Love:
Seeking the welfare of others and taking opportunities to do them good. (John 13:13)
Have you ever thought about the legacy you leave once you leave this earth? We are all leaving behind some kind of legacy. Did you know that you can choose what kind of legacy you leave? For me personally, the greatest legacy I want to leave is that I loved well. It truly is! I want those in my circle to have felt they mattered to me and that I loved them like Jesus. What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?
When you think of being in/giving love, what comes to mind? Is love a feeling…fireworks, heart thumping, all mushy, gushy inside type of feeling? I know the dictionary states that love is a noun, but have you ever thought it to be a verb? Think about it. If you just sat around your loved ones and did nothing, would your “loved ones” feel loved? Are your loved ones just supposed to “know” you love them by osmosis in the atmosphere?
Love is a choice you make every day when you wake up. John 15:12 tells us to “love one another as I (Christ) have loved you”. (This is a command.) Doesn’t this suggest that love is a verb as well as a noun(a thing, person, or place)? We are to give/show love the way Christ does. Love is not merely expressed in words we say, but love is known by our actions.
I have been spoiled for 35 years! My husband makes and brings me coffee every morning. One night, my husband and I had an argument and we went to bed without that argument being resolved. In fact, we were pretty angry with one another. The next morning as I was getting ready in comes my husband with my coffee. My jaw dropped! I said to my husband, “Are you crazy? You are still bringing me my coffee even though we are mad?” He said, “I may be mad at you, but I never stopped loving you!” A VERB my friends! Needless to say that action by my hubby, melted down my angry heart. My husband chose to “show” me love that morning in spite of our circumstances at the time.
Do you have people in your life that get on your nerves occasionally? Maybe you have family members that don’t act very loving towards you. What do you do then? Scripture tells us to love our enemies. (Matthew 5:44) That is hard to swallow at times, isn’t it? I have found that if I ask God to show me that person how He sees them, it helps a lot; but in my humanness, I have a difficult time loving as God loves. I need God to give me His love for her/him so I pray, but I still need to choose love over hate.
Love DOES cover over a multitude of sins, doesn’t it? (1 Peter 4:8) This love though is not our love, it is the Father’s love. We would have a difficult time loving those that hurt us if the Holy Spirit did not intervene. It is HIS love that empowers us to love our enemies and reflect Christ in this world, isn’t it? It is HIs love that pours over us when we feel ostracized or defeated. Our Lord Jesus gives us His strength and enough love to give away without ever feeling loved less by Him.
So…love well, my friends! Love the difficult and easy ones to the best of your ability! You just might love them right into the kingdom!
- Jesus did then and does now! He Did Love: Can you think of someone Jesus loved when they really didn’t deserve to be loved? Maybe your mind went to Peter after his betraying Jesus. (Luke 22: 54-62) Perhaps you thought of the Apostle Paul, who became a powerful disciple of Jesus though he persecuted Christ’s followers prior to becoming a convert. (I Corinthians 15:9) Oh, how Jesus loved (loves Peter and Paul and you and me) He forgave Peter and Paul and gave them significant ministries. Jesus loves you. He Does Now: Do you know it? (I John 4:19) Would you take time to encounter Jesus and know more deeply His great love for you? (Ephesians 3: 16-19)
- Let’s Do the Book: Ephesians 3: 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Particularly, let’s draw on His love to give away to others. TRY IT: In the next situation that confronts you where you are tempted to hate or be less than loving, choose to pray; to run to Jesus. Ask God to remind you of His love for you so much that you are willing and able to give love away in a loving response to another person…who “doesn’t deserve to be loved”.
- Have great and real fellowship with another and share (no names please) how God changed your emotions and responses from less than loving to a loving, kind responses revealing God’s character rather than highlighting your old nature.