MAKE LOVE YOUR AIM SEMINAR

Written by Denise A. Runge-Let Love Lead Kenya Trust © 2020

Give me the love that leads the way,


The faith that nothing can dismay

The hope no disappointments tire,

The passion that will burn like re;

Let me not sink to be a clod;

Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God
By Amy Carmichael

INTRODUCTION:
Let Love Lead’s mission is to glorify God by sharing the Gospel with our neighbours. We do
this through training and equipping Christians to love their neighbours as themselves. We
believe it is through Christ’s love that Hindus, Muslims, Ismailis and other non-believers will
be drawn to our Father in Heaven and become His followers.

We are not a church, we are here to support The Church. We are not a denomination, we
work across all Christian denominations as we train and equip our brothers and sisters in
Christ with effective evangelism strategies, resources and trainings that focus on reaching
the unreached people groups in East and Southern Africa. We believe discipleship is the
key in raising up servants who are passionate about loving their neighbours.

In our Make Love Your Aim seminar, our primary goal is to work towards racial reconciliation
between Africans, South Asians and other people groups. If there is hate in your heart
towards your neighbour, whether he or she is of a different tribe, religion, caste or culture,
you cannot and will not be effective in ministry and will fall short of the Lord’s
commandment to love one another. We believe evangelism is about a relationship with
Jesus Christ, not a “conversion.” We are here to walk alongside you, to encourage you, to
train you, to disciple you so we can all participate in the end-time harvest. Jesus is coming
back soon and we all have a part to play in the Kingdom.

During this seminar, we will focus on the following items:

What is love?
How did Jesus love?
What did Jesus teach about love?
How do we love our neighbours as ourselves?

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MAKE LOVE YOUR AIM SEMINAR
Written by Denise A. Runge-Let Love Lead Kenya Trust © 2020

LESSON ONE

PART ONE-What is love?

Love is at the core of being a Christ-follower. Christianity is the only religion in the world
with LOVE as its central focus. No other religion enjoys a mutual love between human
beings and God. In John, chapter 13, vs 34 and 35, Jesus gives a new command, “Love
one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know
that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

If we as the Body of Christ desire to serve the Kingdom in a Christ-like manner, we need to
understand how God de nes love. Here is my interpretation of 1 Cor. 13:

“If I have the Four Spiritual Laws memorised and gospel tracks in my handbag and
my 3 minute testimony prepared but didn’t love others, it is just irritating noise. If I
have my BA, MA, Phd, ThD, Bible school certi cates and diplomas, if I have healed
the sick and delivered the oppressed and preached to the masses and but didn’t
love others, I am nothing. If I feed the street children and host visitors in my home, if
I attend church, satsangs, sangats, keshas, prayer services, if I do all these things
but don’t love others? I have gained nothing!

How does the bible de ne love?

The bible uses several different Greek words in the New Testament to de ne love. We will
look at two words-phileo and agapao.

Phileo, also called “friendship love” means to love in the sense of being friendly, to delight in
or long for, to love to do, or to do with pleasure such as an activity. This type of love focuses
on the emotions we feel when we enjoy someone’s company, delight in spending time with
friends and family—kindred spirits. This is the world’s type of love and can be sel sh at
heart. The world’s love is based on getting something from someone else. I love you
because . . . or I will love you if . . . These are conditional love statements based on
emotions. I love you because you are beautiful, kind, make me feel secure, cherished. I will
love you if you ful l all my expectations and demands.

Agapao is distinctly a Biblical word and is used in a spiritual sense rather than emotional
sense. It describes God’s divine love. I love you, period. No conditions, No expectations. In
John 3:16, the word “love” is used this way: “For God so loved the world that He gave His
one and only Son.”

Agapao was demonstrated by Jesus when He suffered and died for our sins. This love is to
be totally committed to the well being of others, without regard for their worthiness, even

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onto your own death. Jesus uses this word in John 15:13 when he tells the disciples, “There
is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” We as Christians are to
show agape, unsel sh, ready to lay down my life for you, love, to others.

Loving one another was not a new idea. Leviticus 19:18 says,“‘Do not seek revenge or bear
a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the
Lord.” What made this different from the Old Testament law is the divine, incarnational love
we receive through our belief in Jesus Christ. We now share in God’s love in a radically new
way. The ability we have to love becomes possible through our relationship with Jesus. We
share in the love that exists between God the Father and God the Son! The disciple,
therefore, is one who is characterised by love, which is the laying down of life. Our love for
one another is part of God's missionary strategy, for such love is an essential part of the
unity we are to share with one another and with God; it is by this oneness we have with the
Father and the Son that the world will believe that the Father sent the Son. Without this love
our message of what God has done in Christ would be hollow. Through the in uence of
love, the good news of Jesus Christ has been taught for the past 2,000 years.

PART TWO-A way of life

Read 1 Cor 13:4-13

Discussion questions:
1.Visualise: When you meditate on this passage, what comes into your mind?
2. Explain: Rephrase what the passage is saying. (In your own words)
3. Application: Does this happen in our lives? Why or why not?
4. Application: If it does not happen, what can we do to make it happen?

Interesting to note: In Chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians, Paul outlined the gifts for the church,
including tongues, prophesy, healing, miracle working, etc. The last verse at the end of
chapter 12 is very informative, “More important than all the gifts is love.” First Cor. 13:1 to 3
makes the point that without love, the gifts are worthless. Without love, tongues, prophecy,
wisdom, evangelism, preaching, teaching, serving is useless to the Kingdom.

What is love? It is long-suffering and puts others before oneself. Love cares about others
without boasting or being proud of the gifts God has bestowed upon us. Love is not rude,
meaning Christians learn and understand the cross-cultural aspects of serving people
outside of their own community. Love puts up and endures when others sin. Love is
portrayed as sel ess, seeking the good of the other rst and foremost. Love is what God in
Christ has shown and done for ‘others’. In love we treat our neighbors as we know God has
treated us.

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION LESSON ONE

1. As a group, write your own de nition of love based on what we discussed in Lesson One.
2. Answer the following questions:

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 A. What have you learned about love that you did not know before today?
B. In 1 Cor 13, Paul gives a list of what love is not-where do you struggle with loving
others?
C. How would your family or close friends describe how you love?
D. How can we pray for you to love others better

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