Love

"What if I could speak all languages of humans and of angels? If I do not love others, I would be nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. What if I could prophesy and understand all secrets and all knowledge? And what if I had faith that moved mountains? I would be nothing, unless I loved others. Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud or rude. Love isn't selfish or quick tempered. It doesn't keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. Love never fails!"

Love is why God sent Jesus into the world. It caused Jesus to heal the lepers, the blind, the lame, possessed, oppressed, and raise even the dead. Love enabled Him to tolerate insults and false accusations. It led Him to go into the mountains by Himself and pray all night, so He could accomplish His mission. It enabled Him to endure being spat upon and severely beaten. This is the love that led Jesus to die a slow, cruel death on Calvary's cross for our sins. You may ask "What has all this got to do with me?" Well, this love has been given to those of us who are 'born again' believers by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5), and God is expecting us to cultivate it in our lives and express it to others. That is why Jesus said we should love our enemies, bless those who curse us, do good to those who despitefully use us. We have the God-given capacity to obey these commandments. It is by loving God and loving others that we will overcome every test and trial we face. Every test we face is a test of the love we have for God and others. Satan knows that if he can trick us out of living in love, he can trick us out of fulfilling our purpose in Christ. So, next time we find out someone has been befriending us just for for some gain, let's still do good to them. When we are spoken down to or insulted, let's not get angry and blast them (!), but let our words still build them up. We cannot do this stuff by ourselves! God is willing to help us grow in this love. By sowing these seeds of love, we are preparing our lives for a great harvest...not necessarily from those we love, but from God Himself. Sow love. Call someone to encourage them, pray for someone who you wouldn't usually pray for, forgive an offence, offer someone a lift, give a kind word, give someone a tract on the train, or just a smile. The ways of showing love are countless. Many souls are out there to be saved, and it's the love of God that we allow to flow through us that makes the difference.