This marks the final message in the It’s All About Love series, emphasizing that love must be put into action. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 13:5, Pastor Danny discusses love’s ultimate test: forgiveness.

1. Love Must Be Lived, Not Just Learned

   • 1 Corinthians 13 emphasizes love as the greatest virtue.
   • Being a church isn’t about a name on a sign; it’s about showing love in action.

2. The Different Levels of Love Growth

   • Grade School Love - Love is kind.
   • Junior High Love - Love is humble.
   • High School Love - Love does not envy.
   • College-Level Love - Love is patient.
   • Graduate-Level Love - The highest form of love is forgiveness.

3. Understanding Forgiveness

   • What Forgiveness Is Not:

     • Not conditional (not based on someone else’s response).
     • Not minimizing the hurt.
     • Not the same as restoring a relationship.
     • Not forgetting what happened.
     • Not someone else’s right to give on your behalf.

   • What Forgiveness Is:

     • Releasing the right to get even (Romans 12:19 ).
     • Responding to evil with good (Luke 6:27-28).
     • Repeating the process as long as necessary (Matthew 18:21-22).

4. The Example of Jesus on the Cross

   • Jesus, in unimaginable pain, still said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
   • He didn’t just say it once—he repeated it.

5. Forgiveness Requires a Heart Full of God’s Love

   • Holding onto bitterness only poisons our hearts.
   • True forgiveness is only possible through Jesus Christ’s love in us.
   • We forgive not because the person deserves it but because we were forgiven first.

6. A Challenge to Live Forgiveness

   • The Lord’s Prayer teaches us: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
   • Do we want God to forgive us with the same measure we forgive others?
   • The world will not see Christ’s love until it sees it in us.

Pastor Danny closes with a heartfelt prayer, calling for the congregation to extend the love and forgiveness of Jesus into the world.

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