“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
1 Corinthians 13:7 (ESV)
Love is a tricky word! We often associate it with a feeling of affection or when we are in an emotional place of happiness. No wonder we struggle when we are expected to respond with love towards someone who has hurt us – a spouse, sibling, work colleague, or even our brethren in the Fellowship.
Paul warned us that love is more than emotion but relation(ships) — that is, how we relate to God, others, and ourselves.
Matthew 22:37-39 captures Jesus as He summarised the ‘law’:
“ …love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…And the second is like it: ‘…love your neighbor as yourself.” (ESV)
Love God! Love yourself! Love your neighbour!
- Loving God means embracing His instructions, connecting with Him daily, and showing that your relationship with Him is your priority. Many times, the Holy Spirit tapped me when my fingers clicked on social media or work emails early in the morning. Pray that your love for God will bear evidence in your daily living that He is your priority.
- Loving yourself means embracing a mindset of eternity and earthly purpose. Sometimes, we lack balance in how we take care of our spiritual, physical, financial, and other needs. Other times, we prioritise work, ministry, family, and others over ourselves. Pray that your love for yourself will not be selfish but with an appreciation that you need to be whole (self-care) to be able to serve God and others.
- Loving others means embracing those who return your love and affection, as well as those who need your grace and forgiveness. Pray that you will nurture the love of those around you and cultivate those who may have hurt you.
Remember, love embraces patience, kindness, truth, resilience, faith, hope, endurance and perseverance. Love also resists envy, boasting, arrogance, rudeness, selfishness, anger, resentment and wrongdoing.
Read: Ephesians 1:4; Ephesians 4:16
Bible Reading Guide: Psalm 22:1-11; Mark 1:1-28; Exodus 17; Exodus 18
