Something's Missing // Love Like Jesus

Come on, let's do this. ♪♪♪ All right, everybody, welcome again to Vertical Church. So good to see you. The fact that Floridians made it out on a rainy day means God is moving. Come on. That's crazy. When it rains we just want to stay still and do nothing. What a beautiful testimony to see Jonathan. Shout out to Jonathan, my friend right here. Serves on the Next Gen on VSM. So proud of you, bro, for what God has done in this short amount of time in your life. And you just keep killing it, keep doing what you're doing, bro. Really honored to be with you here today. It's a privilege for me to share the message with you guys. Vertical Church is my home. If we haven't met yet, my name is Juan. I oversee our Next Gen ministries. And I love Vertical Church, man. What God is doing here is awesome. It's all because of him. But also because of great people like you. And that starts from the top to the bottom. So I want to give a shout out to our pastors, Pastor Verge and Ghislaine. Give it up for them. Because they love you guys a lot. After Jesus and their family, all that they're talking and thinking

about is you guys. How to serve you better. How to do more for the church and for this community. So I want to give them that special shout out. Today we start a new series, everybody. It's a short series. It's a two-week series. We're going to kick it off today and end next Sunday as we get a little bit closer to Christmas. But this series is actually really special. Because many churches in South Florida are doing the same series. So in an effort to be united, spiritually speaking, we wanted to do this amongst other churches that are also participating as well. So today we kick off a series titled, Love Like Jesus. Jesus was the best example in everything. But specifically on how to love others well. And so that's what we're going to be embarking on today. And the message title for today is, Something's Missing. Come on, say it with me. Something's Missing. One more time. Something's Missing. That's right. Something is missing. And I was thinking about this title and the first thing that comes to my mind, no surprise or shock, was food. And I was like, okay, something's missing. Sometimes when I eat certain foods, I always think about how to make them better. And usually that happens when you do something special.

When you pair them up. When you pair up food together. I want to show you a couple of these and I want you to try and guess what's missing from the picture. You guys ready? Sound good? Let's look at the first one. I love this. Because during high school and college, it changed my life. Peanut butter. I would eat this by itself all the time. But something's missing. Because then I found a really special thing and that was jelly. When you find peanut butter and jelly, it just changes the game. Also, for some of my people out there who like chocolate, try peanut butter and Nutella. That's a whole note. But I didn't want to get judged too hard so I was like, let me just go with jelly and just play it off. The next one. I love myself some good macaroni. Macaroni is fire. My kids, even though they have allergies, we found this plant-based macaroni at Publix that they get to enjoy. But because they're allergic to dairy, they can't have what's missing. And you know what's missing. Mac and what? Mac and cheese. That's right. They can't enjoy the cheese.

They have this plant-based fake cheese. But it's okay. It's still good. And then here's my favorite one. I saved the best for last. And I think you'll know what's missing from this picture. But this next one is burger. I love myself a good old burger. My wife will sometimes get annoyed because she'll ask me, what do you want to go eat? She's like, I'll treat you anywhere. Do you want sushi, Peruvian, Colombian food? I'm like, I just want a burger. She's like, why are you so boring? I'm just boring. But there's something missing from this picture. Can you try and get it? Yep, take a guess. French fries. So a good burger with fries. So the reason why I wanted to do this little exercise with you wasn't to get you thinking about food or maybe you're hungry and your stomach is reminding you. But I really wanted to make an emphasis on something's missing. As we talk about how to love like Jesus, I truly believe Jesus did one thing, one thing that he did extremely well that most of us miss as Christians. Like we just miss it. And it's not how well or how much we read our Bible. It's not how much we pray, fast, or serve, even though all those things are good in our relationship with the Lord. And today I want to talk to you about that one thing that I truly believe is missing.

So without further ado, I'd like to pray for us. And I'd like for us and you and I to ask God to speak to us. God says in his word that many times we don't receive because we don't know how to ask. Because when we ask, we ask with selfish motives. And so how about today we ask without selfish motives. And we say, Lord, whatever it is that you have for me, come on, give it to me. Tell me. Speak to my heart. Sound good? Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this time. Thank you, Jesus, because you're speaking to us already, Lord. And I know that I know. That today you're going to have your way Lord. Thank You God because when we call upon the name of Jesus, things have to change, chains have to break. And I pray Lord that today we would see something that perhaps we've been missing all along in our relationship with You. Thank You for this time and I pray Lord that You would speak loud and clear to all of us. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. All right, if you have your Bibles, you guys can go to Isaiah in the Old Testament. We're going to be specifically studying about 10 or 12 verses in Isaiah 58, chapter 58. And as you're getting there on your Bibles or your phones, come on, take out your phone, it's okay, you can take out your phones. I usually don't say that on Wednesdays for our student service, but I can say that here on Sundays. Take out your phone, open up your Bible app. We're going to be in Isaiah 58. And a friendly reminder of who Isaiah was, Isaiah was actually a prophet. And if you recall in those days, because this is before Jesus, Old Testament,

