Tag Archives: christian love

February 14, 2024 · 5:29 AM

Known For Your Love

A lot of churches and organizations have assimilation classes. They might call it a membership class or new hire, but the goal is to assimilate that person into the larger group. I looked up the word assimilation in the encyclopedia Britannica and it says that assimilation is the process by which people from varying backgrounds and cultures are absorbed into the dominant culture. During the process the people take on the characteristics of the dominant culture. That’s interesting to me. Culture is pretty much what drives and defines a group of people whether they’re in a church, a company or country. The culture shapes ideas and actions of the people who are apart of it.

In Mark 3, Jesus was calling the 12 disciples who would follow Him throughout His ministry. Verse 17 says that when He spoke to brother James and John, He referred to them as the “Sons of Thunder”. I’ve always loved that name, but I’ve started thinking about why He would call them that. Thunder disrupts the peace. Thunder is loud and draws attention. Yet, after three years of being with Jesus, we don’t hear John ever referred to as a “Son of Thunder” anymore. He’s known as . The Beloved” or revered to as “the one Jesus loved”. When thinking about him in the context of assimilation, being around the dominant culture of Jesus (Love), John was changed as a person and became known for his love for others as Jesus said we should be known for.

In 1 John 4:7-8, he writes, “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (NLT). How has God’s love changed who you are and how you treat other people? The closer you get to God, the more you experience His love. The more of His love you experience, the more you show that love to other people. We are to be assimilated into the culture of God’s kingdom as believers. His love should shape our ideas and our actions. This isn’t the emotional type of love that’s celebrated today. This is an agape love that seeks the betterment of others. It’s the highest form of love because it’s a choice we make to do something that is for the good of someone else even when it goes against our emotions. It’s the type of love that fundamentally changes the people who are exposed to it. Are you known by your love for others?

Photo by Maira Gallardo on Unsplash

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August 29, 2023 · 5:41 AM

Burden Bearing

When someone is going through a tough time or has even lost someone close to them, we usually say, Let me know if you need anything.” Has anyone ever taken you up on that? I haven’t. The person going through it quite honestly doesn’t know what they need and are often not in the right state to be asking. What they need is someone who will help them carry the load and take a few things off their plate. They need someone who won’t just say that and leave. Someone who will anticipate what they need, sit there in the silence with them and walk through the struggle with them. That’s what we’re called to do and I’ve been blessed to have people do that with me.

In 1 Chronicles 23, David was living in the wilderness on the run. He heard a town was being attacked and went to save it. Then he heard that Saul was on his way to kill him so he headed back for the wilderness. While being hunted by Saul, his best friend Jonathan found him and came to encourage him. In verse 16 he said, “Don’t be afraid. My father Saul won’t be able to harm you. He knows very well that you are the one who will be the king of Israel and that I will be next in rank to you” (GNT). I love that he met David in the wilderness where David was. He didn’t send a message from afar. He then gave him words of encouragement and affirmation along with a reminder of God’s promise to help in his time of trouble. The Bible said these two loved each other like brothers and this was a time when they showed that love.

Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love]” (AMP). What is the law of Christian love? To love your neighbor as yourself. Part of that is helping your neighbor carry their burdens. It will require more than platitudes to do this. It may require time, effort and energy to help someone through a crisis. While we can’t carry everyone’s burden, list important to listen for the Lord to direct you to those who need your help, otherwise you will be exhausted. Ask God to show you who needs your help in carrying their burden, then go and do something. They won’t know what to tell you they need many times. In those cases be proactive. Clean the house, provide a meal, watch the kids, sit and listen. Whatever God puts on your heart, do it out of love to encourage them and strengthen them.

Photo credit Unsplash

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January 3, 2017 · 5:00 AM

A Love That Values Others


A few years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting a man named Peter Strople. He was at the Re:Write conference as a speaker. Honestly, I had never heard of him even though he was known as the most connected man in America. When he got up to speak, you could see and sense his humility. It wasn’t what I was expecting from “the most connected man in America”. I quickly understood his humility and his ability to connect when he said his personal motto is “When in doubt, love.”

In a room full of writers who wanted to bless God with our talents, there was one person in the room who didn’t appear to belong. He had jet black hair done up like an 80’s band member. I think he even wore a leather vest that showed how his arms were covered in tattoos. Peter called him up to the stage to demonstrate what he meant. As he asked questions, diving into this man’s story, it was like watching a flower bloom. The one who was different, and an outcast, became the most beautiful thing in the room and everyone wanted to get to know him more.

Peter demonstrated what it mean to show love to someone. He didn’t just talk about it, he showed us how to do it. My whole life, I’ve read that we are to love one another, and have been taught about it as well from the pulpit. This was the first time I remember watching it in action and saw the result. Peter showed this man love by genuinely getting to know him and listened intently. It wasn’t about making himself look good. It was about valuing this person and showing them that they mattered.

Romans 13:10 says, “Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can’t go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love” (MSG). Wherever you are today, there are people around you who need value added to them. Make a choice now to look for them and to show them love. Let’s not just talk about loving them, let’s do it. Don’t ignore someone because they’re different from you. Get to know they’re story and show them that they matter. 

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October 6, 2015 · 5:30 AM

Love People

  
I read a quote from Mark Batterson’s book “If” that hit home with me. He wrote, “Love people when they least expect it and least deserve it. That’s how you change someone’s life forever.” At a Toby Mac concert, his drummer shared a story of a man who had three kids with three different women. He wasn’t a present father in their lives and was a mess of a human. The Diverse City band loved him when he was broken and didn’t deserve it. They showed him the love of Christ through their actions and led him to the Lord. He then revealed he was that man.

When I think of that quote, I think of what God has done for each of us. At our worst, He still loved us. Romans 5:8 says, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (NLT). God didn’t wait for you and I to clean ourselves up and to start living right before He demonstrated His love. He did it while we were covered in the filth of sin. He did it when we were living in rebellion to His way of life. 

He expects us to demonstrate that kind of love to others. He expects us to love those who least deserve it. I John 4:7 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is (springs) from God; and he who loves [his fellowmen] is begotten (born) of God and is coming [progressively] to know and understand God [to perceive and recognize and get a better and clearer knowledge of Him]” (AMP). The more we love others the way God loves us, the more we get to know who He is.

After the Toby Mac concert, I went to find the drummer. He was taking photos with fans and signing autographs. He looked each person in the eye and said, “I love you and there’s nothing you can do about it!” I smiled when I heard him say it and thought, “That’s exactly what God says to each of us.” We’ve got to get to the point where we love others no matter who they are, how they live, or what they do. If we’re truly interested in changing lives, it starts with loving others where they are. 

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February 13, 2015 · 5:30 AM

10 Scriptures On Love

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1. Keep on loving one another as Christians. (Hebrews 13:1 GNT)

2. This is My commandment: that you love one another [just] as I have loved you. (John 15:12 AMP)

3. Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. (1 John 4:7 NLT)

4. Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. (Romans 12:9-10 MSG)

5. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. (Ephesians 5:25 GNB)

6. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 4:10 NLT)

7. Love does no wrong to one’s neighbor [it never hurts anybody]. Therefore love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law. (Romans 13:10 AMP)

8. So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11 MSG)

9. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT)

10. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17 ESV)

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