Foundations of Truth
This is the podcast of Firm Foundations ministries. Our mission is to help you build your life on the unshakable foundation of God's Word, rooted in Scripture and anchored in the grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Each episode is designed to strengthen your faith, deepen your understanding, and encourage you to stand firm in a shifting world.
Foundations of Truth
Love Your Neighbor: The Essential Core of Christianity
Navigating what it truly means to love our neighbor ranks among the most challenging aspects of living out our Christian faith. Pastor Timothy Mann cuts through cultural confusion with a powerful reminder that love isn't an optional extra for believers—it's the main course.
Drawing from John 13:34-35, 1 John 4:20, and Mark 12:29-31, Pastor Tim establishes that loving others directly reflects our love for God. This teaching provides a transformative framework for how Christians should approach relationships, particularly with those whose lifestyles or identities may conflict with Biblical teaching.
The message unpacks three essential components of Biblical love. First, love promotes dignity by recognizing every person bears God's image regardless of their choices or identity. History's greatest atrocities—from the Holocaust to slavery—stemmed from denying this fundamental truth. Second, love requires empathy, the willingness to understand another's perspective before speaking into their life. As Galatians 6:2 instructs, we must "bear one another's burdens." Third, love shares truth, which often contradicts our culture's definition that equates love with affirming every desire.
Pastor Tim addresses the tension Christians face between speaking Biblical truth and being labeled hateful, reminding us that true love isn't measured by popularity but by alignment with Scripture. This teaching provides practical wisdom for believers navigating relationships in an increasingly divided society.
Whether you're struggling to love difficult people, wrestling with how to engage loved ones making choices contrary to Scripture, or simply seeking to deepen your understanding of Christian love, this message offers biblical clarity and compassionate guidance. The question isn't whether we'll encounter people with different values and identities—it's whether we'll respond with dignity, empathy, and truth.
Welcome to Foundations of Truth, the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor Timothy Mann and Providence Church, ormond Beach, florida. Providence Church is a local assembly of followers of Jesus Christ dedicated to helping people become committed and mature followers of Jesus Christ. Now here's Pastor Tim teaching the Word Turning your Bibles to.
Speaker 2:John, chapter 13 is where we'll start. Gospel of John, chapter 13. We'll also be traveling over to his little letter, the first letter after his gospel, 1, john. We'll go there, and then we're going to work our way back to the gospel of Mark, and so we'll begin in John, the gospel of John. We'll go to 1 John, we'll come back to Mark, chapter 12. So Mark, chapter 12, is where we'll end, but we're going to begin in John 13. Hopefully you're there by now.
Speaker 2:Jesus is speaking here as John records it for us. He's speaking to his followers, his disciples, and he says in verses 34 and 35, he says a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you. In other words, in the same way that I've loved you, in the same manner that I've loved you as I have loved you, that you also love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. And by this that is to say that you actually love one another as I have loved you. By this, all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. 1 John, a little letter in the latter part of the New Testament before you get to Revelation. 1 John, chapter 4, verse 20. 1 John, chapter 4, verse 20.
Speaker 2:The Bible says if someone says I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, how can he love god whom he has not seen? Turn with me back over to the gospel of mark mark, chapter 12. The context here is one of the religious leaders, one of the scribes, ask a question, probably in hopes to trip Jesus up, about which is the first commandment of all. Verse 29 of chapter 12, jesus answers. Chapter 12, verse 29 says Jesus answered him. The first of all the commandments is hear, o Israel, the Lord, our God. The Lord is one and you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first commandment, and the second, like it, is this you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. And we'll stop here. This is God's word that we've just read.
Speaker 2:As we traveled home from our grandson's ball game baseball game I made a meal purchase using an app on my iPhone. Yes, I've entered the 21st century. I'm trying to get all technological on you, right? So I made a meal purchase using an app on my iPhone and after I had selected the main items and then also the sides from the menu, I then had a spot on the app to click an icon for optional extras that I could add to my order, such as butter and whatever else, silverware and things like that, and sauce and yeah, all kinds of optional extras. And even though I ordered a few extras, it really didn't matter much, because some of the things including a side for crying out loud did not make their way into the bag that held my order. And of course, we're traveling.
