The Way of Love
“For this is the original message we heard: We should love each other. . . This is how we have come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers: and not just be out for ourselves. If we see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; lets practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality.” – John 3:12, 16-18 (The Message)
Easter – the greatest act of love! They will know we are Christians by our love. Love is always an action even when it isn’t a feeling. As Easter people we are empowered by the resurrection to love in bold ways. But do we truly understand what Easter love looks like? The Apostle Paul defines Easter love:
So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
-1 Corinthians 13:4-9 (The Message)
Bringing It Home:
1. You are so loved by God! Spend time each day in quiet meditation on the magnitude of God’s love for you.
2. Walk through 1 Corinthians 13:4-9 one phrase a week for the next 16 weeks! Pray that God will help you embody this Easter love in your life at home, at work, at church, and out in the world.
Prayer:
Lord God, your love is amazing. Thank you for so loving me and inviting me and empowering me to go and love others as you have loved me. Help me to always love first in deed and then help me to know love in my heart as well. Amen.
John A. Holm
Transforming Church Institute
www.transformingchurch.net
