Begin your discussion with a moment of quiet reflection, individual or group prayer, or whatever would be conducive to further discussion. Share with the group, as appropriate, your experiences during the week in being disciplined, in doing the journal exercises, or in living out a more loving disposition.

1. Consider the nature of "Christian love."
 
1. Think about Jesus' death for you as the best example of love in action. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us." 1 John 3:16.
 
1. Has anyone ever saved your life? Has anyone ever given his or her life for you? What is the most loving thing that anyone has ever done for you?
2. Focus for just a moment on the nature of God's love for you as manifested in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. Discuss with your group how often you think about the nature of that love?
3. What is the nature of your gratitude and how do you express that gratitude? See John 15:12.
2. Focus on the nature of true agape love (1 Cor. 13, TEV) [you may want to read some other translations]:
1. Love is patient and kind;
2. Love is not jealous, or conceited, or proud;
3. Love is not ill mannered, or selfish, or irritable;
4. Love does not keep a record of wrongs;
5. Love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth;
6. Love never gives up, and its faith, hope, and patience never fail.
3. This paints a picture of selfless, giving, nurturing, sacrificing dedication to the well-being of another.
4. Contrast this with "love" as depicted in modern songs, movies, literature. What is the essential difference between Christian love and "popular love"? In particular, discuss the following:
 
1. Love as a "feeling" or "emotion," something that people fall into and out of. The idea might be that love is uncontrollable; you cannot help loving someone or not loving them.
2. Love is happiness. If you are not happy with someone, if being with them requires effort, if the relationship is largely one-sided, then what you have is not love.
5. Consider and discuss the following proposition: "Devotion to God finds its outward expression in loving one another. ... We cannot truly love God without loving one another." (See 1 John 4:20-21.) What does that really mean in a practical, day-to-day sense? In other words, what is the principal mission of your Christian life? See Matt.22:37-39.
2. Consider your behavior toward your family, friends, classmates, colleagues, and other people that you "love."
 
1. Where do we tend to fall short of Jesus' model for us? Fall short of the agape standard? Why? In some ways, we actually do a worse job being loving toward people we care about. (E.g., we may actually be less patient, more inclined to keep score, more irritable, etc., towards those we "love.") Why? Isn't that just perverse and inexcusable?
2. Love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, meaning that true Christian love should grow in us as a result of the indwelling in us of the Holy Spirit. See Rom.5:5.
 
1. Share with each other, and consider taking notes in your journal as others speak, ways in which you can give the Holy Spirit some maneuvering room to affect you behavior, to be more loving (agape'ing) toward the people you "love." Especially, discuss how you can stop the perverse behavior of being less loving toward the people you love the most.
2. If you have time, work on the following:
 
1. Develop a list of guiding and motivating scriptural passages on the nature and result of Christian love.
2. Compose a short (2 to 4 sentences) prayer, as a group, that can be recited every day as a petition for a more loving disposition.

4/17/98