It has been a busy couple of weeks but I am back to posting on my blog on Friday mornings again.
It seems like right now in my life Jesus is teaching me the importance of love. Not just love for God but what it really means to love others well. Love is at the core of what Jesus did and what He calls us to do.
Love Is About Your Character
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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, always perseveres. Love never fails. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a NIV
If we take a close look at this list of what love is and what it’s not, we begin to understand that to truly loving God and people involves a shift in your character. Love is patient, kind, protecting, trusting, hopeful, and persevering. Love is not envious, boastful, it does not keep record of wrongs, delight in evil, and is not proud, rude, self-seeking, or easily angered.
It comes down to a struggle between what we, as sinful human beings, naturally lean toward versus what we want to be like. It reminds me of, what I like to call, the “do, do” passage in Romans 7
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (15-20, NIV)
This struggle that Paul describes is where the battle lies. It’s a character based on sin versus a character of true love – which is what Jesus desires. It should be the longing of every Jesus follower’s heart to want a character based on love.
But how? For some people this comes easier than others. I happen to fall in the “others” category.
For people like me, it is hard work to develop this character of love. God constantly opens my eyes to how impatient, overbearing, uncaring, and unloving I can be. At the same time, demonstrating through those around me what affect that kind of character has on those closest to me.
At the same time, He uses those same people to continually display love and forgiveness toward me despite the character issues I struggle with. God truly has put some smart, loving, and persevering people in my life. I am thankful for their example.
We need to constantly be open to truly looking at who we are. Always being attentive to the characteristics that are causing us fall away from a character based on the true definition of love.
Faith And Love
For in Christ Jesus…The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. – Galatians 5:6 NIV
Paul makes it clear in the verse above that faith needs to express itself through love. If we truly have the faith we say we have, then our actions toward God and each other should reflect that.
Jesus clearly lived this type of love and it is evident all throughout the story of His life. We see examples in how he dealt with a wide range of people, from adversaries to dear friends. A close look at those interactions will reveal that each person He dealt with was handled individually. What Jesus said to the “Rich Young Rular” was completely different than how He handled interactions with the Pharisees. There is no formula for how to handle all people. Sometimes it involves great care and love, at other times it needs to be direct and to the point, and sometimes nothing at all needs to be said.
Our prayer should be, that we know how to respond in love to the person we are with. The Holy Spirit within us provides that kind of wisdom – all we need to do is ask and obey His direction (James 1:5).
Love Requires Sacrifice
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. – 1 John 3:16 NIV
We see no better example of this than in Christ himself. That is what Good Friday is all about. Jesus, God become man, laid down His life for us, not because He had to, but because He wanted to. He willing chose to submit His will to God the Father and died on the cross for the sins of the world. There is no greater love than this.
For us, love may require us to lay down our life for another. It will definitely requires to sacrifice our time, money, dreams, and desires to those we love. And the more people you love, the more you will need to sacrifice for their sake. In contrast though, the more people you love, the greater the blessing and joy you will receive both now and in eternity.
I understand full well it is not easy to live this way. That is evident throughout my life. But is the struggle and battle worth it. You bet it is. There is nothing that makes you feel so fully alive than giving and receiving love. I have 5 people in my life that demonstrate that to me regularly.
Fight the battle against the natural call of indifference from your sinful nature, work hard toward a character of love, express the faith you profess through love, and be willing to give up everything for those you love, and I believe you will take a huge leap toward becoming a more solid Jesus Follower.
