'Words of Life' w/ Pastor Mark D. Ingram
'Words of Life' w/ Pastor Mark D. Ingram
What Is Love? featuring Twala Ingram's 'Biblical Thoughts'
On this week's broadcast / podcast of 'Biblical Thoughts', join us as we embark with our featured guest, Mrs. La'Kendra Jackson, on a soul-stirring quest to the heart of one of our most cherished emotions: love.
This engaging conversation elevates the understanding of love beyond the simple warmth of affection, as we evaluate the virtues of patience, kindness, and resilience that compose the essence of 'love.'
Twala's message is undergirded by 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, the primary scripture that sketches a compelling portrait of GOD'S unyielding love, framing it not as a fleeting sentiment but as intentional, steadfast actions that we must endeavor to practice, to impact humanity.
During this episode, we wrap our minds around the concept of 'agape' love, the Divine, unconditional love that God showers upon us and calls us to emulate with every soul GOD allows within our sphere of influence.
Twala and La'Kendra bring their profound insights to our topic, shedding light on the tangible manifestations of this divine love in the everyday and how it shapes our marriages, guides our parenting, and molds our daily encounters.
By amplifying the enduring commandment to love others as Jesus loves us, the message offers our viewers and listeners, a powerful reflection of how to infuse our lives with a love that doesn't just endure but transforms, inviting us to cultivate agape love, regardless of life's fluctuating paths or encounters.
Tune in for this week's message...
WHAT IS LOVE?
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Host: Twala D. Ingram
Featured Guest: La'Kendra Jackson
Song of the Week: YOU Are Faithful featuring Joyspring
In lieu of eternity, sermons and musical artists are featured to extol JESUS CHRIST as the sole hope for the eternal souls of humanity.
Hey there, biblical thoughts, listeners and viewers. I'm Twala D Ingram and on this week's episode we have a question for our topic. Our question is what is love? And today for our guest, we have Mrs LeKindra Jackson. She's gonna be here with us and we hope that you will stay tuned and join us in just a few minutes.
Speaker 2:We thank you for joining our biblical thoughts broadcast podcast, where our mission is studying God's word with practical application and encouragement from various women of God. We now join Lady Twala with this week's biblical thoughts.
Speaker 1:Alright, so we have here today Mrs LeKindra Jackson. First I wanted to say thank you for being here with me. Do you want to give the viewers and listeners a background? Yes, my name is LeKindra Jackson. I'm recently married, I have a son that's 16 and I am an educator.
Speaker 2:I'm just a little bit about me.
Speaker 1:Okay. So today's episode, we're just gonna discuss the question what is love? We did have our opening, our opening scripture. I'm gonna go ahead and start off by reading our opening scripture. After I read the opening scripture, then we're gonna just get ready to get in the word. We are this ministry. The way that I look at it is we're women coming together in the word. So when I think about what we're doing, it's women in the word and just sharing what we have as women could be on different age levels, different, you know wherever we're coming from, just coming together in the word. So today we are gonna be reading from 1st Corinthians, the 13th chapter, and it's going to be verses 4 through 7.
Speaker 1:Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love is, does not demand its own way, it is not irritable and it does not keep record of wrongdoings. It does not rejoice in in about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up. Love never loses faith, it all. It is always hopeful and it endures through every circumstance. So we're gonna take those few verses about love and before we kind of really get into the word and start talking about the points.
Speaker 1:I wanted to just kind of give a little background about the verse where Paul was having to write to the Corinthian Church because of the division, the reports of disputes, where they were like, well, this gift, this gift, and it was causing, like some, some rifts in the church. It was an early church, so he wrote this letter and he basically told them that, regardless of whatever your gift is, what gift you have, love is the most important part of it. Love is the most important thing. So, with that being said, thinking of love, there's different kinds of love in the Bible, and so I wanted to make sure that we figure out what love is mentioned here in the scripture. Can you think of one type of love that you have maybe read about in the word guys? Love, the love they have for us, the love that we should have for one another because he first loved us right, and that love when I think that love, god's love, that's a God they love yes, so it has a name and it's that unconditional love. When we mess up, I still love. When we don't make the right decisions, when we don't choose the right things, god loves us unconditionally, and that is the love that is mentioned in this portion of scripture.
