Love Is Not All You Need Genesis 29:14-35 in Love: (Genesis 29:14-20) Genesis 29:20 So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. What am I asking romantic love to do for me that only can do? Application: Do I believe a relationship will give me identity, security, or ultimate joy? Do I feel incomplete, unfinished, or lacking without romantic love? Good gifts become cruel gods when we ask them to do what only God can do. Exploited : (Genesis 29:21-30) Genesis 29:21 “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.” Genesis 29:25 When morning came, there was Leah! “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?” “It is better that I give her to you than to some other man.” (v. 19) Application: When it comes to love, what am I willing to overpay for it? Will I ignore God’s Word and the Spirit’s guidance to pursue love? Have I compromised truth, integrity, obedience, or other relationships? Am I ignoring warning signs because “this feels right”? Idols always feel worth the price, until the bill comes due. The Damage of : Leah (Genesis 29:31–34) Genesis 29:31 When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. Reuben - “See, a son.” Leah says, “The Lord has seen my misery.” Simeon - “heard.” Leah says, “The Lord heard that I am unloved.” Levi - “attached” or “joined.” “Now at last my husband will become attached to me.” Our idols always hurt more than just . Seeing the God Who Leah: (Genesis 29:35) Genesis 29:35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children. Judah – “praise” “I will praise the Lord.” Genesis 49:10 “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.” Application: You may not be chosen by the world, but you are seen . God sees those ignored by spouses, families, and the world. God’s love is not earned by beauty, success, or desirability. God does not measure worth the way people do. The Unwanted “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” - Isaiah 53:2 “He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.” - John 1:11 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” - 1 Peter 2:24 Jesus is the that romantic love will never be