1 Corinthians 16:14 has a simple but powerful instruction for living. “All that you do must be done in love.”
Love is an everyday discussion in our society. We experience love in our personal lives, through books, movies, and all other forms of human expression. We also experience love through a faith family we find in our church. Love has a very broad meaning in the English language. We can use it for something rather insignificant, such as “I love hot dogs” to something as life changing as, “I love God.”
Considering this, the scripture has different words that it uses for love. These words are used to differentiate different kinds of love, such as familial love, passionate love, the love we have for friends, and finally, God’s love for all His children.
Now, when you think of love, you likely think of it as merely an emotion, right? This more refined understanding of different kinds of love is helpful to dive into because it helps us to realize that love is SO much more than an emotion! Love is a verb! Our love isn’t meant to be stagnant and held hostage within our hearts. Love is meant to be shared with all!
Notice that in each of these scriptural definitions of love, love is an action. How do we love others and love God in all these definitions? By serving them. We serve others by meeting their needs in any way we can, and we serve God by obeying His guidance of our lives. We are made in God’s image, which means we are supposed to love as God does. That means we are made to love everyone! In this way, we reflect God’s character and reveal His nature to the world.
For the perfect example of this, we must simply look to Jesus’ example. Did He go around, simply telling people, “I love you,” and then moving on to the next place? No! He spent time in each place He went, meeting the needs of others and serving them. He showed His love rather than simply talking about it, which is what made His love so incredibly powerful. What an amazing place this world would be if we all loved and served like Jesus! Think about it this week!
You can write the Pastor at pastorbilly@findtruelife.com.