Speaker 1:But we also want to just mention the other love types of love, because somebody might have confused it and thought maybe it was the Belia, which is the brotherly love city of Philadelphia, kind of has that brotherly love. That's why it's known as the city of brotherly love, because it has a portion of that, that word. We also have Eros, which is the love that we have for our husbands, that romantic love, and Storgue, which is the family love. So just wanna make sure that we know that in this portion of scripture Paul is referring to that unconditional love that God has for us. Like, as you said, we should have for one another, we should have for not just people we know, not just people we like.
Speaker 1:This unconditional love extends to all. So we've got our little introduction out of the way. So we're gonna just start looking at some points. So I have I'm gonna start with my first point and it may be that we have the same points. So if we do, we just agree and go from there. So on point one, point one, we're looking at love is not what we say, but love is something that we do.
Speaker 4:So in talking about that.
Speaker 1:It's active, it is an action. It is not the words that we speak, it is what we do. So point one for me is it's not what we say, but it's what we do. Do you have a point that? Yes, for me, a big one is is that love is based on commitment and not how we feel.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's a good one, because a lot of times we are in our feelings we get in our things a lot as Christians, as mothers, as wives now, as teachers, as just people, we get in our feelings when something or someone does or says something and love we should be committed to. Okay, regardless of what they say, what they do, we still have to show that unconditional love and we still have to know that God, when we mess up and we don't say the right thing or do the right thing, he's not throwing us away. He's not, you know. So that unconditional part of that we have. This, then that's the one I'm really having to work on, being that I'm new to being married, so the word hasn't changed, but I've changed Because I'm no longer a single woman, right. So, being able to look at the scripture, I have to look at it a little differently now, right?
Speaker 4:To access our Words of Life video on demand channel at Roku, amazon Fire or your favorite app. Search for Words of Life with Pastor Mark D Ingram on your television or portable device. Now add the channel within your television app or portable device. Simply click on our Words of Life logo to access available content. Try scrolling the various categories for preferred viewing. In our various categories to choose from, you can also view sermons from the legacy ministry of Pastor Mark Erlingram Sr. The words of life video on demand channel allowing us to extol Jesus Christ as the soul, means of hope for the eternal souls of humanity, now available for free at the touch of your finger. We look forward to you joining us soon.
Speaker 1:So our first point was that love is not what we say, but it's what we do. So we want to make sure that when we're dealing with anyone in any situation, that we are dealing with them in love, not with words, but always with. It's an action thing. So, going back to love being an action word, I wanted to kind of also go back to when we look at that scripture and it says love is patient.
Speaker 1:That's not something that you, you don't say patience, patience is something that you have to do is something that you have to be and, coming from where we come from, as far as, like our classroom, we, you know, we have to show that patience and you know it's not something that we can just say. We have to know that we're, we have to show that patience, that kindness. Those are all things that are not just words, those are actions. So that, just that being that active part, love is active.
Speaker 4:So even with a patient.
Speaker 1:Patient is persistent, the patient love is persistent. You know, choosing to love even when we don't feel like it Right, right, it's not like again it's, it's not in a feeling, it's not something that we're going to, you know, always feel like doing unconditional love is regardless of how you feel, yes, and that is expecting us to love one another, love anybody that we come in contact with, people that we don't know. And another scripture that I felt like kind of ties into that it's not just what we say is 1st Peter, 4 and 8, where it says that we should continue to show love for one another, because it covers a multitude of sins. So, you know, even when we feel like, okay, that brother or sister wronged me, you know they did this to me and I don't know how I can continue to love them, or I don't know if I can show love, they did me like this, we still, as a child of God who is given unconditional love, like you just said, we have a, we have a charge for you and still love, and still love.