they didn't have the Holy Spirit to lean on. They didn't have a Bible like we do in today's day to read and see God's heart through this. And so they needed to rely on people like Isaiah to speak to the people of God. That's what a prophet was. He would receive word from God and speak to his people. Are we on the same page? Yes? Okay, let's do it. So we're going to start in verse 2, Isaiah 58 verse 2. And you'll see some words on the screen in the verses that are going to be highlighted and underlined. And I want you to help me read those out together. Yeah? Are we good? Okay, Isaiah 58 verse 2. You can either look at your Bibles or help me out on the screens. Our production team, you guys can help me on the screens. And it says in verse 2, For day after day they seek me out. They seem eager to know my ways. That was weak. We got to do it again. I didn't hear you guys. Come on, let's do it again. They seem eager to know my ways as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. Okay, good job. Pause. By analyzing this verse, we could tell that these people want to please God. They're thinking about Him. They want Him to draw near and they want to draw near to Him. Check out the next verse, verse 3.

And it says, Why have we fasted, they say? Have you not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed? Okay, pause. Here we see not only a group of people that prayed, wanted God to draw near to them and vice versa, but also did what? They fasted. I'm not trying to trick you. They fasted. Just by reading those two verses, what do you think of these group of people? You would say, they seem like vertical church people. Come on. They're reading the word. They're fasting. They're going to 21 days of prayer in August. Showing up 21 days of prayer and fasting in January. It seems like they're good with God. But something's missing. Something's missing because God actually isn't too happy with them. Look at what he says in Isaiah 58, verse 1. At the beginning, he says, Shout it out loud. Do not hold back. And by the way, here he's speaking to Isaiah. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion. And to descendants of Jacob, their sins. Okay, hold up. What?

How is it possible? That God is calling these people rebellious when they're praying. They're seeking God. They're fasting. That's pretty powerful. That's a strong accusation when clearly it seems like they're doing things well, if you will. But this is what he has against them. Look at the following verse, Isaiah 53, the latter. It says, yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. That word exploit means to take advantage of in a manner that's unethical. So not only were they fasting, sure, good job. But after they were fasting unto the Lord, the way that they would treat their people was terrible. They would take advantage of them. And God continues with this rant in verse 4. And he says, your fasting, it ends in quarreling, in strife, in striking each other with wicked fists. Like literally getting in a fight. You cannot fast as you do today, check this out, and expect your voice to be heard on high. That's powerful. They're fasting, but God is telling them, but you can't fast this way and expect that I'm going to hear you. That's interesting. That's really interesting. I wonder why. And the reason why is because God was more interested in their heart and how they're treating others than in what they're doing unto him. Sounds like a big claim, but it's true. Verse five backs that statement up. He says, is this the kind of fast I have chosen? Only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

Wow, that's powerful. And so let me just clear this up. God doesn't have anything against fasting. He loves the fact that we fast, that we say no to our flesh, no to the world, and yes to him. What he does have against this type of fasting is that it was superficial. There were spiritual disciplines that were empty and shallow. Like, yes, they were honoring him here vertically, but horizontally, the way they were treating other people was not good. And I think we fall into that many times. And God backs up then in the following verse, this is how I want you to love me and honor me. Verse six, he says, is not this the kind of fasting I've chosen? To loose the chains of injustice, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to break every yoke. Verse seven, is it not to share your food with the hungry, to provide with the poor, wanderer with shelter, when you see the naked, to clothe them and to not turn away from your own flesh and blood? Let me put it to you this way, and I want you to write this down or take a picture of it. God cares more about how you love others than what you know or do for him. And this is why a lot of people in the world, in society, in culture, have a problem with Christians.

