Video Transcript: Four Attributes of a Conflict Firefighter - Love

Welcome back to PeaceSmart Relationships.  In this lecture, we're going to talk about the fourth key attributes in a conflict firefighter that's God can use in the midst of conflict.  In the last three sessions, we've talked about humility, the desire to please God, and faith; all attributes that when we come to the Peacefire none of us has in and of ourselves in any amount that can please God.

But as we spend time with him, and as we spend time in His word, He gives these to us as a gift. And we can have that humility of Jesus Christ, that humility that seeks the Father's will not his own.  We can have that desire to please God, rather than please ourselves.  And we can have the faith of God.  And this fourth attribute will discover that even if we have great faith, it means nothing without this fourth attribute.  And the fourth attribute, like the other three is a gift from God.  

So all of these attributes, key attributes of a person that the Lord can use in the midst of conflict, can only be found at the Peacefire; can only be found by seeking Jesus Christ and spending time with him.  Because in ourselves, we're selfish.  We want to please ourselves.  In the midst of conflict, we have our desired outcomes, and many times we find ourselves trying to use the faith that God has given us to attain our own desired outcome.

We live in an age where the gospel has become very man-centered rather than centered on Jesus Christ.  And we'll hear many messages geared around what God can do for you, rather than what the Lord wants you to do for him, which is really let Him use you.

Let Him use you in the midst of conflict, let Him use you and your marriage, let Him use you as a parent, let Him use you in the workplace and wherever He sends you, let Him live His life through you.  So we're talking about that kind of a relationship with the Father is only available and only found in Jesus Christ.  A humble life. A life that is lived out of a desire to please God rather than self and a life is lived by faith.  And the fourth attribute is required in order to live this kind of life and to experience the Lord's peace in the midst of conflict and be used with Him in the midst of conflict is Love.

1 Corinthians 13:2 says, “If I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I have nothing.”  God’s faith expresses itself through love. 

In Galatians 5:6, it reads “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision or uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith, expressing itself through love.” 

1 John 4:16 tells us that God is love.  And God pours His love into His people through the Holy Spirit. 

In Romans 5:5 the Apostle Paul wrote, “Because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”  

As we spend time with the Lord, and make ourselves available to him, He pours His love into us through the power of the Holy Spirit, and He changes us and that love, our faith works through that love in the midst of a conflict Wildfire.  The love that God gives is greater than the fear that exists in the midst of conflict.

In 1 John 4:18 we read, “There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”  

Conflict is something that often brings out our fears.  It's the things that we fear in the midst of conflict that drive us to make those choices based out of what's going on in the Wildfire.  We're afraid to fail. We're afraid that people might see things in us that they don't know about; that something is being exposed that will embarrass us or humiliate us.  Or we fear loss, loss of a relationship, loss of property, loss of money, loss of a dream. Whatever the fears are that exist in your conflicts remember that the love of God is greater than all of those fears. And that love is only found at the Peacefire.  It's not going to be found in the Wildfire, in trying to pursue self-interest, pursue your desired outcome without love.  We were created for this love relationship with God. That relationship is intended to overflow to others. 

In Mark chapter 12:28, we read, “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating.  Noticing the Jesus had given them a good answer, He asked Jesus, ‘of all the commandments, which is the most important?’  Jesus said, ‘The most important one is.  Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength.

“The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.  There's no commandment greater than these’.”  Love for one another is the authentic proof that we know God. 

In John 13:34 and 35, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you.  Love one another as I've loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 

And in 1 John 4:20, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar.  For whoever does not love their brother and sister who may have seen cannot love God whom they have not seen.”  

Applying these scriptures in the midst of conflicts can be a challenge.  It's difficult to love the people that you're in conflict with.  In fact, I'd say it's impossible in and of ourselves, to love others in the midst of a conflict.  That love can only come to us through a relationship with Jesus Christ and spending time with Him at the Peacefire, and receiving that love.  Because in the midst of a conflict, the same love that the Lord has for you, He has towards the others who are in the conflict Wildfire with you. And this is the great treasure of being an ambassador of reconciliation for Jesus Christ in the midst of conflict.  We're privileged to bring into that conflict Wildfire, that love that the Father has shown to us through Jesus Christ and given us through Jesus Christ.  And He doesn't give us that love just so that we can enjoy it.  He gives it to us so that we will reflect that love to others.  Because in that love, they will see him.  They will see our relationship with Him, they will, the Holy Spirit will be speaking to them, calling them to relationship if they don't know the Lord, and if they do know the Lord, calling them to come to the Peacefire.

This is the love of God that's powerful in the midst of conflict.  It's that love that can drive us to a place where we will not only be willing to say, but be excited to say here, I want you to take the lantern.  I don't need this lantern.  You know that the Lord has for us such privilege to lay down our interests and take up His interests in a conflict

When we spend time with the Peacefire and He moves on us to say I want you to give the lantern to that person you're in conflict with, our flesh will respond by saying, Lord, but I want that lantern. lantern is important to me.

But you know the Lord has, He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.  If the Lord wants you to have a lantern, He’ll get you another lantern.  And it's that relationship of love, the relationship of faith, relationship of a desire to please God, relationship with humility that brings us to a place where the Lord can move us and use us in the midst of conflict.  Seeking the Lord at the Peacefire will release that love for others that when we focus on the Wildfire, we just cannot, we cannot obtain, we can't receive it, we don't see it. 

But as the Lord changes us and He moves us and fills us with love for those who are in conflict with, that manifestation of His love will exhibit itself and in the Wildfire and the Lord will do amazing things. 

I hope by now you're perceiving that this is not about getting what we want in conflict.

This by making ourselves available to the Lord so that He can use us to accomplish His good pleasure, His purpose in the lives of the others involved in the conflict and His purpose in His relationship with us. 

And as a Christian leader, you have a privileged opportunity to walk in love in the midst of conflict to encourage others to do the same. To seek the Lord and be filled with that love. This love can't be faked. You can't manufacture the kind of love are others that Jesus Christ has for them.

And so when we are tempted in a Wildfire, we’ll remember we're supposed to love these people. And we'll just do something out of the flesh that tries to look like God's love, but only at the Peacefire can we find out what His love authentically wants to do in that situation. 

So I can't encourage you enough. Every conflict you face remember the Lord is always at work.  Correction is path of life, and to give thanks for where you are and what's happening and that the Lord is there and He will fill you with His love, the desire to please Him, and by faith you will make the choices that please Him.

 God bless you. We'll see you next time.