In Mark 12:31 Jesus says that the most important commandments are to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" and the second is to "love your neighbor as yourself".
You knew that right?....
Thats the problem.
This is one of the many themes in the Bible that is so easily over-looked because we have heard it so many times that we are numb to it.
We skip over it because we already know it. We know it in our head but not our heart.
Jesus says it is second only to the commandment to Love God.(pretty important)
Stop and think about it right now.
Do you truly care more about the good of anyone more than you do your own?
It is a challenging task that Christians are called to and one that we fail miserably with. According to John 13:34-35, the world would know and see the one true God in us if we authentically loved one another. The world's perspective would be completely shifted if the church could understand and live out the command to love others. People would see Christianity in a whole new light and would see a reflection of Christ from His church, His body.
Bluntly speaking, we represent Christ to people every day whether we want to or not. If you claim to be a Christian and claim to have God living inside you than you are constantly being "Christianity" to others. We have to start allowing Christ to show through us by surrendering ourselves completely. That way others will see Christ as Christianity, and not us.
It is a challenging task that Christians are called to and one that we fail miserably with. According to John 13:34-35, the world would know and see the one true God in us if we authentically loved one another. The world's perspective would be completely shifted if the church could understand and live out the command to love others. People would see Christianity in a whole new light and would see a reflection of Christ from His church, His body.
Bluntly speaking, we represent Christ to people every day whether we want to or not. If you claim to be a Christian and claim to have God living inside you than you are constantly being "Christianity" to others. We have to start allowing Christ to show through us by surrendering ourselves completely. That way others will see Christ as Christianity, and not us.
1 John 4:8 says "The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love."
If we want to be a better representation of the faith we claim, love is the way.
To help make this a real life thing and not a cliche that we just skip over, let's get practical.
Instead of viewing "neighbor" as a generic term for everyone around you... put some faces on that word.
Instead of viewing "neighbor" as a generic term for everyone around you... put some faces on that word.
Who can you be Christ to? Pray about it and ask God to reveal names and faces of those who He wants you to love in an excellent way today.
It's the strategy of focus. I may not be able to love everyone the way Christ does. But it would be an amazing accomplishment to just love my wife and a few other people in that way.
It's the strategy of focus. I may not be able to love everyone the way Christ does. But it would be an amazing accomplishment to just love my wife and a few other people in that way.
Over the last year I feel like God called me specifically to focus on loving 5 guys the way Christ loves me. These were friends and acquaintances of mine that the Holy Spirit put on my heart, and He showed it to me all in a short period of time. (a few days)
Over the year I found that the best way to love them was to pray for them.
The most difficult part was to put time with them as a priority. But, because I felt God had called me to these guys, I was determined to obey and to make it a top priority.
I have seen dramatic life changes in 3 of the 5 guys. These 3 have miraculously strengthened their relationship with God over the last year and have completely different lifestyles.
One other guy was already living a very spiritually healthy lifestyle and I feel like has been consistently improving. I think God used me to plant seeds into him that will produce a ton of fruit that will last a long time.
#5 has been less miraculous. I have seen a lot of up and down with him. At the same time, I will admit that my prayer life for him and dedication to our relationship has also been unsteady. I am now praying that God can re-energize me about that commitment and calling to this friend and that I can make it a priority to pray for him and spend time with him.
The amazing work I've seen in the other 4 tell me that God will undoubtably be faithful to the 5th.
So, pray and ask God if there are any specific people that He wants you to focus on...
If you have any stories of ways you have seen love transform others, let me know.
Thanks,
J
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2 comments:
Thanks for the great words of wisdom J
One person I chose to love was my Dad.
God is all about redeeming relationships. He gave His only Son for an intimate relationship with each of us. And He can restore any relationship that is fully yielded to Him.
At age 16, I was estranged from my Dad who struggled with alcoholism. We rarely saw each other or even spoke for many years that followed. Through extending the same love, mercy and forgiveness to my Dad that God extended to me, I was completely freed from any bitterness or pain of our past. My prayers that spanned over 30 years were finally answered when my Dad accepted Christ at age 68. Soon after, he was miraculously healed of cirrhosis of the liver and lived for 5 more years - the sweetest 5 years of my life. Through our broken hearts and obedience to Christ, our once badly damaged relationship was slowly but completely restored. Even beyond our wildest hopes and dreams.
Loving others, extending forgiveness, and showing mercy is just passing along what has already been given freely to us, even when we didn't "deserve" it.
Sometimes it is hard to imagine what God can do with an obedient heart, especially when things look hopeless. I am glad I never gave up and soooo glad I found out!
Wow. What an encouraging story. Thank you for sharing.
You are right: with a yielded and obedient heart, there is no limit to what God can do through us.
I love what you said about redeeming relationships. Very true statement about God's heart.
Your story increases my faith to trust God for huge transformations and reminds me that He can and will do unbelievable things if we just allow Him.
Thanks and come back to blunt!
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