Because, man, do they know this? They know it, they can recite it. Yeah, do they do well unto God? Do they honor him individually? But then when it's the time to love people that are not like them, that are not Christian, to love their family members that haven't accepted Christ, that's why we see, oh, look, Christians are so hypocritical. Look, there's so much hypocrisy. Yeah, you say this, but the way that you live and love people, like it's not adding up. Are you following me? And so this is what God had against them, that even though externally everything seemed well and honoring to God, what was missing was the appropriate love for their brethren, their friends, their sisters, their siblings, their coworkers, and God gives them a new command in John 13, 34 through 35 through Jesus. He says this, a new command I give you. Love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another. Verse 35, by this, so it's not how much you know, it's not how much you serve, it's not the size of your offering check or your tithe check. By your love for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. Here's the way I like to put it. You can't love God well if you don't love people well. You just can't.

You can't say, God, I love you, but those people, pfft, and maybe we're not saying that, but the way we're living shows that. I'll give you an example, might be a little bit silly, but I think you'll follow me. I want you to think about my family for a moment. If you don't know my family, I have a wife, Daniela, been married to her, it'll be seven years. Next month, we're excited about that. We're actually gonna renovate, renovate, not renovate, renew our vows next month. I'm really excited about it. That number is special for us, that number seven. We actually got, kid you not, we got married when we dated for seven years, seven months, seven days. We didn't plan that, that was God. Okay, enough of that. So I'm excited, next month is gonna be a great month for us, I'm really excited about it. And the Lord has blessed us with two boys, with John, who's five, Daniel, who's four. Imagine for a second that after today's service, somebody comes up to me and says, hey, Pastor Juan, thank you for your message. I also wanted to encourage you and just thank you, man. Thank you for loving all my kids, for praying for me the other day, for calling me, going out of your way. And I just wanted to know, I really respect you and love you, I want you to know that.

And I'll say, okay, thank you. And then he goes on to say, but your kids, I can't stand them. I can't stand your kids, John and Daniel, they're always running around, screaming, always asking questions, why, por que, like I hear them speaking both languages. Like, is that a thing you do at Vertical? No, they just speak both languages. They're also eating all the time. Like, once they're done eating, they're asking me for more food. I just can't stand your kids. I'm like, okay. And he goes on and he'll say, and let me not even get started with your wife, brother. I'm like, my wife, what are you having against my wife? Man, your wife could speak through her elbows. She just talks so much. Like, I don't know, what are we gonna do with your wife, man? Like, she clearly needs a new hobby because it's not working out. How do you think I would feel if a brother who's saying that to me, that he loves me, says that about my family? I'm gonna be like the people in Isaiah 58.4, wicked face and just, like, it's just, it doesn't add up. It doesn't add up because they're a part of me. They belong to, they're a part of me.

Many times we don't say that, but the way that we're living like the is that we think it's okay, don't miss this, we think it's okay to separate our lovely God for God, our love for God, and our love for people. Like, we think it's okay to separate those two. Yeah, God, I'm loving you well this way, so I can separate my love for other people over here. God, I'm serving you. I'm praying. Look, I'm fasting. Look, look, I'm doing this stuff. God, like, I'm here. But the way you love other people, it's just not there. The way you treat your parents. Your siblings, your coworkers, that person who hurts you, your spouse. Something's not adding up. That's why it's possible for a man who comes on Sunday who's married to separate the two. He loves God on Sunday, he's worshiping God with his hands lifted up, but at home with his wife, he's destroying her with his words and his actions. Because he has those two separate. My love for God here, my love for people here. That's why the person who serves on the impact team, serves on three teams, did the growth track, sign an honor code, did freedom, did it twice. That's why that person can go home, not have a relationship with their parents,

not love on their family members. Because we think it's okay to separate the two. And I truly believe this is what's missing. And look, I'm not saying it's easy to love people. It's hard, would you agree? Come on, it's hard to love people. It's really hard. It's really hard. It's difficult, it takes effort, it takes time, it takes initiative, it takes compromising. But so many people are in need of your love. People are in need of your love. Like, doesn't it feel good to be loved? It feels good. Like, you know, whenever I go to my mom's house on vacation in Lakeland, I get home and she does everything for me and I let her. She's just like, she's like folding my clothes. I'm like, mom, I've just been here for like a day. Like, you don't have to wash it. No, no, no, she makes me, she loves me so well. Like, it just feels so good to be loved. And I think many times we don't love well, like Jesus loves, because we've been hurt. And so we're scared to love again. We're scared to take that initiative. And if you just think about your family, think about your family right now. How many people are in need in your family of your love? So many.

