Not Everyone Truly Follows Jesus

To say, Lord, I love you, it's very easy. But to live these words is very difficult. To say, Lord, I love you, very easy.

But to live these words, Lord, I love you, it is extremely difficult. Because when I say, Lord, I love you, what is it that I'm really saying? What is the meaning behind this love for the Lord? What does it entail? Do I really fathom what I'm truly saying? Not really. Because when I say, Lord, I love you, I lose my voice sometimes as well.

You see, to work for the Lord, it requires love. Why? Because if there is no love, there is no sacrifice. If there is no true love, there is no sacrifice.

Parents give their entire life for their children. When the baby is born, from that moment until that baby is a grown-up adult, whether it's a man or a woman, nothing in between. When it's a man or a woman, the parents never cease sacrificing their life for their children.

Now I'll come and ask these parents, why have you sacrificed your life, all these long many and hard years of hard work? Did the parents ever think when they gave their life for that baby, the mother or the father, endless nights, no sleep, no rest. When the baby cries, the mother runs. When the baby has a temperature, the mother goes crazy, the parents go crazy, both mom and dad.

Take them to hospital, to the doctor, feed them, clothe them, change them, pay for their education until they are ready to get married. They never cease sacrificing. Have you parents ever thought that maybe when this baby is an adult is going to respect and appreciate your love and sacrifice? No.

Why haven't you given a thought? Because when the love is genuine from the heart, all it can do is give, never thinks of taking. But it's genuine love. And when the parents work so hard, give their life for their children, they never do it for the sake of being applauded and of being given a big medal and paid for it.

Never. They never expect any recognition because it comes from the heart and what comes from the heart is natural. You don't think about it, you just do it.

When the Lord Jesus came and gave his life on the cross for every single human being, he did it naturally. Whether those people appreciated what he did, respected, honored, accepted what he did or not, he did it anyway. And so many people did not accept it, but he still went ahead and did it.

Why? Because his love for his father surpasses everything else. His love for his father surpasses everything else. When the love is genuine, all it does, it gives.

The Lord says, I love you so much, I died for you. I gave my life for you. Now there has to be a return of this love.

I gave you my love on the cross, I revealed it, I illustrated fully, I defined it fully for every single one who wanted to accept this love. Now when you accept this love and you say, I am a Christian now, I am a member in the mystical body of Christ. When you come into this unity, where we become the body and Christ is the head and we are connected as one person, as one perfect body, one perfect Christ.

When we become one, he is the head and we the body. Then we need to return that love back to this head who gave it to us on the cross. And therefore I'll come back and say, whatever I do for you Lord, I can never pay you back for what you've done for me on Calvary, on the cross.

Therefore Lord, everything I do and everything I say and every sacrifice I give and every sweat I drop, everything for you Lord, I do not seek no recognition because I do it out of love which you showed me, which you taught me, which you gave me on the cross. I'm just giving back to you a drop of this infinite ocean of love, divine love you gushed upon me on Calvary. I'm not expecting any recognition.

I'm not expecting any recognition. If the love is not for Christ, then the love is for me. When the love is directed for me in the house of the Lord, I have stolen the glory of Christ from him.

I have stolen the glory of Christ from him. No matter what we do or say, we need to remind ourselves that we are those unprofitable, hopeless, useless servants. Everything we did, we did it because it was commanded of us to do.

The head commanded the body to move and the body moved, big deal. You expect a recognition body? No, you were doing what you were supposed to do anyway. What are you expecting in return? There is nothing.

The hand was ordered to move and the hand moved and then the head said, why aren't you applauding me for moving? Sorry, you were just doing what you were expected to do, no more, no less. At the end, everything is of Christ's. The work is his, the honor is his, the glory is his, the church is his, the throne is his, the crown is his, the cross is his, the rank is his, everything is Christ.

Everything. When a church leader seeks his own glory, he destroys the church. He destroys the church.

You know why? Because he invites satan, not Christ. And when we at home as a family, husband, wife, father and mother, when we do things at home to get recognition for ourselves, we ruin that home. If the husband does things to be acknowledged and recognized for it, and if he's not, he stops doing, then that love is not genuine.

The love is selfish. And when the wife does the same, it is a selfish love. The family gets divided and eventually destroyed.

But when we come and say as a husband, as a father, whatever I do, I'm doing it for my wife, for my children, and I'm doing it out of the love that I have for my family, and I'm doing it not expecting not a single recognition, then the Lord will recognize you. The Lord will reward you abundantly on earth and in heaven. Don't ever expect recognition from people.

If you are seeking people's recognition, then everything is vanity of all vanities. Do everything for the Lord's sake, expecting nothing in return, and let Jesus Christ of Nazareth give it back to you the way he chooses, not the way you force it to be done. Believe you me, the more we forget about ourselves, the more we are glorified.