Displaying Christian Sermons by tag: people

TD Jakes (November-30-2023) Daily Devotion: Love God, Love People.

Bible Quote: "Jesus said unto him, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.'" - Matthew 22:37-39

The interaction between Jesus and the religious leaders about the greatest commandment brings to light the simplicity yet profundity of Christianity. Jesus distilled the essence of numerous commandments and religious practices into two fundamental principles: love God wholeheartedly and love your neighbor as yourself. These two commandments encapsulate the heart of Christian teaching and practice.

This straightforward directive cuts through the complexities of religious rituals and theological debates. It’s a call to return to the basics of our faith – a relationship grounded in love. Loving God with all our heart, mind, and soul, and extending that love to our neighbors, embodies the entire message of the Gospel.

In a world often caught up in the intricacies of religious doctrine and practice, Jesus' words serve as a reminder that the core of our faith is accessible to everyone. You don't need to be a scholar fluent in Greek or Hebrew; the essence of Christianity is found in the simplicity of love.

This principle challenges us to reflect on how we demonstrate Christ's love in our daily lives. It asks us to consider whether our actions, words, and even our social media presence reveal the love of Christ. The true test of our faith is not in our knowledge or religious observance, but in our ability to embody and express genuine love.

The example of Dante Alighieri, the Italian poet, further illustrates the power of simplicity and accessibility. His insistence on writing in the language of the common people, rather than in the elite Latin, made profound ideas accessible to all. This mirrors the message of Christ – a message meant to be understood and lived by everyone, irrespective of their social or intellectual standing.

Prayer: Lord, teach us to embody the two greatest commandments in our daily lives. Help us to love You with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to extend that love to those around us. Guide us to live out our faith not through complex rituals or knowledge, but through simple, genuine acts of love. May our lives be a reflection of Your love, accessible and evident to all we encounter. Amen.

Joyce Meyer (August-03-2020) Watch Sermon: How to Love People That Are Hard to Love - Part 1.  God can help you get along with everyone! Learn how to bring God into the center of your relationships on this episode of Enjoying Everyday Life.

I don’t believe anyone gets up in the morning and thinks, I just can’t wait to see how many people I can make miserable today. I often say that hurting people hurt people.

 

Most of the pain and anguish we receive from other people is a result of their own pain. When someone is miserable, it inevitably comes out somewhere—and it usually comes out on somebody.

The truth is, we’re never going to be able to prevent people from saying or doing things that hurt our feelings. We will always have opportunities to get offended. But if we do things God’s way, we can choose to save ourselves a lot of misery and hardship.

This doesn’t mean we allow people to abuse us. No, there is a time for confronting people and dealing with situations. However, the Bible commands us to love our enemies and forgive those who have wronged us.

You may consider some of the people in your life and think, Joyce, that’s impossible!

Believe me, I’ve been in your shoes and I know how you feel. But everything the Lord asks us to do in the Bible is ultimately for our good. In fact, when we choose to love our enemies and forgive those who have hurt us, we are actually helping ourselves more than anyone else.

So, how do you love the people in your life who are hard to love?

Well, I believe a good place to begin is to stop thinking, “I can’t!” Because whatever the Lord commands us to do, He is going to give us the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish it—and that includes loving and being good to difficult people!

I personally believe that showing loving to someone who doesn’t deserve or expect it is absolutely one of the most powerful things we can do. Because in that moment they see God...and He’s the one Who can truly change their hearts.

Believe the Best

First Corinthians 13:7 says that ...love is ever ready to believe the best of every person....

When someone hurts our feelings or offends us, we have a choice. We can think, You did this on purpose just to upset me! Or we can choose to believe the best and think:

Well, they must be having a difficult day and probably didn’t even realize they were being rude to me. Maybe something difficult is going on in their life. It most likely has nothing to do with me.

I know that I desire for others to show me a lot of grace of mercy and give me the benefit of the doubt when I’m having a bad day or hurt their feelings without realizing it. No one is perfect, and we can all use a little room to be human.

Pray for Yourself

I don’t know how many years I prayed for God to change my husband Dave. In my mind, he was always the problem. Thank heaven, I finally learned the importance of adopting a humble attitude.

Now I pray more like this: “God, I would like for you to change Dave. But Lord, I may not even see this right—I may be the problem. God, first deal with me if I need to change.”

As we humble ourselves and ask the Lord to change us, it’s amazing how it will transform our relationships and our attitude toward others.

Pray for Others
It’s easy to give someone an ultimatum like, “If you don’t change your ways, I’m leaving you!” They may change for a while, but their bad behavior will eventually come back because their heart hasn’t changed.

We should pray that God will help people to be all He wants them to be and do all He wants them to do. Pray the Lord will help them get to the root of their problems and realize when they’re hurting other people.

I truly believe that we can use kindness as a weapon to overcome the meanness in people. Because God’s love flowing through us is strong enough to melt even the hardest hearts.

