Author: lamkhanh

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Whenever you pray, forgive anything you have against anyone. Then your Father in heaven will forgive your failures.”  Mark 11:2 (GW)

When people hurt us, we have two natural tendencies: to remember and to retaliate.

But that’s not what 1 Corinthians 13:5 tells us to do: “Love does not count up wrongs that have been done” (NCV).

So how should you respond to the people who have hurt you? How do you handle all of those wounds and hurts that you’ve stockpiled in your memory?

Don’t repeat them. Instead, delete them. Let the hurts go. Forgive, and get on with your life.

When we get hurt, we tend to repeat that hurt in three ways: emotionally in our minds, relationally as a weapon, and practically by telling other people.

First, we repeat it by going over and over it in our mind. But resentment is self-destructive. It only perpetuates the pain. It never heals; it never solves anything. Whatever you think about most is what you move toward. If all you think about is how much you’ve been hurt in the past, then you’ll only move toward the past. But if you focus on the future, then you’ll move toward the future. If you focus on potential, then you’ll move toward the potential.

Second, we repeat our hurt in relationships. We use hurt as a wedge and a weapon. We say things like, “Remember when you did that?” or “But you did this!”

The Bible says in Proverbs 17:9, “Love forgets mistakes; nagging about them parts the best of friends” (TLB). Nagging also parts marriages and every other relationship you have. Nagging doesn’t work.

Third, we repeat our hurt by telling it to other people. It’s called gossip! We tell everybody else except God and the person with whom we have the problem.

Did you know that God hates gossip? He hates it as much as he hates pride—because that’s what gossip is. Gossip is pure and simple ego, or trying to make ourselves look and feel better. Every time you share gossip, you are being prideful, and God hates pride and gossip.

Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love doesn’t repeat a wound so that it turns into resentment or gossip or pride.

Mark 11:25 says, “Whenever you pray, forgive anything you have against anyone. Then your Father in heaven will forgive your failures” (GW). This verse in the Amplified Bible says to “let it go.”

Love responds to hurt by letting it go.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Brothers and sisters, if someone in your group does something wrong, you who are spiritual should go to that person and gently help make him right again. But be careful, because you might be tempted to sin, too.”  Galatians 6:1 (NCV)

Everybody in your life is going to disappoint you at some point. Why? Because nobody’s perfect!

So how do you deal with disappointing people? How does love respond when people disappoint us?

The Bible says in Galatians 6:1, “Brothers and sisters, if someone in your group does something wrong, you who are spiritual should go to that person and gently help make him right again. But be careful, because you might be tempted to sin, too” (NCV).

The loving response to people who disappoint you is to be gentle, not judgmental.

How do you have tough conversations with people in a gentle way? How do you confront people you love when you see they’re doing something they shouldn’t be doing? The Bible tells us to do it gently and with respect, not harshly or in a rude or mean way.

Here’s a little equation to keep in mind: Right + Rude = Wrong.

It doesn’t matter if you’re right. If you’re rude about it, then nobody’s going to care what you have to say. They’re just going to get defensive! If you want to get through to someone who has disappointed you, then you should respond in a gentle and loving way.

Proverbs 15:4 says, “Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit” (NLT).

We always have a choice in how we speak to somebody—especially with our kids. Have you found how deeply hurtful words can wound a child? You can scar them for years. But the Bible says that kind words heal and help. So when your kids mess up, don’t get on their case and tell them whatever you think they are at the moment. Give them a vision of how things could be! Speak words of life and health and hope into them, not harsh words of judgment. Be gentle.

It’s the same way in our marriages. How many marriage problems could be avoided if we just waited a beat and used words that are gentle and kind, not harsh or vindictive?

We need to learn to cut each other some slack and be kind and gentle in our speech and responses.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.”  Proverbs 19:11 (NIV)

Some people always want their own way. They’ve got a right way and a wrong way to do something, and your way is always the wrong way. When you don’t meet their standards, they’re going to let you know about it. And it always seems you can never quite please them.