Speaker 1:It's unconditional. So that's something that you know. We have to make sure that we are mindful of. It's unconditional. Love is not, is not in a feeling, and it's not something that we just say it is active. It is an active has to be something we do, something definitely that we do. Do you have a second point that that you'd like to share about what is love? So I started breaking it down. You know, love is patient, love is kind. So, on the love is kind, am I put that we react with kindness, goodness rather than harshness? Love does reveal we're beautiful. So sometimes you do have to pull someone to the side, but it's the manner in which you do it right when you're having to redirect, but still doing it from a place of love. Right, and we're kind of. And I wholeheartedly agree because, as teachers, as mothers, as you know, just people we do have to settle some issues or come to, hey, you know, when you have to discipline your child, all of it has to be. It's that active, that love has to be active. And, yes, we do need to make sure that we're doing that in love, even though there is review. Yes, we do, we do have to, but it has to be done in love, and I like the way that you're taking each word and breaking that apart.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna go for my second point, because I've kind of just broke mine up into points. Love is everlasting. So in Corinthians first, corinthians 13 and 13,. Basically that just talked about love enduring, and when something endures, that's something that lasts. And so you know it said that long ago the Lord said to Israel I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love, with unfailing love. I have drawn myself to you. So basically, god's love is not going anywhere.
Speaker 1:The love that we have for each other, that unconditional love, it should be something that it's not wishy-washy. It's not I love you today or I love you when you're, when everything is well, right. It's not that kind of love, it's not where okay, yeah, you're doing good, I love you. You know, when we have our step, when we have again, when your child is doing everything they're supposed to do, that's not the only time that we have to extend that love, even when they mess up and sometimes they mess up big, because I know our baby girl has had she had a big one in high school but we don't throw them away, right, and I say, well, today you just messed up and I can't love you. Well, that's not what God does. Thank God he doesn't show me just like that, right, thank God that he has that unconditional love for us, and he has that love for us and he is expecting that same love, that same unconditional love we have to show to everyone, to our children, to our husbands, to our spouses, to our kids, to our kids at school, to our coworkers. We have to extend that love to people that we see in the grocery store, right, you know so it's not, you know, and it's that everlasting. You know, thank God, that his love is everlasting. It's not wishy-washy here today, gone tomorrow.
Speaker 1:So do you have another point? That stuff are stuck out to you when it comes to you? Yes, so love is not easily angered. So this challenges us to take a moment to be reflective before we respond, before we react in our everyday lives, keeping love at the forefront. You know how our God really treats us when he responds to you like this. Did he respond to you like this? How did he treat you after you did, after you messed up, after you didn't, you know, get, after you weren't in your word, you weren't, you know. Because we and I think that's something that we have to always look at Like God, god's unconditional love for us is that same love that we have to have, like he does that for us.
Speaker 1:He, we mess up every day, we wake up wrong. We wake up and see, I mean, like we, we are sinners, yes, saved by grace. So God gives us that unconditional love so that we can show that to other people. It's, it's just, it's almost like it's a, which is one of my other points. It's a command. Yes, love is a command, not an option. Jesus said John, there's two verses, just two, that I picked out, which are. There's more than that. But John 1334, jesus said I give you a new command Love each other as I have loved you. So not only is it everlasting, love is everlasting, it's also a command. God commands us to love one another.
Speaker 1:It's not a, not something that we can, oh, not today. I don't feel like loving today, cause you know they did this. It's no, it's every day. We should be able to turn it on and off. It should stay on. Oh, it's consistent, even though it may be challenging. Right, right, but we shouldn't have the mindset oh, not today, not today. It shouldn't even be an option Like nope, not the shirt, no, it may be a process that you have to work through, but it shouldn't be an option to pray, it's not today.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I'm not loving you too. I'm not feeling it today. Well, it's. It's if God, if God didn't feel it today, that we'd be in trouble, you know. So it's, it's a command, it's a always, it's a continuum. And to me also, in everything that we do not just you know, not just the relationships that we have we show love. I feel like it's something that when you're talking to someone, when you see someone you don't know on the street, when you're teaching, when you're, in every aspect of everything that we do, and I think even the gifts that we have, the spiritual gifts in love, those things should be done in in love, and it is a, it's a command for us.
Speaker 1:Yes, Not what you want A stranger should be able to feel that from you. Right, whoever you meet, you should still be able to feel the love of God. Hey, exactly, I mean, like when we go on trips sometimes, like when we're on a vacation or whatever, that's something that we, before we leave, we pray that, god, that someone sees us in you and that we can, you know, share our, show our love, share our love with somebody Maybe we don't even know, but that they can see the love of God in us. That is what we should do every day that we walk out of the house. God, help me to be, help me to show love to someone, because you do that for me every single day. So, wherever I go, I want that love to show and I wanna share that love that you have for me. I wanna share that unconditional love and show that unconditional love for someone else.
