(Jeremiah 31:3 NLT) . . . I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
• Commitment means sticking to what you said you would do long after the mood you said it in has passed.
(Luke 22:20 NLT) After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people–an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.
√ Covenant is based on mutual COMMITMENT.
√ Contract is based on mutual DISTRUST.
(John 15:12-13 NLT) . . . Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
√ Covenant SURRENDERS rights & ASSUMES responsibility.
√ Contract PROTECTS rights & MINIMIZES responsibility.
(Romans 5:8 NLT) …God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
√ Covenant has the interest of the OTHER in mind.
√ Contract has PERSONAL ADVANTAGE in mind.
(Matthew 10:39 NLT) If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.
√ Our capacity to have a lasting love comes from first RECEIVING a lasting love.
(1 John 4:19 NLT) We love each other because he loved us first.
(Ephesians 3:17-18 NLT) …Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
Twitter: Clint (@williamsclint) or BCSylvania