So how do you respond in love to demanding people?

The Bible tells us that patience comes from perspective: “A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense” (Proverbs 19:11 NIV). The more you understand a person—their background, battles, and burdens—the more patient you’re going to be with them.

We often look at people and think, “Look how far they have to go.” But we don’t stop and say, “I wonder how far they’ve come?”

Maybe they were raised in a family where they had no model of kindness or courtesy. Maybe they grew up in a very dysfunctional home, and it’s a miracle, really, that they made it this far.

What are the burdens they’re carrying? They may be sick. They may have a family issue. They may have just lost their job. There are all kinds of battles and burdens people carry that you and I don’t know about.

Proverbs 19:11 tells us to overlook offenses. Do you overlook offenses, or are you offended by offenses? Are you so touchy and irritable that you’re offended by anybody who looks at you funny or forgets to say something or doesn’t see you? Love lets it go.

The Bible says, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31 NIV). Love is understanding, not demanding—and it’s what you would want others to do to you when you’re having a bad day or don’t feel well or are carrying heavy burdens.

Does that mean you’re just supposed to let people run over you? Do you just let them push you around? Do you act like a doormat, cave in, and let them say whatever they want?

No. Here’s the key: Be tender without surrender. Jesus never caved in to manipulators—the religious leaders and Pharisees who were extremely demanding and legalistic. They had all kinds of demands that they themselves couldn’t even keep. But Jesus did not let demanding people push him into a corner.

He was tender without surrender. That’s what you call love in action.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“A wise, mature person is known for his understanding. The more pleasant his words, the more persuasive he is.”  Proverbs 16:21 (GNT)

Have you noticed how many difficult people there are in the world? Some days, do you feel like you have to deal with most of them?

We all have our own mental lists of rude things other people do that bug us. Here’s my list: People who call me and then say, “Who is this?” People who honk their horns in traffic jams. People who cheat in the 10-items-or-less grocery line. People who steal your parking spot.

The list goes on, and I’m sure you can relate. So how should we respond in love to difficult people?

Proverbs 16:21 says, “A wise, mature person is known for his understanding. The more pleasant his words, the more persuasive he is” (GNT).

The more pleasant you are, the more persuasive you are. And you’re never persuasive when you’re abrasive. Nagging doesn’t work.

The way you say something determines the way it’s received. If you say something offensively, it’s going to be received defensively. That’s why love considers your words. Love is truthful, but it is also tactful.

The Bible says it like this: “Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don’t yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ” (Ephesians 4:31-32 CEV).

Tact and tone always go together. The way you say something, not just what you say, matters.  You can say something very difficult for someone to hear, but if you say it in the right tone—a loving tone—it will be received much better.

A loving response to a difficult person requires you to be pleasant and tactful.

Think of it like this: If you want to be below a difficult person, attack him. If you want to be even with him, get even with him. But if you want to respond the way Jesus would, show that person love with the words you say and the way you say them.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“No matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.” 1 Corinthians 13:3(MSG)

We learned yesterday that the Bible is very clear about what really matters in life: “If you are a follower of Christ Jesus . . . all that matters is your faith that makes you love others” (Galatians 5:6 CEV).

If you don’t live a life of love, then nothing you say will matter, nothing you know will matter, and nothing you believe will matter.

And, if you don’t live a life of love, then nothing you give will matter.

“If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3 NLT).

Love isn’t always the motivation for giving. Some people give just to get back, or out of guilt, or for control or prestige. You can give for a lot of reasons, but the Bible says if you’re not doing it out of love, then none of your giving counts.

Finally, if you don’t live a life of love, then nothing you accomplish will matter.

You can rack up an incredible list of personal achievements. You can get your picture on the cover of Fortune magazine. You can win the Nobel Peace Prize. You can have enormous accomplishments, be entrepreneur of the year, build a billion-dollar company, have incredibly great successes in your field of endeavor. But the Bible says it isn’t worth much if you don’t love.

The Bible says—God says—that life is about relationships, not accomplishments.

