In his book, “Love Does”, Bob Goff makes these observations:
- The ones Jesus first picked to follow Him started out typical, to be sure.
- God is constantly inviting them into a life that moves away from the typical.
- Jesus lets us be real with our life and our faith.
- He said we’d know the extent of our love by how well we loved people.
(all from page 15)
Let’s stop right there on that last point. I have been thinking on this for days now. Notice – we will know the extent of our love by how well we love people. Not by how much people love us. {{Ouch!}}
Yet most of us, if we’re honest, desire to be on the receiving end more so than on the giving end.
I recently set out to find the answer to the question – How does Jesus call us to love?
“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.” (1 John 3:18-19, NLT)
Real love involves self-sacrifice. Not others necessarily sacrificing for us but each of us sacrificing of ourselves. We do this by becoming more concerned with the needs of others than with our own needs. We become willing to unselfishly give of our time, our effort, and our prayers.
“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring one another.” (Romans 12:9-10, NLT)
No pretense. Genuine love. Honoring one another, again, means to put the needs of others before your own.
Sometimes we wonder what God would have us to do. What is His will for us? Does He have commands He wants us to follow? Let Jesus’ words speak for themselves …
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love one another. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 13:34-35, NLT)
Jesus was telling His disciples to love each other with the sort of love they had seen and experienced modeled by Jesus Himself. Loving in this manner would be the proof the world needed to see, in order to know they were His.
To “prove” >>
- establishes the genuineness of
- establishes the authenticity
- shows the character or ability expected especially through the actions
Did you catch the last definition? It is our love especially demonstrated through our actions which will display our character.
Today I am asking myself … What is my love demonstrating?
Today I am joining … Three Word Wednesday and Tell His Story and Wedded Wednesday and Works For Me and Women With Intention .
Ooo I needed that reminder too- that life is about loving well not just about being loved.
I needed the reminder myself, Katie. God has a funny way of stepping up to the plate to remind us too. He’s faithful like that 🙂
Both of the 2 great commandments are about love: love God and love others. Jesus said that sums up all the law and the prophets. One of the best places to learn about love is from a passage usually read at weddings and then not thought about much: 1 Corinthians 13.4-7. It says love is patient and kind, not rude or envious or jealous. It doesn’t seek it’s own way or keep a record of wrongs. It doesn’t rejoice over unrighteousness but rejoices when right prevails. It believes all things (gives others the benefit of the doubt), always hopes and doesn’t quit. Thanks for your great reminder to focus on what’s really important to God!
Donna, it’s so true that we don’t “review” the passage from 1 Corinthians 13 as often as we should. It truly offers such practical application for daily living. So glad you brought us there. Blessings.
I love this quote “we will know the extent of our love by how well we love people. Not by how much people love us”.
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Remain Blessed
Thank you, Ifeoma. May I remember this when loving others becomes challenging. Blessings to you & yours!
Such good things to think about! I love Bob Goff’s encouragement, even when it steps on my toes a little bit! 🙂 And I love how you spur others one to love well. Thanks for being part of #ThreeWordWednesday.
Kristin, I find that Bob Goff steps on my toes with such grace 🙂 He always gets the point across, doesn’t he? Now to remember this when loving others presents a challenge!
I love what you wrote thanks for your encouraging words today. I am a giver. I try to each out and help people when I see they need help. I show love to people through many ways.
May you always continue to show love to those around you, each & every day.
Yes!!! I needed this reminder today too. It truly is about how we love our neighbor and not so much about how they love us. “Love one another as I firsf loved you!” AMEN!!
Tara, I think we all truly could use this reminder in some shape or form every day. And if we doubt that, all we need to do is go for a drive as that will surely challenge us 🙂
I’m starting to think of Romans 12-14 as the ‘love chapters’ ;). I’m working on becoming more concerned with others and less concerned with myself–this is NOT natural behavior for me, but definitely what God calls me to do!
Anita, those chapters in Romans will surely challenge each of us. I am not sure loving others is natural behavior for many. We’d like to think it is but I think the struggle will always be before us. But we can love like Him as He deposits His love into us. You are such a blessing!
Oh! There you are, my dear friend. Your love demonstrates much. You write with such smoothness and caring. Each word is encouraging and not judgmental. Someone else could have taken the same Scripture verses, twisting them about, and made the reader feel guilty. No. Not you. You make us want to love one another because it is in the loving we see Jesus. Blessings Chris~
Chris, I am so grateful my words do not come across as judgmental as the only one I would be judging would be myself! May we never put guilt on others but only spur them on to be more like Him. Thank you for your kind words & for encouraging me today. Bless you!
I love this so much! I believe we are called to BE Love – and it must be His – and not just our own! But ours combined with His? That brings heaven on earth!
Karrilee, you said it best! Truly. It is in the blending of our feeble love with His great love that brings heaven to earth. Love that!
Pretty simple, really.
Love someone, and you’ve bought into dying for them if that’s what has to happen. Maybe not happily, maybe cussing a blue streak as the bullets hit, but you’ll be there and doing it.
Anything else is mild affection.
May we not love with mild affection but with the deep love of Jesus. Blessings to you today, Andrew.
When I find it hard to love others I pray a blessing over them.
This goes so well with my new Biblical Kindness series. I love your encouragement! Thanks for linking up at Women With Intention Wednesdays!