Love

Deep in the heart of every person is the need to love and to be loved. When he walked the earth, Jesus displayed love for God and for all people. The Gospels tell the story of Jesus interacting with the Father in prayer and following the plans the Father has for his life. The Gospels also tell the story of Jesus showing care and compassion to every man, woman and child with which he spends time, showing them unconditional love.

Jesus loves you. No matter what your life has been like to this point, Jesus offers his love to you. If you do not yet know his as Lord and Savior, turn away from your sin and surrender your life to Jesus today. Trust in his death as the payment for your sin and believe in his resurrection as your guarantee of eternal life. If today you are trusting in Jesus as Lord and Savior, share that decision with someone who will be excited to hear of your decision to follow Jesus.

Jesus loves you. If you already know Jesus as Lord and Savior, then you know that he loves you because he has changed your life and filled you with his love. And as a follower of Jesus, you want to love God and love people like Jesus did.

When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, here is how he responded:

Matthew 22:37-39
³⁷ He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. ³⁸  This is the greatest and most important command. ³⁹  The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

We show our love for God by our devotion to him. We spend time reading his Word and talking to him through prayer. We gather with others to worship him. We serve people in his name. We tell others how they can come to know him. We display our love for him by living a life seeking holiness and righteousness with our thoughts, words and actions.

We show our love for people by loving them like Jesus did. When he was asked the question, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) Jesus responded by telling the story of the Good Samaritan. In that story, he shows that everyone to whom we have the opportunity to show love is our neighbor. A person who truly wants to show love to others will take time for them, take risks for them, share resources with them, serve them, care for them, overcome prejudice, cross cultural boundaries when necessary, and in general show care and compassion for them like Jesus would.

So here are some questions to consider:

• How can you more fully display your love for God?
• What is God calling you to do to show love to others?
• To whom do you need to show love?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.

Love is the way of Christ.