Love is the foundation upon which
relationships are built. If your life will
please God, then love is one action
you must always practice. One of the
basic principles of love is showing
care for others. If you say you love, and you don't show how much you
care, your love isn't genuine.
Brotherly love should not only be
restricted to the household of Christ,
you must extend love beyond those
you personally know. You need to show care to strangers too. At every
given point in time, you must help
those you come across to the best of
your ability. When it becomes
necessary, you must go the extra mile
to show love to people, regardless of whether they deserve it or not. The
very heart cry of Jesus is that we
continue in love because we are
partakers of His divine nature. Jesus
Christ demonstrated the sacrificial
love of giving himself for the benefit of those who did not deserve His
love. Luke 10:30-37 gives a clear
picture of the kind of love that must
not be mentioned among believers -
the lip service kind of love, 'missing in
time of need' kind of love et cetera. Love is a divine nature and since we
have the mind of Christ, the love of
Christ should be shared among us.
When a person is driven by love, he
will find it easy to apply the love of
God in his behaviour towards others within his environment and also those
outside his environment. There are
people who claim to love Jesus, but
they hate everyone around them.
They suspect everyone around them;
this is not the nature of Christ. The love of God will not make you
condemn others or judge them. Jesus
wants us to love our neighbours; that
person next door, that staff in your
office, that sinner on the way, that
child with no one to run to, that widow who does not know where the next
meal is coming from. Criticism and
condemnation is not a reflection of
the mind of Christ, strife and division
among brethren is not the nature of
Christ, but of the devil. Love will always attract a beautiful attitude. Love was one of the hallmarks of the
early apostles; they did everything in
the spirit of love. The early church
loved each other so much that
everybody's needs were met. When
there is love, there will be an elimination of jealousy and envy,
whatever you do will be done in the
best interest of others. When in love,
we will no longer focus on just
thinking about ourselves, but about
the good of the other fellow. You must always have the desire to help
people and add value to the lives of
those around you. In 1 Samuel
18:1-4, the scripture tells us about the
relationship that existed between
Jonathan and David. Jonathan loved David the same way he loved himself.
Jonathan made out time to meet the
needs of David, he never bothered
about himself. He just wanted to do
what was right for the relationship; he
was all out for the protection of David. Where there is love, there will be
trust. Where there is trust, there will
be growth. Love will bring
commitment to the common good of
all.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.
