The Power of Love

Reproduced below are excerpts of a sermon preached by Emmanuel Makandiwa on Sunday, 24 July 2016.

A“If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”1 John 4:20

***** CCORDING to the scripture above, what makes you think that you love God 100 percent if it is difficult to love somebody close to you that you can see? The person might have done something terrible and horrible and you do not feel like forgiving them and moving on yet in the prayer Jesus taught us, He said you should ask God to forgive you as long as you also forgive those that trespass against you.

People everywhere are looking for love no matter their race or colour. They end up getting into wrong places because they are in search of love; they are looking for somebody who can love them the way they are.

There are people that when you look at, you are so confident that they can do it but when they look at themselves they feel like they cannot do it and it is such a disappointment. They cannot see what you see them carrying. They are courageous, full of potential and divine abilities but when they look at themselves they cannot see that and all they see is weaknesses. Why is it that every time even when you try to pray you do not feel like God is interested in your prayers?

All that you see in your life is weakness after weakness. Things that you cannot do are what you spend most of your time thinking of. It is high time you start focusing on your strength than your weaknesses. The moment you focus on your weakness it empowers that weakness to grow even bigger.

You should not focus on your weaknesses because they will never dissolve based on the time you spend looking at them and concentrating on them. You have to focus on your strength and what you can do. If you focus on your strengths, your weakness will no longer bring you down anymore. Most people we admire in life there are things they cannot do and they have failed in so many areas but they learned to focus on one area. They have become victorious because they focused on what they can do. God has chosen you, appointed you and anointed you to do so many great things in this life but most of your time is spent focusing on weaknesses and what you cannot do rather than focusing on what you are capable of. There could be weaknesses in you but you also have a strength and something you can do well; begin to talk about that.

You are a child of God and each time He looks at you He sees you through the eyes of love. That is why some of the mistakes you make He is not really concerned about them. Some people are so ignorant to a point where they think they have more love than the love God has for us. When you are watching your children grow you would want them to prosper because you love them. Even if they are to make mistakes you have created that opportunity and space for them to make those mistakes and you will not spend the next two weeks thinking about it.

You watch your children making mistakes and it is so easy for you to forgive them because they will be making mistakes within the love environment where it becomes easier for you to forgive. God is looking at the mistakes you have made and some of them you have not yet recovered from them and yet through His eyes of love, He has looked at you and given you that opportunity to make those mistakes and still realise that you are not defined by what you cannot do. You are defined by what you have achieved.

You have to keep on focusing on your strength because focusing on weaknesses is what has generated a lot of stress among people. How can God ask you to love somebody if there is no love inside of you? You have love inside but maybe you are simply not focusing on bringing it out. God wants to stay in your house so that you can have His long lasting presence at any given moment. If you love each other in your house the presence of God will begin to grow. What makes heaven what it is is the continuous love that is found there where Jesus is loving everything that He created.

You have to allow love to grow inside of you to a point where you begin to overlook people’s weaknesses and focus on their strengths. The person you do not want to see in your life is good for something.

You have to move around extracting good things from people; stop focusing on what they cannot do but rather on what they can do. If you start developing that attitude you will realise that you will also begin to love yourself more. You will also realise that you are not always weak. The devil lies to you that you are always defeated yet you are so victorious many times but it is just that people around you do not want to discuss your previous success. You have been successful on so many occasions; you could have broken down but you are still standing. You are not as weak as you think, focus on your strength from today.

If you want to see more miracles happening in your life and family you have to increase your love towards others; you will see things you have never seen if you do. Most people have done everything in terms of prayer and fasting but they have not increased their love for God’s people.

You have to move out of your comfort zone, visit certain people that are crying, moaning and down-trodden. There are people who have not had a decent meal for the past two years and you have to find them and give them an experience they have never had before. Some of the problems you are praying about are never going to disappear but you have to change yourself. You have to become the agent God is going to use to express His love towards His creation. The little that you have if you can hand it over to somebody he will be praying for you for the rest of his life.