Love & Loyalty

What does holy love really look like when it gets personal? In this message, we explore Leviticus 19:15-18, a passage that calls us to live with fairness, truth, and courage. This sermon reminds us that God's love doesn't play favorites, turn a blind eye, or hold grudges. It confronts sin and clings to righteousness.

Through a powerful combination of biblical insight and real-life application, we unpack what it means to love our neighbor as ourselves--not with shallow niceness, but with deep, resilient, and justice-shaped love.

Whether you're navigating strained relationships, wrestling with how to speak the truth in love, or wondering what holiness looks like in a fractured world--this episode is for you.

Other Episodes in this series:

1. Leftover & Left Behind
2. Honesty & Hospitality
3. Love & Loyalty
4. Sin & Slavery (coming August 11)
5. Foreign & Friend (coming August 18)

Linkoln shares his story on why he started coming to Ravenna Church of the Nazarene and shares why you should consider doing the same.

Ravenna Church of the Nazarene
530 Main Street, Ravenna, KY 40472

Transcript

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

#3 LOVE & LOYALTY

     In 1770, before the United States was established, tensions were rising between British soldiers and American colonists. A crowd gathered in Boston, angry and shouting, and British soldiers opened fire, killing five colonists. The event would become known as the Boston Massacre, and colonists were furious. The grieving city was thirsty for revenge.

     When the soldiers were put on trial, no one wanted to defend them; they were the enemy. But one colonist stepped forward. His name was John Adams, who later followed George Washington as President of the United States.

     Adams did not defend the British soldiers because he agreed with what the soldiers did, nor because he agreed with the practices of the British, which led to the tensions. He did not do it because it was popular; in fact, Adams knew it could ruin his reputation. But Adams believed in something deeper: that everyone deserves a fair trial, and that justice must be based on truth, not emotion or politics. During the trial, Adams said, “Facts are stubborn things.” He believed that loyalty to the truth and fairness were more important than taking sides.

     You and I often equate love with being agreeable or “nice.” But biblical love is not passive or polite. Love is fiercely loyal. It does not ignore sin, and it does not walk away when things get hard.

     Is this what we do when loving someone requires hard truth? We tend to take sides with those most like us, keep quiet and distance ourselves with passive-aggressive behaviors, or take revenge when our side is attacked or threatened. But Leviticus 19 reveals that God’s people are called to do something different.

Leviticus 19:15-18 (CEB)

15 You must not act unjustly in a legal case. Do not show favoritism to the poor or deference to the great; you must judge your fellow Israelites fairly. 16 Do not go around slandering your people. Do not stand by while your neighbor’s blood is shed; I am the LORD. 17 You must not hate your fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your fellow Israelite strongly, so you don’t become responsible for his sin. 18 You must not take revenge nor hold a grudge against any of your people; instead, you must love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.

This is the word of God

For the people of God

Thanks be to God

     This passage is part of a bigger vision God gives us in Leviticus 19. In our series, Love Thy Neighbor, we have been exploring how holiness is not strictly about rule-keeping. It is about living in holy community with God and others. And today’s text shows us that real love is not passive; it is fiercely loyal.

     Verse 15 says, “Do not show favoritism to the poor or deference to the great.” The Hebrew literally translates to “lift up the face”, a phrase meaning treating someone better based on status. Neither the poor person nor the rich person should be elevated above the other. God’s people are to commit to justice and fairness, love in action.

     Looking at verse 16, one could read it as “Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer.” The idea is of a person going from city to city like a traveling salesman, but their trade is smearing their neighbor, misrepresenting people, and dealing in scandal. And it is not good enough to simply refrain from being the pot stirrer, the verse goes on to say, “Do not stand by while your neighbor’s blood is shed.” This is not just about being nice or legal talk; it is about holy love. Love does not stay silent in the face of injustice.

     Summarizing verse 17, it says, “Do not hate in your heart. Rebuke strongly.” The last bit that says, “So you do not become responsible for his sin,” is not saying the person is absolved of their sin because we stay silent. It is saying that to keep silent knowing someone is headed down a path that will lead them to pain, suffering, and hell without trying to warn them or stop them is hate. The Hebrew root of this verse implies, “Do not stew. Speak.” Holiness is not about niceness; it is about courage. Hate is harboring inner resentment or passive hostility. Rebuke does not come from hate; it comes from loyal love with the aim of bringing restoration, not shame. Love corrects, it does not cancel.

     The last verse says, “Don’t take revenge or hold a grudge. Love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the capstone command, rooted in God’s name and character. The commentator Matthew Henry points out that “We often wrong ourselves, but we soon forgive ourselves those wrongs, and they do not lessen our love to ourselves; and in like manner we should love our neighbor.” Loving ourselves means we try to keep ourselves from harm and pursue things that are good with the best of our abilities. And this is how we are to love our neighbors. Love forgives; it does not seek revenge or hold a grudge.

     What does this teach us? Holy love is loyal. It is fierce enough to never give up on us. But it is also courageous enough to confront the sin in us.

     This is not soft love. It is not love in the sense of sitting in circles singing “Kumbaya”, care bears, and rainbows. This is the kind of love that bites. That is deeply personal. Love that is covenant love, like God’s love for us.

     Jesus lives this perfectly. In Mark 10, a rich young ruler comes to Jesus. The rich ruler has strictly followed all the commandments, so he comes to Jesus expecting to hear “well done, good and faithful servant.” But Jesus saw through the young man’s façade. He had reduced serving God and interacting with his neighbors to a checklist. Out of love, Jesus tells him, “There is still one thing you lack, go sell your possessions, give your money to the poor. You will have treasures in heaven. Come follow me.” This was not an economic statement; it was a statement about loyal love given in loyal love.

     Paul tells us in Romans 5:8 that Jesus does the same thing for us. “But God shows His love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” God did not just overlook our sin; He addressed it because of His loyal love for us. He calls us to repentance because sin has been remedied, but the choice to walk in the cure is on us. One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 24:11, which says, “Rescue those being taken off to death; and from those staggering to the slaughter, don’t hold back.” This is why God confronts us in our sin and convicts us. Not for us to feel guilt and shame, but so we recognize our need for His cure and accept it. And since God shows this loyal love to us, as His holy people, we are called to show the same kind of love. Not love that is nice and soft, but love that is fierce.

     This leads us to tough questions we have to ask ourselves. Where am I tempted to show partiality? In politics? In relationships? In forgiveness? Maybe I have been silent, telling myself it is for the sake of keeping the peace. But there can be no peace when sin is not confronted. Love speaks up. Do I stew in resentment or cancel out someone from my life instead of seeking restoration? Am I letting Jesus shape my love or my own selfishness?

     Ask the Holy Spirit to examine your heart. Confess where you have been cowardly for the sake of convenience. Commit to living in love that is both fierce and faithful.

     Holy love is loyal; fierce enough to never give up on us, and courageous enough to confront the sin in us. And that holy love is here today, seeking to transform your heart and mind.