I was with a few Christian people recently, and I came away with the strong impression that they believe that going to church and evangelizing is the goal and the focus of the Christian life. They talked about these two activities a lot, and implied repeatedly through their conversation that a person is a successful Christian if they continue to be church attendees and aggressively evangelize.
I was with another group of people a few weeks ago who left me with the very strong and aggressive statement that the goal of the Christian life is to read, study, and memorize the Bible, and to live by their interpretation of it. They made strong statements against people who did not live their lives the way they did, and they implied that their children will not be successful if they do not memorize large portions of Scripture, and spend significant time reading and studying the Bible.
As I visited with these groups of people, I certainly didn’t experience love coming from them, nor did I see evidence of the sweet and close relationships between their family members that come from self-sacrificial love. The way they spoke about their family relationships, and what I observed in their family relationships showed quite the opposite. I witnessed and heard about lots of sadness, emotional distance, insecurity and even irritation and anger between the family members. I could see that these Christians were mistaken about the goal of the Christian life, and what defines a successful Christian life.
Do you really know what is the goal for the Christian life? The Apostle Paul, who spent his life leading people to the Lord and forming church communities said this in 1 Timothy 1:5, “The object and purpose of our instruction and charge is love, which springs from a pure heart and a good (clear) conscience and sincere (unfeigned) faith.” The goal of the Christian life according to the Apostle Paul is to love, and to instruct people in how to love. Love is the key, love is the goal, love is the focus of the Christian life.
So what does self-sacrificial love look like? This is the question we examine in Love’s Actions Seminar messages.
Each audio is around an hour long, and includes a transcript. Each Love’s Actions Seminar, has a thorough explanation and discussion of one of love’s actions taken from Scripture, such as patience, faithfulness, kindness, and so on. I provide an expanded definition taken from the dictionary, and use many clear illustrations of what a particular love’s action would look like worked out in your family relationships. Each seminar concludes with how God expresses that particular love’s action toward us.
It’s my hope to bring conviction to your heart and inspiration for taking positive love actions toward your family. I want you to hear from a couple of moms who’ve been through the seminars.
Their Families Notice the Change!
“The Love’s Actions seminars have been transformational for me. My husband and children have been telling me what a difference they see in me. Thank you Barbie for making them available. I cannot wait to hear the next one as well as read and highlight the transcript!” ~ Sharyn K
“The first thing that comes to mind about all the Love’s Actions audios is the detailed definition of the words you talk about. Many of those words I haven’t specifically looked up in the dictionary myself, and the meanings are always surprising to me in some way. The most recent example is the connection between Grace and Gratitude. It made so much sense that both are gifts from God, but I hadn’t thought of it that way before.” ~ Yolanda H
“Barbie, I’m listening to the Love’s Actions seminars, starting with the few that I’m familiar with and making my way through them all. I wanted to say thank you for all of them! I started with “patience” and it was just what I needed to hear that day. They have been such a blessing to me, helping me to know what to stop doing and what to start doing to actually practice that particular love’s action. It helps me to train my children in love, helping them identify what isn’t loving as well as the particular actions needed to be kind, patient, etc. in that particular situation. I don’t want to say “be kind” without ever walking in kindness myself, or without knowing how to help them! I’m so grateful to the Lord for helping me see myself more clearly and helping me to help the children. I’m grateful for His faithful help and sure way.” ~ Angie E
Are You Ready to Make Love Your Goal?
Are you ready to make love your goal so your family notices change in you and will respond to your influence? Love’s Actions Seminars can help you get started in learning HOW to love with Christlike love.
You can listen to a free audio talking about how the Love’s Actions Seminars creation came about, along with an example of the sorts of things you will hear in the seminars. Sign up for the audio below.
Click here to continue reading more testimonies and more discussion about our need to love like Jesus.
