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Like children, we all have a sense of what love should look like.
2. In many ways, love is a simple concept and yet it can get so complicated in a fallen world.
3. Is it possible to find real love?
4. Tonight, we will look at someone who longed to be loved but never was; yet discovered how to be released from looking for unconditional love in a conditional world.

Genesis 29:31-35

I. All of Us Want to be Loved

A. We seek unconditional love conditionally
1. Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, Leah’s younger sister.
a. Rachel was beautiful of form and face. (17)
b. To put it kindly, Leah was not Jacob’s type.
c. Now, Jacob brought nothing with him when he fled from Esau after deceiving his father Isaac for the blessing. (27:42-45)
d. So, he worked seven years for Laban to earn Rachel’s hand in marriage.
2. After seven years of working for Laban, Jacob’s day had finally arrived to marry the “girl of his dreams.”
3. But under the veil of night, Laban switched Rachel with Leah and Jacob woke up to a living nightmare.
4. Why did Leah go along with Laban’s scheme?
a. Maybe she felt compelled to submit to her father’s authority.
b. Maybe she was tired of playing second fiddle to her beautiful sister, Rachel.
c. Or perhaps she thought it was her “last chance for romance”!
d. We really do not know the reasons why, but one thing stands out as we read these verses, Leah wanted to be loved.
5. To Jacob, Leah was a burden, a bother, a dirty, rotten trick.
6. It did not take great discernment to see that Jacob loved Rachel and could care less about Leah.
a. Sure, he took care of her physical needs, but his heart was with her beautiful sister, Rachel.
b. Daily, Leah was reminded of the fact that she was still second fiddle in an orchestra that had room for only one.
7. In verse 31, we are told that the Lord saw this too.
a. The Lord opened Leah’s womb to conceive.
b. But God closed Rachel’s womb.
8. I am convinced that the moment Leah knew she was pregnant she thought, “I’m second fiddle no more!”
a. You see, in that culture bearing children was considered a blessing from God.
b. And, if you brought forth a son, even better.

APPL – True love doesn’t come with conditions! But we live as though it does.

ILLUS - A Second Chance at Life

APPL – We live in a conditional world that loves conditionally. If you are not careful, it will suck you into their way of thinking.

ILLUS – My brother, Mike, playing college football

B. You cannot make someone love you
1. Leah conceived and gave birth to her first son.
a. Leah knew the Lord had opened her womb.
b. The Lord had seen her affliction or misery.
c. What did the Lord see? The same thing that everyone else saw, including Leah.
o Jacob’s eyes would light up when Rachel came near.
o But when Leah came by, Jacob had that “What does she want now?” look.
2. Leah gave Jacob son his first son. (32)
a. The name Reuben means “See, a son!”
b. What Leah was really saying is, “See, I have value! Will you love me now?”
c. But notice who named the boy, Leah.

ILLUS – Abraham named Ishmael (Gen. 16:15) and Isaac (Gen. 21:3). Together, Isaac and Rebekah named their sons Esau and Jacob (Gen. 25:25-26).

d. Where was Jacob? Did he not notice? Did he not care? Or was the boy just another mouth to feed. Jacob’s heart for Leah did not change.
e. But God noticed.
Hebrews 4:13, And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

3. Leah gave Jacob a second son. (33)
a. Once again Leah acknowledged God’s hand while hoping that she would be valued and loved by her husband.
b. Leah declared, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved.”
c. What did the Lord hear?
o The Lord heard what was said and how it was said over the years.
o But God also heard what was not said.
d. She named the boy, Simeon, which means “heard.”
o Even if Jacob was not listening…
o God was listening.

Exodus 2:23, And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God.


Pastor Rich Jones
Pastor Matthew Dodd
Rich Jones Calvary Chapel
Calvary Chapel Worship Center
Calvary Hillsboro
Calvary Chapel Oregon
Calvary Chapel Beaverton
Calvary Chapel Portland

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