Speaker 1:And the last point that I have and you may have another point to share is just God is love. He is God is love. He challenges us to love one another. It says love one another because I loved you and love comes from God. Those who love are of God.
Speaker 1:And if you don't know love, if you don't have love, then you don't have God. So it's basically he's love and if we're showing love we're part of him. But if we're not showing love, then you don't know God. You cannot say you love God whom he's never seen. The word of God said you love God, but you've never seen him. And here you are, sitting here with a brother or sister, with children in your classroom, with people that you know in your family, and you're not showing them love. You don't have God if you're not, if you're not showing love, you are not of God. So just God is.
Speaker 1:And also in Psalms 86 and 15 saying that God has compassion, filled with mercy, he's slow to anger and he's filled with unfailing love. That's just something that we should continually do be think of, be mindful of. God is love, and if I love God, I should love others. So you have another point. We have about a few minutes where we're getting ready, and so on my last point, I actually kind of said the same thing about we can't say we love God and hate those around us, that our love for God is shown and not, and how we treat the people we interact with and what God has done for us. We are to do the same for others. Amen, I agree, amen.
Speaker 4:So we kind of tied a little bit on that one, and that's what this is about we come.
Speaker 1:Like I said, we could have had the same points, we could have had different views, you could have come up with a point, that but it's coming together in the Word of God. We are women getting together in the Word. This is something that I really feel like I learned from sometimes just getting in the Word and going back. We know what love is, we know what God expects, but when we go and just get into the Word and sit in it and read it and kind of just come up with what is God saying to me, that's what this is, this is all about, and I really appreciate you being here. I hope that you will come back.
Speaker 1:Yes, I'm glad that you asked me to come and I'm glad you can, and I hope, I really hope that you will come back and share the Word of God with me, because I just feel like women coming together in the Word. It's something that's needed. It's powerful. It's powerful. The world needs more people spreading the Word of God, especially on a message of love, since before that, you laid out a message about God that he should not be born again in history.
Speaker 5:Değer, yes, but his will is the power of God, and so God was the source of all of us. Like you, no-transcript. Am I light? Am I a fling? Am I small? Do I sing or am I salt? Am I a day or am I a play? Or would you say I am the way Church? Who does the world say that I am Because of you?
Speaker 1:So, as we get ready to come to a close, we want to just offer Jesus to anyone who has not accepted God, who has not accepted Jesus into their heart, for it is you have to confess and believe that he died for us on the cross. And if you have confessed and believe that he died, then you will be saved. So we just want to offer this extension to Christ that you will come to know him, and in this last few minutes we're just going to bow our heads in prayer that, Lord, we thank you for the opportunity that you've given us to share the Word of God. We thank you for your son, Jesus, who died so that we might have the right to the tree of life, so that we might be able to come to you and come to know you through him. Lord, we thank you for the Holy Spirit that you've given us to help us live this life, to walk out this life. Lord, we thank you for everything that you've done. We thank you for the Word that you've given us about what is love. Lord, we thank you for the love that you have for us, the unconditional love that you have for us that we should extend to others.
Speaker 1:We thank you for this message. We thank you for everyone that it will reach Lord. We ask that it just go out to whoever is supposed to go out and that it does not return for you. We do pray this, pray this and these things in the name of Jesus, Amen. Thank my guests, Miss LeKindra Jackson, for being here on this episode of Biblical Thoughts where our question was what is love? Coming from 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, verses 4 through 7, we thank you for being here. We also would like to extend the invitation for you to look up Words of Life. That is the other ministry where my husband teaches the Word of God. We thank you for joining us and we hope to see you next time.
Speaker 3:We are not alone. You remind us to hold on to hold, and we are lost in pain. We cry out your name and you are faithful, faithful through all things. Patience, child, rest awhile when you begin. No man can live. And you are faithful, faithful through all things. And we are lost in pain. We are lost in pain. We are lost in pain.