Speaker 2:You know how that goes. Love can never be an optional extra for the Christian. Never be an optional extra for the Christian. We're talking this morning about how to love your neighbor, how to love your neighbor. Love can never be an optional extra for a Christian. It's not like we get eternal life and then a sign of forgiveness and a future hope and then have love as an optional extra. And even if we think we would like love as an extra, sometimes it sure looks like it didn't make it into our Christian bag. See, to be a Christian means to love as you have been loved by God. To be a Christian means to love as you have been loved by God. Look again at John 13. John 13, once again, jesus said a new commandment, not a new suggestion. A new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. Did you catch that?
Speaker 2:Jesus says that if we fail to love other believers, we show that we do not really love God. And I didn't even read this one this morning. It's a famous parable. Most everyone knows it, even kind of. What the title of the parable is is used in today's vernacular. The famous parable of the Good Samaritan actually shows that by others he also means all others. My neighbor, your neighbor includes anyone and everyone. Jesus is.
Speaker 2:Apostle John spells it out again in the first, in verse 20, first letter, chapter 4, verse 20. He says if someone says I love God and hates his brother, now we would be inclined to say, well, he's a hypocrite. A hypocrite, that's bad enough. Nobody likes to be called or thought of as a hypocrite, but the Holy Spirit of God did not inspire the apostle John to use the word hypocrite. Instead, he just gets to the heart of the matter and he says if someone says I love God and hates his brother, he is a what. I don't like this sermon. Already I didn't like it as I studied for it, because it's very convicting he who does not love his brother, whom he's seen, how can he love God whom he's not seen?
Speaker 2:And so, for followers of Christ, love is not just an attitude tacked on to the Christian life as an afterthought. Love is not an appetizer. Love is not a dessert. Love is the main course. Love is not a dessert. Love is the main course, it's the main dish. And so a heart that cultivates, actually works toward and cultivates love for God and love toward others is at the core of what it means to be a Christian, to be a follower of Jesus. Jesus even says that the love we foster in our hearts toward others is a reflection of the love that we have for God.
Speaker 2:Being a Christian, being a Christian and harboring hate toward others does not work for a follower of Jesus. It doesn't work for a follower of Jesus why? Well, because love is the foundation of the greatest commandments, as we read in Mark, chapter 12. Look at it again, verses 29 through 31. Verse 30,. And you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first commandment, and the second, like it, is this you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There's no other commandment greater than these. So the centrality of love must be the foundation for for our interaction with friends, with family, with neighbors, with our fellow citizens, including all those who are experiencing gender dysphoria or who have embraced a transgender identity or are living a homosexual lifestyle.
Speaker 2:A biblical response to all the folks that we've been discussing in this series is to see them as our neighbors and to love them because they are our neighbors. But that's easier said than done. Even if we're determined this morning to turn our backs on all knee-jerk reactions of one kind or another, it's still easier said than done. And what does it even mean to love? Because, from the Bible to the Beatles, we're told all you need is love. But what does it actually mean to love someone? As a Christian, I may want to act lovingly toward all people, regardless of their age or their race, or their background or their gender identity. But how do I do that? What does it even look like biblically speaking. Now, there's many things that could be said biblically. We could go a hundred different directions this morning biblically, but there are four principles that I want to share with you this morning, four biblical truths. That's foundational and very integral in this topic, in this theme that we've been discussing.
Speaker 2:If we're talking about loving our neighbor, it's interesting. Interesting because Jesus said between us, between believers, we're to actually love each other how as he has loved us. I mean think about the ways that Jesus has loved you, and that means that fellow believer, that brother, that sister, we're to love each other in that same way as Jesus loved us. For our neighbor, that person we don't know, he didn't use that same language, but he said this you're to love your neighbor as you love yourself. I promise you today, sometime today, if you've not done so already, sometime today, you're going to feed yourself. Right? How many of you have already fed yourself this morning? How many of you are going to feed yourself in a little bit? It's because you love you. That's why, thankfully, you all clothed yourself this morning. You clothed yourself, you didn't come out naked. It'll be harsh in the elements and on everybody else too. You bathe yourself? Most likely. I don't know, danny, he's by himself over here, I'm not sure. But no, I'm kidding coach, we do these things, we care for ourselves. Why? Because we love us. And he says your neighbor, that person you don't even know, you may not like, you have no affection for or fondness toward you're to love them at least as much as you love you.
