LOVE-OLOGY

“Love That Leaves a Godly Legacy”
Pastor Doug Heisel – March 12, 2023

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 — Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

What you celebrate, you REPLICATE.

2 Kings 23:25 — Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.

2 Kings 21:1-2 — Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years...He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

2 Kings 21:19-22 — Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king...He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. He walked in all the ways of his father; he worshiped the idols his father had worshiped, and bowed down to them. He forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.

Steps Towards a Godly Legacy

1. Refuse to play the BLAME GAME.
   
   2 Kings 22:2a — (Josiah) did what was right in the eyes of the Lord…”
   

2. Commit to a house of WORSHIP and pay the price to make it a non-negotiable PRIORITY.
   
   2 Kings 22:5 — Entrust this money to the men assigned to supervise the Temple's restoration. Then they can use it to pay workers to repair the Temple of the Lord.
   

3. Make God’s Word (the Bible) the TRUTH you follow.
   
   2 Kings 22:8 — Hilkiah the high priest said…”I have found the Book of the Law in the Lord's Temple!”
   
   2 Kings 23:3 — (Josiah) pledged to obey the Lord by keeping all his commands, regulations, and laws with all his heart and soul…and all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
   

4. PURGE your environment of that which could hold you back.
   
   2 Kings 23:15-16 — Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam...who had caused Israel to sin...he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things. [See also: 1 Kings 13:1-3]