Love – one of the most profound and beautiful things about life. In a world of hate, greed and hurt, as cheesy as it sounds I believe that love really can change the world. The bible has so much to say about love and in this #chooselove series, we are going to unpack this and discover how loving each other in the way the bible instructs will to lead to you living your best and most peaceful life, improving your community/sphere of influence and ultimately the wider community; one act of love can really change the trajectory of someones day. Being able to love in the way the bible says leads to amazing relationships from your colleague to your life partner and that is truly my hope for you as you read this.
The bible says that we are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and that God is not only a God of love, He is love (1 John 4: 7-8). Therefore, I believe we were made to love. God being the origin and example of perfect love, sending Jesus to die for us because He loved us and wanted to be in a relationship so much (John 3:16).
I get an indicator of how important loving others is by what Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 when someone asked Him what is the greatest commandment, Jesus said, love God with all your heart and love others as yourself. Love is inward and outward, it reflects, isn’t that so powerful. When you fall in love with you, who is fearfully and wonderfully made by God (Psalm 139:14), that love reflects on how you treat your friends, spouse, colleagues… would you emotionally abuse yourself (I guess we all know that we wouldn’t want to, but in reality we do), would you gossip about yourself, would you want to neglect your needs?
There is something soooo special about loving someone from the inside, as you walk in alignment and purpose with them; there is power in unity after all (2 Corinthians 13:11). Loving can be scary, it takes a huge amount of bravery because we know that we are an imperfect people and sometimes when we love hard, we have to accept the fact that we may not get that love back and in the worst case you get hurt, rejected and that love is abused.
Loving others from the safety of abiding in God’s love for us is how we can love from a position of strength and not fear. I think we continuously need God’s help to love, and to show us how to love. God will help us to set healthy boundaries, heal from past hurts and help us to keep serving and loving (even in less than ideal circumstances). We are all human and at some point loving can be really discouraging, tiring and painful, but allow the source, Jesus, to pour in to you to continue loving without bitterness or disdain. In that way, we will have the best community of disciples, friends, husbands, wives, partners, associates and colleagues.
Love’s characteristics can be found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, love is:
Patient, kind, does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it does not dishonour others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs, it does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres and love does never fails.
How to apply love to daily life?… First ask God to help you. Then think, am I doing or saying this lovingly? How can I show someone some love today ? It really starts in the little things, what we say and how we talk to people… Before you know it, it becomes a lifestyle.
Comment below, I would love to know what you think.
Love Dominique
Scriptures
- Genesis 1:27
- 1 John 4: 7-21
- John 3:16
- Matthew 22:37
- Psalm 139:14
- 2 Corinthians 13:11
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