Let Them Out of the Dog House
Is there someone in your life who is difficult to love? If so, take a few moments to pray for yourself and them right now. Then choose to begin putting the following principles into practice.

 

 

 

Jentezen Franklin (November-03-2023) Daily Devotional: How To Deal With Difficult People.

“If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.” Mt 5:41 NIV

Jesus said, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.” Roman soldiers were permitted to force a Jew to carry a burden a mile for them. They treated Jews as tools to be used. However, in those days, a Roman soldier was likely to be very young, a stranger in the city, poor, and deeply resented by the locals. So, what would you do in that situation? Jesus invites you to take the high road. When you carry someone’s burden and finish the first mile, say, “You look tired. Can I help you some more? Can I carry your burden another mile?” Can you imagine doing that? But it’s what you’re called to do. Often when someone takes advantage of you, you want to think of them as unlikable instead of a real person with their own story. It’s said that a friend offered to introduce English essayist Charles Lamb to a man whom Lamb had disliked for a long time. “Don’t make me meet him,” Lamb said. “I want to go on hating him, and I can’t do that to a man I know.” Understand this: You can give the gift of empathy. You can remember that the person you don’t like is also a human being. You can put yourself in his place. You can take the time to imagine how he feels, what he has been through, and how life has treated him. When you do that, your problem becomes an opportunity to practice the Christ life. Isn’t that what you want? Isn’t that what you signed up for in the first place?

Joel Osteen - Sermon: Don't Rely On People. Are you relying on what others say or don’t say for your value? Are you frustrated today because you don’t have the support from others around you? One of the greatest lessons in life is to learn that your true value does not come from people; it comes from Almighty God. Yet many people today rely on the complements, encouragement and approval of others to feel good about themselves and stay motivated. Paul said in Philippians 4:13, “I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency.” Let Joel show you who you are in Christ and how to go to Him for your value and self-worth. As you apply these biblical principles, not only will you live a more peaceful life, but your relationships will improve, too!

Sermon Don't Rely On People by Joel Osteen online. Are you relying on what others say or don’t say for your value? Are you frustrated today because you don’t have the support from others around you?

One of the greatest lessons in life is to learn that your true value does not come from people; it comes from Almighty God. Yet many people today rely on the complements, encouragement and approval of others to feel good about themselves and stay motivated.

Paul said in Philippians 4:13, “I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency.” Let Joel show you who you are in Christ and how to go to Him for your value and self-worth. As you apply these biblical principles, not only will you live a more peaceful life, but your relationships will improve, too!

Rick Warren - Watch Christmas Sermon: For All People!

It's On You! - John F. Hannah Sunday Sermon March-26-2023. Scripture: Judges 3:12-23 (NIV) God has a track record of choosing the most unlikely people. He’ll take someone that we consider flawed and use them and their “deficiency” to make major moves! Look at your situation. You may not have asked for the assignment, but everything you’ve gone through has prepared you for this moment. He handpicked you, and it’s time to do what you’ve been called to do! Stop asking yourself, “Why me?” Be unapologetically bold — and as you begin to move forward, you’ll understand that it had to be YOU!

Stronger Together - Jentezen Franklin. The people of Laish dealt with no one. They left the people of God and modeled themselves after the Sidonians, wicked people. But the people of God do not model themselves after wicked people. Be careful who you allow to influence you and get the right people into your life.

Charles Stanley (December-22-2022) Daily Devotional: An Advocate for the People

Like Nehemiah, we can make a big difference in our communities by praying for and acting on behalf of others.

Nehemiah 1 - The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol, that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. They said to me, ``The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire." When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. I said, ``I beseech You, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father's house have sinned. ``We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. ``Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, `If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.' ``They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. ``O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man." Now I was the cupbearer to the king.

Before a single stone was laid to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, Nehemiah began to humble himself before God. After fasting and mourning over his people’s vulnerability, He offered up a three-part prayer—confessing Israel’s sin, proclaiming the Lord’s promises, and requesting success for his plans. 

Like Nehemiah, we should be committed to protecting our people. His response to Israel’s situation is a good template for us to follow. Perhaps you’ve never considered fasting over a local or national crisis, or interceding for your community’s disobedience to God. But taking action to protect and serve others is a believer’s responsibility (Matt. 25:35-40). 

There are those who doubt that one person’s prayers or actions can make a dent in a nation’s future, but Nehemiah proved otherwise. God used him to gather supplies and organize the Jewish people to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls in just 52 days (Neh. 6:15 - So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days). 

The impact of your intercession may not look like Nehemiah’s, or it may be unknown until you reach heaven. But if we’re to build communities where the vulnerable are protected and justice prevails, we must commit to small steps of change every day. And we should begin as Nehemiah did—with prayer. 

People Pleasers - Part 2 - Joyce Meyer (sermon online). What if you stopped listening to the opinions of others and started doing what God's Word says is right? Today, Joyce teaches about the wisdom and rewards of following God.

 

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