just think about that and then do it. God bless
Speaker 2: you and thanks for listening to Daily Hope.
Speaker 1: If you'd like to let Rick know how this broadcast
Speaker 1: has blessed you, please feel free to send him an
Speaker 1: email at Rick at pastorick dot com. That's Rick at
Speaker 1: pastorick dot com. Be sure to join us next time
Speaker 1: as we look into God's word.
Speaker 3: For our daily hope.
Speaker 1: This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and
Speaker 1: your generous financial support