Extended family that know Christ, that don't know Christ. Your friends, your coworkers. They need you to love them. Because if you won't, then who? If you're not gonna represent Christ, then who will? They might be literally the only Christian that they ever see or hear in their lifetime. And the question is, what are you gonna do about it? I'm gonna give you a practical handle as to what you could do. Ready, this point's gonna blow your mind. I want you to write it down. Here we go. Love the people in front of you. You're like, wow, I couldn't think of that. Love the people in front of you. We don't need to travel the world to love people, although we can go on a mission trip. And I'm encouraging you to do it. It'll change your life. But I think Christ is really concerned with the way you're loving the people in your circle. The people that you're seeing, not just in your family every day or coming into contact with, but also literally the people that he's putting in the mundane. Like when you go to Costco, when you go to Publix, the cash register, you might think, okay, you're being super extra.

Like, no, no, no, I'm being for real. Like these people might be the only, literally the only chance they'll get to experience Jesus, it's through who? It's through you, through me, through us. And I feel like God has been convicting me of this lately in the last year. And I'll confess this to you, as a pastor and serving here full-time, being here as my vocation, we have a lot of people that will come to us, to me, I need help. Can you serve? Can you help? And sometimes I've gotten comfortable just serving the people here. And God has convicted me this year. He says, no, no, no. It needs to go outside of vertical church, your family, your extended family, your friends from high school that you haven't hit up in 10 years. What about you pay some attention to them? And so I've been literally wrestling with this. And two weeks ago, God gave me an opportunity. And I'm proud to say I accepted the challenge. So I had left on a Wednesday morning from prayer service. I arrived at home around like 7.30 a.m. Before I got into the house, I sat in my car and I was sending an email.

And then I hear a truck come around. It's coming around to my corner, to my house. And it's a different type of truck. There's a difference between like the trash truck, like the garbage truck, right? And like Amazon, like I could hear the difference. I don't know. It's just something that maybe it's just me. And I promise you, I hear music so loud coming out of this truck, super loud. And the song that is playing, I don't know the song, but it was just saying, repeating over and over again, I'm in love with you. I'm in love with you. Like super loud. So then the truck parks right in front of me. And I kid you not. And I hear God tell me, you need to speak to him about me. I'm like, no. I'm like, are you serious? He's like, yes. I'm like, okay, fine. I'm still wrestling with God, I don't know if I want to talk to him about you Lord, it's uncomfortable, it's awkward. But he's giving me the opportunity. He comes out of the truck, I'm still in my car, I'm just going to wait. I just froze a little bit. He goes in my doorway, now is the time, I'm going to sneak up

on him. He's going to think I'm weird. I said, hey. He said, hey. He dropped me off the package. I said, can I ask you a question. He said, yeah. I overheard the music you were playing, I was in my car, I just got out. I asked him the next question. I told him this, can I tell you something. He said, yeah. I said, I'm also in love. At this point he starts backing up, everybody. He was so, he starts backing up. I promise you. He starts backing up. I told him, no, no, don't go anywhere. I'm in love with Jesus. Do you know Jesus? He's like, huh? He looked at me like a confused puppy. I'm like, man, Jesus loves you so much. He has a plan for you. A purpose for you. At this point he's still backing up. He's like, I'm out. I told him, hey, God bless you. I don't know what you're going through. If you would love to connect with the church, with the

church family. I'll be here this Sunday at Vertical Church. I tried to do that. It was like a 45-second interaction. Then he left. He's like, I actually live in Kendall. See you later. He just left. He literally left. Why am I sharing this example with you? It's because it's in the mundane, everybody. In the day-to-day. In the day-to-day. In the day-to-day where people are coming up literally. And are we going to take that chance to speak to them? Because we don't feel the pressure of maybe knowing that Christ could come back any moment. If he came back tomorrow, how would you speak to people about God? Who would you speak to him about? Everybody. It happened a couple of months ago in a similar situation with my grandma. She was sick. My grandma was sick. Really sick. And she got a heart attack. And two months ago, this was mid-October. And the family came together. They said, what can we do for our grandma?

Some of them said, hey, let's do a FaceTime call once a day. Let's do a devotional. Others said, can we just send her some money. And somebody had the brilliant idea. They said, why don't we go visit her to Columbia. I kid you not, the first reaction inside of me, and you're going to judge me. I said, no, I don't want to. You're judging me. That was my first response. The reason why I thought that, I had to ask for time off, which I wasn't planning on. Two weeks we had family fun night coming up. Biggest outreach event of our church throughout the year. Money, resources to get my kids and my wife there. And then God convicted me. And he said, you need to love her how she needs to be loved during this time. Not what you want. And so I think this is something for all of us to learn, whether it's with an Amazon delivery guy, with our family members, that we need to love them how they ought to be loved. How Christ encourages us to love them. Not what we want. Because let me ask you something. How does Christ love you? Did Christ love you? How you ought to be treated because of our sin? No. He treats you quite the opposite.

