The over flogged
topic of all time-love. Truth is we can
never say it all.
The Bible teaches us that it’s God’s will for us to help
hurting people. In John 13:34-35, Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment:
that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should
love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if
you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves]” (AMP).
Matthew 22:37-38 says, “…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). This is the…first
commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as [you do]
yourself” (AMP).
We live in a society that drives people to selfishness. So
much of the advertising we see and hear influences us to want more and more and
to never be satisfied with what we have. But the more selfish and self-centred
we are, the less power we have to do good and help others.
The good news is we have what we need in Christ to overcome
a selfish, “What about me?!” mind-set and lifestyle. We have the power of God’s
love! It’s the answer to every dilemma and problem in our society today. And as
Christians, our goal is to represent Christ in the world and show His love.
What Is True Love?
Love is not just a feeling, or a theory, or a nice word.
It’s action—it’s the way you treat people, what you do for others. Love will
always cost you something: time, energy, effort, money, giving up your pride,
doing what’s right when you don’t feel like it, keeping a good attitude when
you don’t get your way.
Loving the way God loves means you love when there’s nothing
in it for you; it’s all about giving out and not expecting anything in return.
We’re called to outreach, not in-reach. Real love is about dying to self and
living to love others.
Before you can love others, you have to experience God’s
love in your own life, because you can’t give away something you don’t have.
Then you have to be willing to ask God to teach you to love the way He loves.
When you do this, God will enable you to reach out and help someone else. I
know this works because I’ve lived it.
Live to Love!
I used to be selfish, self-centred, always thinking about
how I could get my way. And I was miserable. See, I loved God and wanted to
love people, but no matter how hard I tried to be sweet and nice to everybody,
all of my trying was getting me nowhere. I was cranky, hard to get along with
and impatient. God showed me the problem was that I didn’t like myself because
of the shame of my past. I grew up in an abusive home, and I felt guilty,
condemned and ashamed because of it. I had to accept God’s love for me before I
could love anyone else.
So I decided to study God’s love in the Word, pray for God
to change my heart, and confess what His Word says about His love for me. Every
day I would say out loud, “God loves me,” and I would say it over and over to
purposely keep this truth in my heart throughout the day. After a year of doing
this, I finally got a revelation about God’s love for me.
Now I am able to receive God’s love and love others the way
Jesus taught us to love. I don’t do it perfectly all the time, but I’ve come a
long way and am making progress every day. My prayer is, “God, show me how I
can help others. Make me a blessing everywhere I go. I want to live to love You
and others.”
In my personal life, I try to make it my business to add
value to everybody I come in contact with. I can honestly say that learning how
to love others with God’s love has made me the happiest I’ve ever been. The
truth is you can’t be selfish and be happy or have peace.
Make it your goal each day to pursue God’s love and then
give it away. First Corinthians 14:1 (AMP) says to “eagerly pursue and seek to
acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest].” So go after it with
all your might, and ask God to make you a blessing everywhere you go. You can
do something to help someone. You can live to love, just like Jesus.
1 Corinthians 12:31
But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces (the higher gifts and the choicest graces). And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [one that is better by far and the highest of them all—love].
But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces (the higher gifts and the choicest graces). And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [one that is better by far and the highest of them all—love].