I have been overwhelmed lately by God's teaching me about loving one another. After going through the book of John on Sunday mornings and my own times with the Lord, along with our current series on the book of James, one theme keeps standing out, LOVE ONE ANOTHER.Why is it so hard for us to do that? What exactly does this look like in our lives and in the local church? Does is mean bringing meals to woman who have just had babies or someone is sick in their family? Does it mean watching someone's children so they can go to the doctor, get a hair cut, or run a much needed errand? Does is mean sharing our requests and praying for one another? YES, it means all of these and more! It means, "in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4). It means following Jesus' command in John 15:12-13 "love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." WOW! If we love God, we must also love our brother. Is my love for my church family selfish, desiring something in return, or is it pure and unselfish like Christ's love is? He laid down His life freely for sinners.
So many times in the past year, God has challenged me with this: "Are you loving your brothers and sisters in Christ?" Many times the answer is no, sometimes it is with wrong motives, and sometimes, only by His grace, I can honestly answer yes. Loving one another is a product of maturity in Christ, and if I really long to be more like Him, I will strive to understand and flesh out what this means.
A few things God has taught me is that, just as I teach Karis and Noah that they (people) are more important than toys or getting their way, I am learning that people are much more important than getting my "to do list" done everyday. If someone needs to talk, I need to be ready to listen. If someone needs my help, I need to be ready to try and do all I can to help them. If someone needs a sitter just to get some alone time, I need to be able to offer my services and pray that God will use each one of these instances to show my love and His love for that person. Our God gives us "sovereign interruptions" to our days sometimes. Sometimes they may seem like trials, but we should embrace them with joy and love for that person because that is what God commands us to do.
I am totally speaking to myself here, and am not there yet by any means. I know that sometimes writing out my thoughts and what God is teaching me helps me apply it better. Loving one another is such a grand command, and we can only do it with God help. Oh that He would help us love one another so that our church would display His glory to the world!
4 comments:
Jeanna,
Thank you so much for your honesty and for challenging me to love others. I am so grateful to have received your lovingkindness; you have been a blessing to me many, many times. I thank the Lord for you!
Big hugs and much love!
Lisa
This is one of the posts that I really do need to read over and over! Thank you for writing this to us!
I get so focus on myself instead of looking at other interest like I ought to. I do pray that the Lord will help me through this.
The Lord is so good to all of us!
I am so thankful for your lovely family and Justin as he preach His Word to us every Sunday! I love you all. Hug to everyone too!
Hungry to eat His Word,
'Guerite ~ BoldLion
Jeanna....wonderful post. Randy is preaching through Colossians on Wed night and we discussed tonight in Col.2 how Paul struggled for the people of Laodicea and longed for their hearts to be encouraged. Randy went on with application to the chapter and how a lot of times we are willing to encourage one an another when things are convenient but when we actually have to sacrifice our time and energy...we grumble. I am so that way and praying that God through His grace will continue to teach me and mold me to not be so selfish and long to struggle for others to be blessed and encouraged. I am so there with you about the to-do-list in that I get frustrated at times when it doesn't get done because of interrruptions. It is real easy for me to help another person out when it is convenient and easy but when it requires a sacrifice, I may have an excuse. Like you said these are "sovereign interruptions" ( I remember reading about that in, Shopping for Time)and they don't just happen out of the blue....they have happened because God saw fit for them to happen. I am praying along with you that I will be challenged to love others more than myself and be willing to find ways to show my love to others.
Hope your family is doing well.
Thanks for sharing this, it has been an encouragement to read. How are you guys doing? Beth
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