The subject of love has seriously been on my mind for the past couple of months. Since February is our designated month of love, I thought I should share some of what I have been thinking about.
At the close of last year I was deeply convicted about what it means to love. It suddenly became very clear to me that the ultimate purpose of life is love. I mean God IS Love (1 John 4:7-8). So if I fail at love, I have essentially failed at life.
But oh how easy it is for love to take the backseat in the busyness of everyday life. How easy it is for me to prioritize work over spending quality time with God, family and friends. Especially with building a career, starting a business, having children and/or pursuing academic goals. Sadly, I have consistently failed to acknowledge that all professional successes shall not go beyond my grave. Only love will matter after I draw my last breath. I am reminded of a passage in the book of Matthew...
Matthew 6:19-20 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. NKJV
Love is the treasure we can store up in heaven while here on earth, and I definitely need to make more effort in that area. So I decided to make LOVE my theme for this new year 2019. The theme on which all my resolutions are centered. Specific goals are more easily achieved, so I decided to break it down to three main areas; loving God, loving my neighbor and loving my enemies
Loving God
How do I love God? Spend more time with Him and keep His commandments (John 15:10). This means spending time in prayer and Bible study. Spending more time serving in the church; being an active church member. We are all called to be a functional part of the body of Christ (Romans 12:4-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-31). So what ministry is God calling me to serve under? And doing all this wholeheartedly simply because I enjoy it, not because I need God to do something for me.
Loving my neighbor
You know how big a distraction our phones/smart devices have become. I have caught myself several times hanging out with my kid while on my phone. She does not get my full attention and even if I tell myself she is too young to know the difference, I am developing a habit that may not be so easy to stop once she gets old enough. Love must be expressed in action (1 John 3:18), so I narrowed down loving my neighbor to three practical things: Spending un-distracted and focused time with those I am blessed to engage with on a daily basis, making time to call loved ones who are not close, intentionally scheduling time to visit loved ones.
Loving my enemies
Enemy is such a strong word, honestly I cannot think of anybody I will out-rightly call my enemy (apart from the devil of course). However there are people, especially family, that one has a hard time getting along with. You see it is easier to get along with friends because we get to choose them. So my friends are most likely like me, so easier for me to love. Not so much with family. We do not get to choose them...so we can be very much dissimilar. Making it harder to love. Most of us respond by distancing ourselves the moment we get a chance to, but I do not think that is always the right thing to do. Matthew 5:44-48 is quite convicting...being Christian means loving when its hard to do so. I also try to remind myself that those most difficult to love are typically those most in need of love.
Truth is so far it has not been easy. Looks like when the devil knows you trying to be better in some respect he comes for you in an extra way, just to discourage you. So no matter how bad I mess up, I have made up my mind not to give up.
I hope this encourages you to press forward in love.
At the close of last year I was deeply convicted about what it means to love. It suddenly became very clear to me that the ultimate purpose of life is love. I mean God IS Love (1 John 4:7-8). So if I fail at love, I have essentially failed at life.
But oh how easy it is for love to take the backseat in the busyness of everyday life. How easy it is for me to prioritize work over spending quality time with God, family and friends. Especially with building a career, starting a business, having children and/or pursuing academic goals. Sadly, I have consistently failed to acknowledge that all professional successes shall not go beyond my grave. Only love will matter after I draw my last breath. I am reminded of a passage in the book of Matthew...
Matthew 6:19-20 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. NKJV
Love is the treasure we can store up in heaven while here on earth, and I definitely need to make more effort in that area. So I decided to make LOVE my theme for this new year 2019. The theme on which all my resolutions are centered. Specific goals are more easily achieved, so I decided to break it down to three main areas; loving God, loving my neighbor and loving my enemies
Loving God
How do I love God? Spend more time with Him and keep His commandments (John 15:10). This means spending time in prayer and Bible study. Spending more time serving in the church; being an active church member. We are all called to be a functional part of the body of Christ (Romans 12:4-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-31). So what ministry is God calling me to serve under? And doing all this wholeheartedly simply because I enjoy it, not because I need God to do something for me.
Loving my neighbor
You know how big a distraction our phones/smart devices have become. I have caught myself several times hanging out with my kid while on my phone. She does not get my full attention and even if I tell myself she is too young to know the difference, I am developing a habit that may not be so easy to stop once she gets old enough. Love must be expressed in action (1 John 3:18), so I narrowed down loving my neighbor to three practical things: Spending un-distracted and focused time with those I am blessed to engage with on a daily basis, making time to call loved ones who are not close, intentionally scheduling time to visit loved ones.
Loving my enemies
Enemy is such a strong word, honestly I cannot think of anybody I will out-rightly call my enemy (apart from the devil of course). However there are people, especially family, that one has a hard time getting along with. You see it is easier to get along with friends because we get to choose them. So my friends are most likely like me, so easier for me to love. Not so much with family. We do not get to choose them...so we can be very much dissimilar. Making it harder to love. Most of us respond by distancing ourselves the moment we get a chance to, but I do not think that is always the right thing to do. Matthew 5:44-48 is quite convicting...being Christian means loving when its hard to do so. I also try to remind myself that those most difficult to love are typically those most in need of love.
Truth is so far it has not been easy. Looks like when the devil knows you trying to be better in some respect he comes for you in an extra way, just to discourage you. So no matter how bad I mess up, I have made up my mind not to give up.
I hope this encourages you to press forward in love.
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