Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
God set the standard of love for us. Since we are His children we are called to love others, especially our Christian brothers and sisters. Many Christians do show this love, even sacrificially giving of their time, talents, and treasure. Sadly many others who profess Christ waste their time in activities that are “antichrist” such as gossip, “cliqueism”, and arguing minute different in faith practices. We feel ourselves superior to others, but in light of our inferiority and unworthiness before God our love should “descend” past our egocentrism. If God has loved our fellow Christians to such a degree as to send his Son to die for them, we certainly ought to love them too, even if they want a different color of carpet in the sanctuary.
God Himself has never been fully seen by human eyes, so if you desire to see Him you must look at what He has done for us. As He abides in us in the form of the Holy Spirit His love is made visible as it is perfected in us. Through the power of the Spirit we are able to love supernaturally, forgive unconditionally, and truly let shine His light to the world through our love for others.
If we truly loved others in this way, imagine how the world would change. Last night I knocked out most of our Christmas shopping, spending several hundred dollars. Although I got really good deals, I spent a LOT of money. But how will my family react when it comes to charitable giving this Christmas? When supporting the missionaries and the poor I know we will not come close to matching what we spent on gifts. Oh that God would change our hearts that we value the things of His kingdom and perfectly love one another!
Hi. I found you through GMG. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a link up on Fridays called Brag on God Friday. I would love for you to consider linking up.