Love Wins
Being genuinely loving is another mark of a true Christian. If you read yesterday's Wednesday Wake Up #42 you see that the passion for serving is one way to tell who is a true Christian. Another way to tell is by seeing who is being loving and who is not. This is not the love like you love ice cream but the true love like serve someone you don't know and forgive someone who has hurt you. Love you fellow brothers and sister in Christ. Be loving to your family. 1 John 4:7-8 says "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." If you are not being loving then you do not know God. How can you say you know God if you are not being loving? One another is everyone, not a select few. If you want to win people to Jesus and share with them who God is, just know that love wins.
PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!
Love Like Jesus
There are time we read parts of verses and never fully quite understand fully what is being said when it was spoken. For instance, we can read part of a verse like Ephesians 5:2 and simply think that loving like Jesus might mean just being nice. Jesus wasn't a "nice guy." His acts of healing and his service were not because he was nice. It was because he was loving. In love is being nice and acts of kindness, but without love, then can kindness and being nice even exist? Ephesians 5:2 states "And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Remember the part that says "gave himself up." That means sacrifice for others. How do you know when to do that? Would you be willing to sacrifice getting your daily Starbucks and save that money to buy homeless people lunch each day for a week? Would you be willing to do something as small as carry water in your vehicle and pass it out to those that are in need? What will you sacrifice for others that honors God? Without love there is no sacrifice, kindness or being nice.
PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK,
PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!
What Do I Get?
There are conversations I have had with people regarding their life situations and the Christ-like, God honoring response to an issue rather than the typically unfiltered human reaction. The question that usually comes from a conversation like that is "But why would I do that?" Basically, they are having an issue with not being encouraged to just respond the way that they are accustomed. They don't see the benefit in responding in a way that honors God or shows that they are a disciple/follower of Christ. I will say this, if you are a Christ follower then your focus should not be on "why be loving" but on "how can I be loving?"
Ask yourself "how do I serve the Kingdom of God (in terms of serving those who are poor and less fortunate). If you do not, can you? Of course you can. Maybe you truly cannot afford to buy the homeless food, but one thing people need is time. Would you ever spare some time? Can you spend some time once a month with the homeless in a shelter or some sort of function? You can. Maybe not the homeless, what about the elderly? Kids? The sick? The poor? There are all types of people who could use financial help or just some time. What can you do? Something. If you need some encouragement, read Proverbs 21:13 and know that when you hear that the poor need help and you answer it benefits you. But do it out of love, not obligation.
What about the problems we have with people? There are ways to respond and ways to not respond. First, think about James 1:19 and remember to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. We might think "But they said 'x-y-z'. I cant let them get away with that. My response is, look at how Jesus responded to the Pharisees. Read through the gospels and examine the responses Jesus had. When he "lost his cool" it was because people were being cheated in the church which was also being used for non church/God things. When it comes to people we have to remember to look at the perspective of not just what is best for us personally, but what benefits others and honors God. In Philippians 2:4 we read "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." In verse 3 Paul writes "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves." So when you question "what's in it for me", rethink that and turn it into "how can I honor God?"
PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!
