Malachi 2.10-16
In the fourth session, we learn about love for people as an expression of love for God. Jesus is God’s concrete expression of love for us, the perfect model for how we should love each other.
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The vision of Ozark Christian College is to glorify God by evangelizing the lost and edifying Christians worldwide. The mission of Ozark Christian College is to train men and women for Christian service as a degree-granting institution of biblical higher education.
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Love for People as an Expression of Love for God
As a Father to his people, God considers how we treat people as a way of showing our attitude toward him. Throughout Scripture, harm to a person is considered a sin against the God who made and loves them.
In this section, the most intimate of human relationships, marriage, is used to illustrate this. After coming back from Babylon, some of the men left their wives to marry new women back in their homeland. But these women didn’t even believe in God. So the men were neglecting their commitment to their wives AND letting their own hearts be at risk of being led away from belief in God.
Whether we are single, married, widowed, or have been divorced, let our relationships be a realm where our devotion to God is concretely expressed.
Also, let us consider how our relationships are helping or hurting our own devotion to God.
Jesus the Faithful Son
In this passage, God says that he desires godly offspring. Jesus is the perfect Son of God that shows us what God has in mind.
Jesus is God’s concrete expression of love for us, the perfect model for how we should love each other. In John 13:34, Jesus said, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Questions for Discussion/Reflection:
- How does it make you feel when someone treats someone you love poorly?
- List key relationships in your life. What does faithfulness in each of them look like?
- What are specific ways you can love as Jesus has loved more fully?