Speaker 2:Easier said than done, sometimes, and in the context of gender sexuality, what does that look like? Let me suggest some things to you. First one is this If you're taking some notes, you can jot these down. What does that look like? Let me suggest some things to you. First one is this If you're taking some notes, you can jot these down. What does love do? How, how do we love our neighbor? First of all this love promotes dignity. Love promotes dignity. See, first we need to understand who our neighbors are, and our neighbors are people made in God's image, as we've already seen. We studied that and talked about that in detail. A few messages back People made in God's image.
Speaker 2:Genesis, chapter 1, verse 27, says God created man in his own image, not in the image of an animal, in his own image. In the image of God, he created him Male and female. He created them, and so the truth that man and woman are made in God's image is the foundation, it's the starting point for human dignity. Dignity the human dignity is the concept that individuals possess an unassailable worth, a value that cannot be violated, and there are no exceptions to this truth. There is no way for someone to be a human and not bear God's image, even though they may obscure it, even though they may mar it. There's no way for someone to be a human and not bear God's image. Oftentimes you'll hear someone say about someone else well, he's just trash, she's just trash. That's not true. They're a human made in the image of God, and nothing they can do with their lives or do with their lives can eradicate the image of God. No human authority can take it away.
Speaker 2:All humans possess God-given dignity and possess it equally. Presidents and peasants both are exactly the same in God's eyes. Christians and non-Christians both are made in God's image. Those who deal with same-sex sexual attraction and those who do not both possess the same inherent dignity. A person confused about their gender and someone at peace with their gender both possess the same dignity, and failing to understand how this truth applies to every single person equally is the foundation for all sorts of abuse and atrocities In Nazi Germany. A failure to see the full dignity of the Jews led to the Holocaust Early in the founding of the United States. A failure on the part of many white people to see the full dignity of persons with black skin led to the evils of racism and slavery in this country For the last 50 years. A failure to see the full dignity of persons who are not yet born has led to 50 million legal abortions in the US alone abortions in the US alone. History's greatest crimes result from denying God's image in every single man and woman. A transgendered person is made in God's image and that means dignity is due to them as people, regardless of whether I agree with their self-perception.
Speaker 2:Dignity demands that we speak in defense of someone's worth instead of saying, well, they're just trash. It means we speak in defense of someone's worth even when, as Bible believers, we rightly and correctly disagree with their way of life. See, love does something. It has nothing to do with affection, it has nothing to do with fondness. Love does something, and that is, it promotes the dignity of another human, simply because they carry the image of God. And, ladies and gentlemen, for that reason and that reason is enough, for that reason they have value. Love promotes dignity, not only that. Second point love requires empathy. Love requires empathy. You don't love somebody you don't empathize with, not really See. Understanding the perspective of someone unlike you is absolutely vital to developing empathy and building relationships. I would even go so far as to say this Listen to me, christian Empathy is the prerequisite for speaking meaningfully and authoritatively into someone's life.
Speaker 2:Meaningfully and authoritatively into someone's life. Let me ask you a question as a Christian do you just want to be right or do you want to influence somebody? It's a prerequisite for being able to speak meaningfully and authoritatively into someone's life. The Apostle Paul tells the church in Galatia Galatia, chapter 6, verse 2,. This is what he says. He says bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. What is the law of Christ? That we love one another. What is the law of Christ? That we love one another? The new commandment he gave to love one another and to love our neighbor as ourself. Bear one another's burdens. So to love someone, we have to work hard to empathize with them.
Speaker 2:What does empathy mean? To empathize with someone means that you're seeking to look at life from their perspective and to walk in their shoes. Empathy is very close to compassion, and both of those words, their root meaning from the original language, has the idea to feel in the bowels, or, stated this way, it means to suffer with. That's the idea. Let me ask you a question Is it easy for you to simply dismiss someone out of hand because their struggle seems alien or strange to you? Is it easy for you to just dismiss someone out of hand because you disagree with the choices they've made or the identity they assume and the things they do? I mean you can, just, no second thought, just dismiss them out of hand, because empathy, extending empathy, doesn't mean that you accept or affirm or encourage someone to embrace their desire to live, contrary to God's creative design. But it does mean, however, that instead of rejecting a person outright, we make an effort to seek to understand what they're dealing with and what their struggles are. That's what it means.
Speaker 2:Listen, folks, you need to understand. There are going to be people in your life. There are going to be people in your life who experienced dysphoria of some kind. It's inevitable. There's people in your church. There's people in your family. There's people in your schools, there's people in your family, there's people in your schools, and so what are you going to do when someone you encounter admits to these struggles? Will you respond with your jaw on the floor? Will your facial expression turn someone away? Or will you extend a hand of compassion and make sure you ask questions and listen hard? Or your children? Can they even admit a struggle to you? Can they even admit a struggle to you? Look what our eyebrows and our noses do when we meet someone tells them much more about how we truly feel than do our words or our posts on social media. See, the Bible says that we're not only to get to know people, but we're to bear their burdens, which means someone else's load also becomes my load. Someone else's struggle becomes my struggle. And you cannot love your neighbor, the one who God puts in your path, if you do not empathize with them, if you do not have compassion on them, if you don't suffer with, if you don't feel it in your bowel, in your gut. You can't love your neighbor if you don't empathize with them.
Speaker 2:The reason don't have time to unpack it today the reason the Samaritan got down in the ditch with the half-dead Jew who was prejudiced against the Samaritan. The only reason he got in the ditch with him, the Bible says in the Gospel of Luke, is he had compassion on him. He empathized with him. What's our attitude? Our attitude is usually this he deserves to be in the ditch. He got himself into this mess. Let him figure a way to get out of it, and we don't offer to help. What do we do? We just kick more dirt in on him. Dirt in on him. Love promotes dignity and love works to empath me.
Speaker 2:Thirdly, love shares truth. Love shares truth. First Corinthians, chapter 13. I did not enjoy reading first Corinthians chapter 13. I mean, oh, it sounds beautiful. It's good to be read at weddings. It's all high sounding and flowery and beautiful. All about love. You probably got a verse up in your home somewhere, man. I don't like it. You know why? Because I started looking at myself as I read 1 Corinthians 13. I failed the test. You do too, because we don't measure up to what 1 Corinthians 13 says about love. One of the things it says about love is this 1 Corinthians 13, verse 6 says Love does not rejoice in iniquity. We could put it this way Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices with the truth. So what does love do? Love shares truth. Now, here is perhaps the most delicate aspect of loving our neighbor. Here is perhaps the most delicate aspect of loving our neighbor, our transgender neighbor, our practicing homosexual neighbor, while not sending signals that we approve of someone living in a gender opposite of their sex, or no sex at all, or in a sexually immoral way, opposite from God's design. Because here's the reality.
Speaker 2:The Bible's definition of love runs contrary to the world's definition. Runs contrary Because, according to the world, according to the world, loving someone means giving them license to pursue whatever they believe will bring them happiness or fulfillment. That's the world's definition of love. The Bible says that love requires truth. Love requires truth.
Speaker 2:Love does not mean listen to me, especially if you have kids or grandkids and home still, or grandkids At home still. Love does not mean looking someone in the eye and affirming every desire they experience. Love means looking someone in the eyes and communicating the truth of Scripture. That's what love is. We're to do so humbly, we're to do so gently, but we're to do so nonetheless. And it is very important to bear in mind that what Christians call loving will not often be considered loving by the world. So we should never assess whether we are truly loving by the world's response or an individual's response to our message of love. Love and truth are never determined by whether they're popular, because often what is loving and true is very unpopular, and you know this to be the case increasingly today. Speaking truth out of love is called hate speech. It's called hate speech, but the Bible says.
Speaker 2:The Bible says that love cannot exist without truth and love cannot rejoice at wrongdoing, it cannot rejoice in iniquity. So if we accept the authority of the Bible and that's really what it comes down to, isn't it? We've been talking about that for a number of weeks now that is really what it comes down to. I need a good amen right there. That really is what it comes down to is do you accept the authority of the Bible? Is this the final word? Everything over your life and my life, whether I like it, whether I'm comfortable with it, whether it makes me happy, whether it makes me comfortable, it doesn't matter. Is this the final say?
Speaker 1:You've been listening to. Foundations of Truth, the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor Timothy Mann at Providence Church, ormond Beach, florida. You're invited to join us on Sundays at 1151 West Granada Boulevard in Ormond Beach For service times, bible fellowship groups and more information on activities at Providence Church. Go online to theprovidencechurchorg. If you feel led by God to financially support Foundations of Truth, visit the giving link at theprovidencechurchorg. If you feel led by God to financially support Foundations of Truth, visit the giving link at TheProvidenceChurchorg. Until next time, continue to build your life on the foundations of truth through Jesus Christ and God's written word.
