Part 1 | LOVE: The Habit That Impacts Everything Else
Galatians 5:22; John 15:1-5 | August 16th, 2026
Dr. Mark S. Hartman, Lead Pastor – SCBC
- Galatians 5:22-23 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit (results) in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. (NLT)
Every positive trait that impacts our character and our relationships emerges from love.
- Corinthians 14:1 Let love be your greatest goal.
1. IF THE GOAL IS LOVE, WHAT IS LOVE?
A. Misconception # 1 - Love is primarily a feeling.
B. Misconception # 2 - Love is uncontrollable.
C. Both of these ideas might be correct about infatuation but not about actual love.
D. The Bible uses four words for love.
1. Eros is the idea of sexual love.
2. Phileo is the idea of brotherly love or friendship.
3. Storge is the affection of a parent for a child and children for their parents. It is Phileo love on a higher level.
4. Agape means a selfless kind of love, an endless and unconditional kind of love. It is love at the highest level.
- 1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is agape. (NIV)
E. How do we grow a God kind of love in our relationships?
1. We invite God’s love into our hearts by opening our heart to the incoming Holy Spirit.
- Romans 5:5 …For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.
2. We release agape love by making decisions to do so.
- Colossians 3:14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. (NASB)
3. We release agape love by taking actions to do so.
- 1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions. (NLT)
4. Feelings are like a thermometer; they simply tell us the room temperature. But love is like a thermostat; it helps set and change the climate. If we wait until we feel loving before we act, we may wait too long. Agape love chooses to listen, to forgive, to serve, to encourage, and to remain faithful. Don’t follow your feelings. Do the loving thing and let your feelings eventually catch up to your right decisions.
2. THE “LOVE HABIT” OF HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS. (1 Corinthians 13:7-8)
A. 1 Corinthians 13:7-8 Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.
“Always” has the idea of consistency. The key to success in anything that lasts is consistency. It is a person consistently making the decisions and taking the actions of authentic love.
B. Relationships that last, consistently protect the people we love. (…love always protects…)
1. We protect our relationships by defending them and by sharing in the hurt.
- Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
2. We protect our relationships by carrying those we love.
- Galatians 6:2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (the law of love). (NIV)
C.Relationships that last build a lasting trust. (…love always trusts…)
Four things that grow trust:
1. We keep our promises.
2. We do not take wrongful advantage of another.
3. We do the right thing even when no one is watching.
4. We do these things consistently over time.
- John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Trust is built when we die to self for each other.
D. Relationships that last, keep feeding hope to the friendship. (…love always hopes…)
1. Hope: the desire and search for a future good, that is difficult but not impossible to attain with God's help. (American Heritage Dictionary)
2. Focus on the positives instead of the negatives.
3. Have a willingness to forgive.
- Colossians 3:13 Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
4. Choose to look to the future when the present is doubtful.
- 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
E. Relationships that last refuse to quit. (…love always perseveres…”)