I'll put it this way, and I want you to write this one down. God is calling us to love him well by loving others well. We need to love God well by loving others well. So if this is a call to action, like if what's missing to love like Jesus is to love others, why is it so hard? Why is it so hard? I'll give you the main reason. The most common reason why it's hard for us to love others well is because of unforgiveness. You're like, why did you go there? Because God told me so. The biggest reason why it's hard for us to love people is because of unforgiveness. And I'm sure we have many reasons as to why we shouldn't forgive others. Here are some of them. You might relate to them. I think the first one is that pride gets in the way. Sometimes we think, well, this happened 20 years ago. Do I really need to bring it up again? It's okay. They know I love them. I don't need to ask for forgiveness or forgive them. Pride gets in the way. The second one we think, man, they're going to hurt us again. If I forgive them, they'll hurt me. They'll have access again to hurt me deeper. I don't want to forgive. The next one, this is a real one. The pain feels too deep.

Have you ever been hurt before by someone? I have. Hurts. Especially when it's close people to you. Behind your back. Maybe you weren't expecting it. Maybe justice comes first. Maybe you think, man, before I forgive someone, I require justice to come first. Like I want them to feel the pain of me not talking to them. Of me withholding love. And until they don't feel enough pain or enough time, then I'm not going to forgive them. Or maybe you think to yourself, it just feels unfair. Like why should I forgive this person? I shouldn't. It feels like unfair. Look at what they did. Why should I take initiative to forgive them when it was them who did it. Who caused me that pain. Or maybe the other person isn't sorry. Maybe they're not sorry. Maybe they have no idea how they hurt you. And here's the last one. Forgiveness, it requires a lot of work. Do you guys agree? It requires a lot of work, man. A lot of work. So I'm here to remind you of what Jesus himself said in Matthew 6, 14 and 15.

He says, for if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. How many say amen to that? Amen, Lord. Thank you that you forgive us, amen. But the second, the latter, I think is harder. But if you don't forgive others of their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Candela. It's powerful. It's heavy. It's fuego right there. And I'm going to tell it to you real. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Unforgiveness is sin. It's sin. And the last time I checked, according to the word, sin does what from God? It separates us. It disconnects us. And so if I continue in unforgiveness, I beg to differ that you're close to God. Because God is calling us to forgive. And if God is calling us to love like Jesus loved, which was by loving other people, and if unforgiveness is in the way, then what should we ought to do? We ought to forgive. But you might think, man, it's just too hard. Because if I forgive, I feel like the relationship has to go back to how it was before. No, no, no. Those two things are separate things. I want you to write this point down. God does not always call us to restore relationships. He doesn't always call us to restore relationships.

But he always calls us to forgiveness. That's important. Somebody needs to hear that today. God is not calling you always to restore the relationship to maybe what it was before. Meaning what? The proximity. The trust. The consistency of communication or trust with what you're talking to them about. He doesn't always call you to pure 100% restoration. Maybe in the future. But what he is calling you to is forgiveness. And I think that's a hard pill to swallow. But we see it again confirmed in Isaiah 58, 9-10. He says this, if you do away with the yoke of oppression, stop with the pointing of the finger. How many times do we do that when we're hurt? Because they did. They said. God is saying, can you stop that? Stop with the malicious talk. With the gossip. Talking bad about what they did, what they didn't do. And as you do that, the second letter of verse 10, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry, satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in darkness. So question. In these dark moments of your life right now, we're all living some sort of dark moment. What if what's missing in your life is not more prayer or Bible, which is great, and I encourage it. It's loving other people well. But in order to do that, you need to deal with what first? The heart of forgiveness. And as you do that, look at what happens.

Then your light will rise in the darkness. Your night will become like the noonday. Sun outside, bright, sunny day. No clouds. You see, forgiveness is not just an internal decision. It's an external commitment. And God is challenging us in Isaiah 58 verse 9. Hey, do away with the yoke of oppression. Hey, stop pointing the finger. Hey, stop with the malicious talk. Yes, they said this. Yes, they did that. Now let's deal with it. I'm not. I want to validate your pain and your hurt. You didn't deserve, excuse me, for that to be done to you. But God is telling you, hey, get up. Let's go. I want to free those chains off of you. I want to make you free. I want to heal you. Because many times the chains of unforgiveness kill people for the rest of their lives and rob them from the health that God designed for relationships. Like this is God's design. So as we come to a conclusion to finish, you might still say, it's hard to love people. I don't know how I'm going to do it. How am I going to forgive them? Because they hurt me. My encouragement to you is to look at the cross. Look at Jesus. I think Jesus had a million reasons as to why he shouldn't have forgiven you and I.