It’s as simple as this: You can have the eloquence of an orator, the knowledge of a genius, the faith of a miracle worker, the generosity of a philanthropist, or the achievements of a superstar, but if you don’t have love in your heart, then it is worth zero. It doesn’t count. The only thing that matters to God is this: Do you love him, and do you love other people?

One day you’re going to die and stand before God. When he evaluates your life, he’s not going to look at your bank account, your list of accomplishments, or your grades. He won’t care about all your sports trophies. He’s not going to look at your endorsements or your resume.

God is going to evaluate your life on one basis: your relationships. He’s going to ask, “How much did you love me and love other people?” It’s the Great Commandment: Did you love God with all your heart, and did you love your neighbor as yourself?

What will matter most then—and what matters most now—is how you express your faith through love.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“I want us to help each other with the faith we have. Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you.”  Romans 1:12 (NCV)

Jesus believes in you. There is plenty of proof in the Bible!

“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20 NIV).

“Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23 NIV).

“If you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more” (Matthew 21:21 TLB).

Jesus believes you can do great things because when you place your trust in him, his Spirit lives inside you. He also wants you to help others believe this about themselves. The apostle Paul offered this encouragement: “I want us to help each other with the faith we have. Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you” (Romans 1:12 NCV).

Each day you encounter people with low self-esteem. Everybody has insecurities. And many people are repeatedly playing a tape in their mind of how someone said to them long ago that they wouldn’t amount to anything.

How can people reverse that curse? You can help them start believing what Jesus says about them instead of believing what other people say.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:7, “If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him” (TLB).

That’s what God wants you to do. He wants you to show faith in others so they can believe what God says about them.

One of the best ways we do this in the church is by being part of a small group. When you have a really tough week and you’re doubting and down and discouraged, you need a group of trusted people who will believe for you. And you can do the same for them! Followers of Jesus don’t just believe in Christ. We also believe in each other.

Your faith can help grow the faith of others as you believe in them like Jesus believes in you.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Treat everyone you meet with dignity.”  1 Peter 2:17 (MSG)

Loving like Jesus means you must value others the way Jesus values you.

You are a child of the king. God created you, and Christ gave his life for you. The Bible says in 1 Peter 1:18-19, “God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ” (NLT).

Hw much are you worth? Look at the cross. Jesus was willing to die for you. God was willing to give his Son for you. That’s how valuable you are!

Jesus wants you to give that kind of value to everybody else—even the people you can’t stand. When Jesus spread his arms wide on the cross, it’s like he said, “I love them this much, so I expect you, my child, to love these people the same way I love them—because I died for them, not just you. Treat them the same way I treat them. Value them the way I value them.”

The Bible says it very simply in 1 Peter 2:17: “Treat everyone you meet with dignity” (MSG).

How do you do that? One way you treat others with dignity is by looking at them, giving them your attention, and listening to them.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Mark 10:21. Jesus was walking down the street, and a young entrepreneur came up to him and asked him a question. Jesus’ response was that he “looked at him and loved him” (NIV). Jesus looked, and he loved. You can’t love without looking!

Think about the people you come across every day—like the restaurant server, grocery store cashier, or coworker you pass in the hallway. When those people try to speak with you and you don’t give them your attention, you’re not being very loving. Love looks, and love listens.

When you look and listen in love, you remind people of their value to you—and, ultimately, of their value to God.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“The Father gives me the people who are mine. Every one of them will come to me, and I will always accept them.”  John 6:37 (NCV)

Followers of Jesus ought to be the most accepting people in the world—because they are the most accepted. John 6:37 says, “The Father gives me the people who are mine. Every one of them will come to me, and I will always accept them” (NCV).

You may have accepted Christ into your life, but do you understand that he’s accepted you? He doesn’t love you because of who you are or what you’ve done but because of who he is.

Titus 3:7 says, “Jesus treated us much better than we deserve. He made us acceptable to God and gave us the hope of eternal life” (CEV). How does Jesus make you acceptable? It’s not that you changed or got any better. It’s not that you never sin. It’s by his grace alone.

