A person cuts you off in traffic, what do you do?
Your waitress gets your order wrong, how do you react?
A friend is consistently negative in every conversation, how do you respond?
Some of us would face the problem head on, tell the offending party how it is, but in the aftermath, what is the result?
Others might run away, deciding that conflict is “not my thing”, but after the dust settles, what remains?
Are we too tired, too stressed, too afraid to just Love? Have we made it too easy to just give up? What do we lose when we choose to fight? What do we lose when we choose to give up?
How much of our societal breakdown would be resolved by this beautiful four letter word? LOVE
God is Love. Yes, the Creator of the universe, the “I am” who is Omniscient “All Knowing” is The One who embodies Love in it’s purest form.
1 John 4:16-19 tells us “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is Love. Whoever lives in Love lives in God and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us, so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment. In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in Love. But perfect Love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in Love.
We Love because He first loved us.
WE LOVE BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US!
So, in the moment, when we are faced with anger, negativity, or even unmet expectations, where do we draw our Love?
We first need to understand that our Love comes from our Father. So when our Love bucket runs dry, we draw from The Well of Living Water. We draw from our Father. And we learn that the more we Love, the more Love that He extends. 1 John 4:12 tells us that if we love one another, God abides in us and His Love is perfected in us.
Secondly, Jesus tells us that the greatest commandments are to Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind and the 2nd is to love your neighbor as yourself.
After we understand where Love extends from and we recognize that our primary command is to Love with all of our being, we must be intentional, even when we are faced with a person who does not Love in return.
You may ask, but how? Why waste my time on someone who cares so little for me? Well, Jesus loved us first. His sacrifice for us was greater than any sacrifice that we could possibly extend to another. And when we realize that the love we extend to others comes from The Father in the first place, well it wasn’t ours to give away anyway. What do we gain when we choose to extend love? I believe that not only does The Father bless the one in our path, but He blesses us through the extension. We get to watch Our Almighty God love another through us. It's an exhilerating opportunity!!!
We may never understand the impact we have on this earth, but to leave an impact rich in Love, sharing with others what God first shared with us, I promise that an amazing footprint you will leave behind. God may even change a heart based on your obedience to walk in love.
So, who can God love through you today?
Father, thank You for the amazing blessing You grant us in being a vessel for you to love others through! My prayer is that we can extend the love that You pour down on us to others in an amazing way! I pray Father that in the moment, when we need an extra dose to extend to another, that we are reminded that Your Love for us is never ending, all consuming and will replenish as you have promised. I pray Father that through Your Love that we will be bound together in perfect harmony as Colossians 3:14 tells us. May we all abide in You and You in us.
Your Loving Daughter
