Love Is the Way!

4-21-2009. . . . Love is the Way!

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:34-35 KJV) How well are you doing with this commandment? If it were possible to rate it on a scale of one to ten, what would your number be? Is it high. . . . is it low; or does it seem to fluctuate from day to day. . . . situation to situation. . . . even person to person? To say the least, this is an interesting premise to consider. If we are really honest, the word “Inconsistent” may come to mine to best answer the question of how well we are doing with the command to love. The qualifier is the part where Jesus says, “As I have loved you!” One might ask, ‘in an advanced society and given the nature of how people are, is it even possible to have this kind of love? Society has advanced. . .yes and the nature of people makes it challenging. . . . indeed. However, love has not changed. . . .it remains the same. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. “ (1 Cor 13:4-8 NIV) Would Jesus give us a command we could not fulfill? No! In spite of the challenges to do so, we must as disciples of Christ, carry out this command daily. The world is in need of it! I encourage you now with the words of one of my wisest mentors, “Love hardest when it’s the hardest to love.”

Prayer: Lord, thank you for loving me the way you do. Help me to be consistent in loving others the way you love me. Amen!

1 John 3:18-20. . . . . Little children, let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions. Then we will know for sure, by our actions, that we are on God's side, and our consciences will be clear, even when we stand before the Lord. But if we have bad consciences and feel that we have done wrong, the Lord will surely feel it even more, for he knows everything we do. TLB