Beloved: Love Like Jesus

This message confronts one of the most misunderstood concepts in our culture: love. While the world tells us that 'love is love' and defines it through individual feelings and affirmation, Scripture reveals something radically different. True love is not self-defined but God-defined, rooted in His very nature. Through the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8, we discover that Jesus demonstrates love as both grace and truth working together. He doesn't condemn the woman, showing profound grace, yet He also doesn't pretend nothing is wrong, calling her to 'go and sin no more.' This is the tension we must embrace: love that has both tear ducts and a backbone. In a world that equates love with endless tolerance and affirmation, we're challenged to love like Jesus—speaking truth in humility and honesty, caring more about others' ultimate good than our own comfort or desire to be liked. The cross itself is the ultimate demonstration of this love: sacrificial, holy, and utterly transformative. We cannot love this way through our own strength; we can only love others like this when we first receive and experience the profound love God has for us. This isn't just theological truth to believe—it's a daily reality to experience and live from.