God wants you to show grace and acceptance to other people, but the problem is most people don’t know the difference between acceptance and approval. They are very, very different. Jesus Christ accepts you completely, but that doesn’t mean he approves of everything you do.

One day Jesus was walking down the street when some religious leaders who were trying to trap him brought a woman to him who had been caught in adultery. Jesus looked at all of the accusers and said, “Anyone here who has never sinned can throw the first stone at her” (John 8:7 NCV). And, of course, they all walked away.

What did Jesus do? He gave acceptance, not approval. He didn’t approve of what she had done, but he accepted the woman and restored her dignity.

That’s what you need to do with the people around you. You don’t have to go around approving of everything everybody does. But you do have to accept them—because that is a mark of love.

The Bible says in Romans 15:7, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you” (NIV).

How do you do that? One of the ways you can show acceptance to other people is to listen to them. Love pays attention. Love listens to the fears and the doubts of others and treats them with respect.

Love accepts others the way Jesus accepts you.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“If you are a follower of Christ Jesus . . . [all] that matters is your faith that makes you love others.”  Galatians 5:6 (CEV)

Have you ever wondered what matters to God?

The Bible says in Galatians 5:6, “If you are a follower of Christ Jesus . . . [all] that matters is your faith that makes you love others” (CEV). God says what matters in life is not your accomplishments or your achievements. The only thing that matters is having a faith that causes you to love other people. If you miss that, then you have missed the most important thing in life.

When speakers want to get your attention and want you to remember something, they use repetition. In the first few verses of 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says the same thing five different ways: The most important thing in life is love.

Here are the first three reasons why love is so important (we’ll look at the other two tomorrow).

1. If you don’t live a life of love, then nothing you say will matter.

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1 NLT).

We’re really impressed by great speakers. We love eloquence and charisma. But God says, “I don’t care how good of a communicator you are. Are you living a life of love?” If you’re not, then nothing you say will matter. Words without love are just noise.

2. If you don’t live a life of love, then nothing you know will matter.

“I may understand all the secret things of God and have all knowledge . . . But even with all these things, if I do not have love, then I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2 NCV).

We live in a world where knowledge is exploding. We are smarter than we’ve ever been, but we still have the same problems. Why? Because the world doesn’t need more knowledge. It needs more love. You may be a genius. But if you don’t love, then all that you know is worthless.

3. If you don’t live a life of love, then nothing you believe will matter.

“Even if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, I would still be worth nothing at all without love” (1 Corinthians 13:2 TLB).

There’s a myth that being a follower of Christ is just a matter of believing certain truths. Nothing could be further from the truth! Following Christ is about living a life of love. It takes more than belief to please God.

You don’t have to wonder anymore about what matters most to God. In 1 Corinthians 13, he makes it very clear. What matters most is love!

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“I know that your love will last for all time, that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky.”  Psalm 89:2 (GNT)

God’s love never wears out. God’s love is patient, persistent, and persevering.

Isn’t it good news that God never gives up on you? No matter what you do, his love never gives up. It’s wide enough to include everybody, and it’s long enough to last forever. 

God will never love you any more than he does right now. But he also will never love you any less than he does right now.

He loves you on your good days. He loves you on your bad days. His love is not conditioned by your response. God is love, and his love is given freely. It cannot be earned, and it is undeserved.

The Bible says, “I know that your love will last for all time, that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky” (Psalm 89:2 GNT).

God’s love will last forever—but you do have to choose to accept it by trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior. The Bible says, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).

Are you ready to accept God’s love and offer of salvation? If so, then pray this prayer:

“Dear God, you have promised that if I believe in your Son, Jesus Christ, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, I will learn the purpose of my life, and you will accept me into your eternal home in heaven one day.

“I confess I have sinned, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died to take away my sins and that you raised him to life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow him as Lord from this day forward. I believe that your love for me and your faithfulness will continue forever. Please guide my life, and help me to do your will. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”