1 John 3:18 NLT
Dear
children, let’s not merely say
that we love each other; let us
show the truth by our actions.
Love is an
action word. It is not seen and just
what we say, but it is lived out in what we do.
We've all experienced this on many levels throughout the years, but the
fact is many of us missed the very essence of what love does.
Love goes
the second mile. Love does for others
when there's no possibility of reward.
Love sees past pain and struggle.
Love forgets worry and embraces acceptance. Love is a condition of the heart especially
after God has gotten hold of us and we gotten a hold of him. We ought to be radically changed by the love
that God had for us.
1 John 4:9 NLT
God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only
Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.
Got spelled his love out on the cross. We've heard that, we’ve seen that, and we
have beat that fact to death throughout all the time we've been in church and
talk using our church words. Yet the
world around us is crying out for love spelled out in action and a life lived
with character and strength. That
strength comes from a heart that is not trying to get something in return but
is trying to give. Do we have anything
to really give others?
Tuesday I got to spend some time with one of my heroes. Her name is Cheryl, and she has worked with
Motor Racing Outreach for many years.
Her work and help have been a huge blessing to our ministry in
Martinsville and at so many other places.
Cheryl’s husbands name is Gary, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in
his mid 50’s. It has been a
struggle. As we talked I learned of her
struggle more and how I don’t have a clue about the difficultly that she and
others go through.
Cheryl told me about the connection her grandchildren have with
their grandfather. It is somewhat a
miracle because Gary doesn’t communicate any longer. He is difficult to deal with some days and
struggles all the time. He rarely speaks
and takes all his frustration out on Cheryl.
Her words were hard to hear because he cannot express his love, but she
was so clear about her love and caring for her husband.
The picture painted for me through our conversation was about
the fact that we have to “be love”. Don’t
just say you love someone. Be love. Don’t just pretend to love people. Be love.
Go out of your way to serve others and don’t worry about what you will
get. Be love. Cheryl is a great example of love as Gary
cannot express the love he has for his wife like he used to express it years
ago.
Who is God calling you to love?
Be love to someone today.
1 John 4:19 NLT
We love each
other because he loved us first.
Philippians 2:3 NASB
Do nothing
from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another
as more important than yourselves;
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