1 John 3:19-4:21
"And this is his [God's] commandment, that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us" (1 John 3:23).
There seem to be four main areas where we have the opportunity to live out this "love one another" command--with family, with friends, at work and at church. (maybe a fifth if we include interacting with strangers). So I figured it'd be appropriate for us just think about how we're doing where love is concerned. Are we acknowledging it, giving it, receiving it? I love (no pun intended) to receive love, but depending on my mood or what's happened in my day, I don't always reciprocate love. I need to work on that.
It's absolutely clear from our reading today that loving is important. So take a couple of minutes to just consider your relationships and how you're interacting with the people around you. How might you improve on giving as well as receiving love? Tami W.
God's love is a sacrificial love - He loved us even when we didn't love Him (we were still dead in sin)! It's easy to show love to others that show love to us, but I certainly agree with you, it requires a lot more out of us to love others that don't show any love in return.
When you want to love others who don't return any love, it's easy to get yourself into a self-pity mode of thinking "I've shown love...no one cares...I should start thinking of myself", .... or thoughts like these. But as Christians, this is where our faith needs to be exercised, we need "to go the extra mile" and show ourselves, others, and the world that we can love as God commands of us.
Last weekend I was at a wonderful conference (Hearts at Home) and a woman gave a dramatization of the affects of our words on our families. How we are literally burning our families on the inside when our words are not loving. It really opened my eyes to see what I am doing. It is still hard to keep an air of love when my toddler willfully defies my words, or when I ask my 4 year old to do something and he refuses or ignores me, and even my husband, who is a wonderful God-fearing man, when he forgets to accomplish one of "his chores". I am learning to pray when I feel those angry, unloving thoughts coming. I pray that God will keep them in my head and change them into more loving thoughts. Not that I need to let my family "walk all over me" but there are nicer ways to get my point across. This week was better-I pray that God helps my carry this over from now on!
I think I do pretty well at showing others love. However, receiving is hard for me. I always find myself doing more for others, but when someone does something for me, I don't know how to take it. I know that everyone isn't trying to get something from me and I have to work on being a better receiver.
I think that as I continue my journey with Our Lord and Savior, He will strengthen me in this area. The Holy Spirit guides me when I deal with people, no matter how nasty or negative they may be. I'm so thankful that I know and serve a Mighty God. I wish everyone knew Him.
I try to show my love in many ways, praying for people, hugging, smiling, listening, caring and giving. If someone is sad or is mourning I would sometimes just sit in silence with them until they are ready to talk. I try always to accept love given to me. I never push anyone away.
God has given us so much love that it is more than enough to go around because it is immeasurable.
Recently I have been thinking (I am not sure if it is a thought or What)"should we be focussing so much on the Cross and what Jesus has done for us so we can have salvation? Jesus died, shed His blood, was buried and on the third day rose from the dead. He is alive and is in Heaven interceding for us. This we know and believe. There is nothing else He can do for us. We have it all already. Shouldn't we now be focussing on His return making sure we are ready? Checking our 'check list' to see where we fall short? How are we with forgiveness? Do we find that we keep sinning in words and thoughts? We are seeing the "signs" of the Prophecy of Jesus' Coming. We do not know the time nor the hour so we must make sure we are ready. His Word is reaching all corners of the earth and the days are just rushing by....Let's make sure we are holy and righteous. Thank you. I would love to hear your comments.
I just learned a lesson on acting with love even when not in the mood earlier today. My husband is travelling and I hadn’t heard from him, even though I was anxiously waiting for an update. I wasn’t feeling well to start with and was getting annoyed that he hadn’t called.
When he finally did, my first instinct was to snap at him instead of saying hello. Instead, I took a deep breath and put a smile in voice to give him a warm greeting. He apologized about not calling before I even brought it up and explained about phone trouble.
By acting with love, we were able to have a pleasant conversation and avoid a fight over something that really wasn’t his fault.
It is funny how these topics often come just when you need them.
ive showed my loved so many time and so many ways and i also prayed everyday, sometimes 2-3 times a day and my life just seems to get worse everyday no matter what i do im starting to lose faith...
Shannon,
Someone has said, "When life is down, the only way to look is up." I don't mean to be at all flippant. Life sure hurts--I think we've all been there. But, when I went through a long stretch when my life was down in the pits, I found looking up was the only thing that helped. By looking up, I mean looking to God's Word. The only thing that brought me comfort was the Bible--especially the Psalms. I would sometimes get up in the middle of the night, and just simply read my Bible until I could feel a sense of peace come over my heart. Psalms 23:4 says, "Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me." That's what I experienced in His Word.
God never promises us easy times. In fact, Jesus said in John 16:33, "In this world, you will have tribulation . . .." That wasn't "might have" but "will have." Fortunately He goes on to say, "I have overcome the world." I know when you're in the middle of it all, it doesn't seem that way, but, ultimately God gives us the victory. A verse you might want to memorize is Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
Not ALL things ARE good, but God works all things out so that, ultimately, they bring us a blessing. We learn more about God in the hard times than the good. So keep trusting, and believing, and knowing that God is with you. "For He Himself has said, 'I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you'" (Hebrews 13:5). And God doesn't lie (Numbers 23:19).
Allen, Biblical Correspondent at Back to the Bible
I agree. When it comes to showing love to others, we are really tested. God first loved us, and He wants us to share that love, that He expresses to us daily, to others. It is something I also have to work on because sometimes I let my momentary mood or something get in the way of expressing the love that God has given me. I continue to work on this.