And I think here are some of them that, you know, as I was thinking about this message that maybe he could think about on the moment to that cross. Maybe he thought about this. Like maybe he thought about, man, I don't know if I should die for them because they don't deserve it. None of us deserve it. We're not good enough. We're not pretty enough. Handsome enough. We can't repay him. Sounds silly, but could you imagine Christ on his way thinking like, okay, I'm going to do this, but how can they pay me back? Bruh, like we have nothing to offer God, honestly. Like he's a creator. Maybe another reason he thought that he's like, I don't know. I can forgive them and die for them it's because we've ignored him how many of you have ignored God before come on like let's go 10 people let's go all of us we've repeated the same mistakes we just made one right now by lying right we've all fallen short of God's glory all of us all of us have messed up all of us we've chosen our own way instead of his way we've sinned more times than we could count and remember and the last one is really I think the the hardest one that hits home for me like if we've done all this and Christ still forgave you still died for you still loved you I didn't deserve it you didn't deserve it and he said you know what because I want to give them life in its most fullest form I want to give them salvation after they die and freedom here on earth from sin I'll do it for them Christ understood something that I want all of us to understand today and I need you to write this one down and it's this it's that vertical worship requires horizontal love our worship to God vertically our life like today we're singing worthy like that vertical worship to him our commitment to him requires horizontal love I cannot say God I love you but the way we're treating each other doesn't represent Christ now if it's hard and it's difficult that's where the work comes in do you know I mean like that's where we need to exercise what Christ is calling us to exercise let's put our faith to the test to the challenge let's do the Matthew 18 principle which hey you have a problem with somebody somebody offended you confront your brother and sister about it let's talk hey you hurt me when you said this you did this to me oh I didn't see okay well you did your part in coming up to them right and so I encourage

you today don't be distracted by the door it's all right they'll be fine out there I encourage you today to really take this message to heart to really ask the Lord God maybe what I'm missing in my season as a Christian right now more than Bible reading more than prayer is serving other people and loving them well does it require work yes or no but that's what God is calling us to do for your freedom for your freedom he proves it in Proverbs 19 17 he says whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord he will reward them for what you have done so as you love people you're not just doing it for them to a certain extent yes but you're doing it for God and as you do that Isaiah 58 11 last verse the Lord will guide you always God would you guide me this crazy world how to guide me did you satisfy the needs in a sun-scorched land could you strengthen my frame my body you will be like a well-watered garden oh come on I want that for me for my family for my kids that are growing up in a crazy world I pray every day that they will be like this a well-watered garden that they will grow in the word of the Lord like a spring whose waters never fail that's what I want for me do you want that for yourself I want that I want that for you and God today saying I think maybe you've been focusing too much to a certain extent just on me I think you need to focus now in this new year coming up how can we get it right with the people in our life forgiving loving it's not going to be easy but it's going to be so worth it I guarantee you that let's pray Lord thank you for this time thank you Jesus because you're good God Lord I pray that today we would make a true decision Lord to love you well and the only way we could do that is by recognizing that we need you the only way we could love you well aside from our vertical relationship with you is by activating our horizontal relationships and loving others well does it hurt yes is it hard yes but God just like you just like Jesus did for us Lord you loved us so well even when we didn't deserve it even when you didn't want to and when it was painful for you you carried on to the cross for us in mind and so I pray that we would love the people in our life well with you in mind God I pray that today we would forgive those who have hurt us well maybe we forgot about I want you right there where you're at right now just vertical wherever you're at just open up your palms and just let it go come on just open up your palms as a representation of letting go that person in your heart that they've hurt you come on don't be hard-headed oh Lord I release this person to you I release my spouse to you I release my children my parents my stepdad my stepmom Lord I release my siblings my co-workers the people who bullied me at school God I pray that you would forgive

them and I extend forgiveness to them today because we don't want to be separate we don't want anything to separate us from you and unforgiveness is sin so today we ask that you would help us love people well Just like you love people so well. Thank you God for this time. We pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen