Haiti Bible Institute, February 18, 2015

"If you don't love people, you don't love Jesus."

These are the words of the lovely Samayra, my seven-year-old friend whose father owns our hotel. She was born in the US and attends an English-only private school here. She and I had some lively conversations when I was trying to get some work done in the hotel dining room.

In my last lecture today I did a "fly over" of the book of Hosea titled "Hosea, Redemption and Your Marriage." It teaches what marital love--and any love--ought to look like. One excerpt connected Hosea's purchase of his runaway bride with Peter's commission from Jesus after his denials:

In John 21 the resurrected Messiah walked with Peter next to Galilee and asked him a difficult question: “Do you love me?” In case you don’t know the story, this is similar to Hosea asking Gomer that question. Peter said, “yes,” but he used a weaker word than Jesus used. Jesus asked a second time and Peter responded with the same weaker word. Finally Jesus used Peter’s word and Peter realized that Jesus could see right through him. What helps us understand love in this text is that each of the three times Jesus called Peter to do something: “Feed My sheep.” Here is the point: whatever your level of love you need to do the loving thing. The test of love is not mustering the courage to express it verbally. Love is something shown. The test is in its outworking

Love is first what you do rather than what you feel. When kept in the right order the feeling that follows the action is true delight. Samayra's words certainly reflect why I am here and what I know should be the objective of all who claim to follow Christ.

Samayra must have heard John's words somewhere along the line: "If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen." 1 John 4:20, NASB

We are all done with exams here. Tomorrow I get to go home and put some love into action at my house.