What do you know about love? Do you know there are different types of love? What kind of love do you think God expects of you? Are you willing to set aside your selfishness to love as God wants you to? Will you love others as God loves you?
The love God expects of us is not an emotional love. It is not a fleeting love. It is a love that endures. There are several characteristics of the love God wants us to have. We can see examples of this type of love through the Bible and, especially, in Jesus’ life.
Being patient with others is one of the characteristics of love. We are to resist being exasperated with others, give them the benefit of the doubt. There are times we will need to correct them, but we are to do that with love.
Treating others with kindness is another characteristic. Kindness does not mean we always agree with the other person. It does mean that we are kind to them with the heart of Jesus. We demonstrate His attitude as we interact with others.
We are not to envy what others have. In other words, we are not to try to keep up with the Joneses. When we love as God expects, we don’t desire the next shiny object. We realize that God has provided us with what we need.
We don’t brag about our wonderful accomplishments. We realize the accomplishments are a result of God blessing us. We know that it is only through God’s grace that He gave us the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the task.
We are humble, not allowing pride to creep into our attitudes. Much like boasting, we set aside pride, knowing it is through God’s blessings that we are who we are and accomplish what we accomplish.
When we love like God loves, we give up our selfishness and anger. We don’t put others down nor keep track of all they’ve done to us. We seek the truth and reject the evil in this world. This is all done in a love that has the characteristics of God.
I pray we all strive to love as God loves. I pray we seek God, asking Him to fill us with His love. I pray each one of us will grow in love, reflecting God’s love to everyone we interact with. Seek God. Know His love. Ask God to fill you with His love. Make every attempt to emulate God’s love. Show Jesus to others.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, 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.
Marty Pressey 