be love

Much of this post is reprinted from a post from July of 2013, but I wanted to bring to your attention a couple of truths that I seek to live by.  First of all, showing others what the love of God looks like will make a difference in the lives of the people you serve.  Second, showing the love of God to others also refreshes and reminds us of how much God loves us.

I need His love.  It deals with frustration and stress.  It overcomes the questions and dilemmas that at times seem to cloud our lives.  God’s love is powerful for everyone it touches and everyone it flows through.

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 in 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 have taken a hold of him.  Love runs in to tough situations when fear is running out.  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 it, we’ve seen it, and we have beat that fact to death throughout all the time we've been in church.  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?

Romans 13:8  NLT

Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.

Stories paint pictures in my mind.  They are often amazing.  This morning I read of a police department that attended the graduation of a girl whose dad was killed in the line of duty.  Yesterday, I watched a video news story of a son of a deputy who was killed as he tried to by his dad’s patrol car.  Yet the boy was out bid by a local farmer who turned at the end of the auction and presented the boy with his dad’s patrol car as a gift (by the way, the farmer paid $60,000 for the car that was worth about $12,000; the money goes to serve families in law enforcement who lost loved ones.

I am often humbled by the stories of friends who speak of their encounters with homeless friends.  One lady recently talked about a homeless man that she ministered to that found out he had cancer.  Another friend shared how he met a homeless mom and her daughter and simply listening to their story let to them finding help.

After myself being overly frustrated yesterday when trying to deal with a homeless veteran I ran in two of the men that were homeless in our church.  They now have a place to stay and have had a good job as well.

The picture painted for me by such stories demosntrated 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;