Another series on loving one another? I thought to myself, "It’s really hard to teach this because I know I don’t love consistently well. Dan Allender came up with the same conclusion when someone criticized him for writing this book on "Bold Love" because there were times when he, too, failed in his efforts to love.

There will be times when we will experience failure in our attempts to love people. I like what he said in his book, "I know I am a person that does not love consistently well, but my passionate desire is to understand what is true and grow in my practice of it, irrespective of how poorly I might sometimes model what I teach. To really understand what it means to love is to understand how poorly we love.

I am therefore, not teaching out of expertise. Like you, I am here to learn to love better.

This series is a "think through" series. We will not be teaching you formulas, or how to’s, methods, but we will concentrate more on presenting you with the biblical principles for you to reflect on.

As we think about situations in our lives where we need to change and impact others with the change in us, we need to be creative in our approaches. Although the Bible reveals only one interpretation to a truth, there can be several applications to that interpretation. Give examples.

There is a need to remind ourselves all throughout the series of how much we need to depend on the Holy Spirit in our attempts to love. I cannot overemphasize the importance of it! We need the Holy Spirit to change!

As you listen to Dan Allender and the illustrations he gives on his own life, we discover that many times, "HE" is the recipient of bold love, and he is given a chance, time and again to take a good, hard look at the kind of person he is and the effect he has on others. Think of not only giving bold love to others, but more importantly receiving it in humility.

Love. We sing about it, write on cards for Valentine’s and Mother’s Day, and hear it about it everywhere, includingchurch. We’re commanded to love one another, turn the other cheek, forgive and forget.

Exactly how do you go about loving an enemy who is bent on violating your body, or poisoning your reputation? How do you keep a marriage that started with love from becoming merely a pact to remain civil without intimacy?

This seven-part series is designed to change dramatically the way you relate to others. It should help you:

• Understand what biblical love is and what it isn’t
• Identify things that often block you from loving well.
• Discover surprising and practical strategies for handling relationships.

1. How would you normally handle someone like Charlie, Buck’s father?

What three approaches do most people use in dealing with conflict?

"Refugee" - Someone who flees.

"Cynic" - Observer who has detached himself from reality.

"Warrior" - Someone who is committed to engage for the good purpose of seeing

herself and others change in the process of love.

2. What do you think of the way Dan’s wife handled him? How would you have handled Dan?
3. What do you think of the situation between Buck, Terry and Charlie?
4. How would you have handled Buck’s inability to deal with his father in spite of the damage done to his wife Terry?
5. Think of the way we usually deal with problems? Who are we most like?