LOVE - By Catherine Brown.
WE ALL NEED IT
WE CAN ALL GIVE IT.
If love is not just a gooey feeling, what is it? How do we do it?
John 13v34 ‘A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.'
In the verse above, the phrase ‘love one another' occurs three times. In a world where the word love is so over used and undervalued, how do we do this?
a)This verse is addressed to ALL of us. None of us is exempt: because we're busy, we have personal problems or any other excuse.
b)We must love as Jesus loves us - Wow! How?
1)Love each other with your love for God
1John 4v19 ‘We love, because god first loved us'
This is our motivation. We cannot give unconditional love until we have experienced it. Remember, true love has no ulterior motives. (1 Cor 13)
2)Love each other with your prayers
Philippians 1v9 ‘And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,' This is Paul's prayer for the Philippians. Many of his letters are full of prayers for those to whom he is writing. How often can we pray for each other? Where? We can pray for each other in our small groups, at 24 every 7, daily, anytime the Lord prompts us.
3) Love each other with your time
Eph 5v15,16 ‘Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time.' Time spent together is never wasted. Our ‘instant' age hinders us here. Think of the love between a couple, or in a family, just being together is valuable. This ordinary time spent together provides the foundation for ‘quality' time. When we serve alongside each other this also builds the love between us.
4) Love each other with your encouragement
1 Thessalonians 5v11 ‘Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.' Encouragement is great. Don't you just love compliments? To cancel the effect of one criticism we need to be praised 10 times. A criticism can really hurt. Do you remember the pain of when you have been criticised? Criticism goes deep. We blossom with encouragement.
5)Love each other with Jesus
Luke 18v15 ‘People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have Him touch them.' How can we bring each other to Jesus? Give each other appropriate verses of Scripture, pray together, talk of our Lord, testimony, lend helpful books or worship CDs, recommend sermons, these are all ways of bringing people close to the touch of Jesus.
5) Love each other with your forgiveness
Colossians 3v13 ‘Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.' What sort of grievances do we have against each other? Envy and jealousy of each other's relationships, personalities, material circumstances - the Devil loves to stir up these feelings. Don't compare yourself with others in any way. Celebrate our differences. Love each other because of our differences. People learn of God's forgiveness by how they see us forgive!!!
FINALLY
‘A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.' John 13v34
