Word of the Week - Love

A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.  John 13:34-35

The word Love is defined by websters as a quality or feeling of strong or constant affection for and dedication to another: the strong affections and tenderness felt by lovers.  1 Corinthians 13 defines Love a little differently: “Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.  Love never fails.”

Love like Jesus:  The longer I live, the more I realize that Love is the most important aspect of life.  At the end of the day, when it is all said and done, what will matter most is how well we loved while we were here on earth.  So, what does Love really look like in our day to day lives?  I would submit that Jesus is the best model of love in all of history, and as followers of Jesus, we can learn how to Love by knowing and pursuing Jesus.  Jesus is Love!!!  Our goal as believers should be to conform to the image of Jesus by being faithful and obedient to God.  Jesus was pure in every way and He loved selflessly and commanded us His disciples to love the same way He loves us.  Here are a few ways that Jesus Loved for us to learn from:

Sacrificial and generously:  Jesus demonstrated His love by dying for us, saying, “There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.” John 15:13 Since most of us will never be called upon to physically die for someone, what does it look like to lay down our lives in love?  John 3:16 tells us that to love is to give.  “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son”.  Godly love gives sacrificially.  Are we willing to give of ourselves, whether it be our time, money/stuff or our energy to love and serve others?  The truth is that all we have and all we are is a gift from God in heaven and we are simply stewards of our lives and our possessions.  This is well articulated in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25: 14-30.  Are we using our gifts and blessings to love God and love others?

Speaking the truth in Love:  Loving like Jesus means we care enough about the souls of others to tell the truth.  If we really love others, we will speak the truth in love.  We will be willing to get uncomfortable and possibly even have conflict to share truth, especially if the person we are sharing with is blind to the reality of the truth.  This is not always a fun and pleasant experience but it is necessary. That being said, our hearts and motives must be to Love first.  Truth without love can be harsh and love without truth is shallow.  If we truly love someone we will take the time to let them know we have their best interest at heart as we gently share the truth in love.  Jesus was the best at loving people deeply while being clear and bold about the truth.  The rich young ruler cam to Jesus with good intentions, but with lack of surrender Luke 18:18-25.  He wanted what Jesus offered, but did not want Jesus.  He loved his stature and stuff more than the truth, and Jesus lovingly pointed out the young man’s heart of greed.  We don’t love people by watering down the gospel that can save them or truth that can help them.  Jesus loved us enough to warn and challenge us all the way to the cross.   

Forgiving:

Forgiveness is another way we can love like Jesus.  We forgive when we have been wronged by others.  In our humanness we want to hang on to the wounds hoping to get revenge or restitution.  But if we love like Jesus, we will quickly forgive and let go allowing healing to flow into our hearts.  Jesus forgave us and makes it very clear that we are to forgive others as we have been forgiven.  “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins”. Mark 11:25  We cannot love someone if we won’t forgive them.  When we forgive others, we can love and pray for them with a clean conscience because we have done what God commands us to do.  “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”. Ephesians 4:32

Love y’all!!!!!

-Duane