Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
(1 John 4:7-8 ESV)
With Valentine’s Day beginning to die down a bit…discounted candy at Wal-Mart, withering roses, and marked down decorations…I also see the intentionality of showing others love quickly becoming a thing of the past. This year the Lord has really been working on my heart in ways that I know are only Him. This past week in my small group I went over 1 Corinthians 13 and boy was I convicted! I realized that in so many ways I did not always love others. Showing love to others is the very reason for my existence and by doing it I am showing them Christ. As I read through the verses in preparation, “Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud….” I began to realize how conditional my love for others can be. My standards for love tend to be based on my feelings. If someone was kind to me, I would be kind to them. If they didn’t make me upset, I wasn’t easily angered. Can you relate to feeling that way at times?
There is nothing new under the sun and the Lord has been dealing with me about this for quite some time. I’ve finally gotten to the point that I’ve heard him LOUD and CLEAR and I want to lay this problem at His feet for good. I want to be His workmanship and help win souls over to Him, but this can only be done by having a heart that is broken by what breaks His and being love to everyone. God IS love and because I claim to belong to Him and live for Him I am love too! The very reason I know what love is, is because He first loved me (1 John 4:19), even though I was so undeserving. He loved me enough to die on the cross to cover ALL of my sins…for the past, present, and future…and to save my life! The intensity of how much He loves me is with agape love, the greatest love there is. And guess what? He loves YOU and all of creation with that same love!
I beg of you not to make the same mistakes I have and to allow love to penetrate every area of your life! The hurt, the fears, you name it! An exercise I did was to take 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a and replace it with my name (Ex. Sarah is patient, Sarah is kind…). Also, take examples of how you have not loved and put them in the category of love that they belong.
WE ARE KNOWN BY OUR LOVE!
By: Sarah Joyner
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