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It’s been a while since I’ve spoken about love in a bible study, and today I felt like it was time to revisit what I believe is the most important thing to God (Wow, now there’s a bold, put-yourself-on-the-line statement!!)

Not a wishy-washy mushy sentimental feeling that you see in the movies, but the choosing to put God and others before ourselves. Not putting ourselves down (we are all loved and equal in God’s eyes) but realising that through loving and serving others we too are blessed and set free to live our lives as God intended.

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 1 John 3:18-24

God shows us in 1 John 3:18-24 that when we love with “actions and in truth” (not just saying it, but living it) that’s when our hearts can be at peace with God (even when sometimes our heart tries to tell us otherwise!) and how we know we are his children. When we love, this is a sure sign of our faith and relationship with God, and we can come into his presence without worry or fear, but knowing we will find rest.

1 Peter 4:8 even says that love “covers over a multitude of sins.” Not that we can sin lots as long as we love people enough (this is not loving for the right reasons after all!) but that when we sin, God still sees that in our hearts we want to love him and put others first, even if in practice we make mistakes along the way. The story of David is such a good example of this. It is said that David was a man after God’s own heart, and yet David did some pretty bad things – like committing adultery and then killing the husband!!! – but when his eyes were opened to what he had done, he fell on the floor and was horrified at how he had managed to sin against God in such an awful way. Notice that he said he had sinned “against God” (not the husband) because he knew first and foremost that when he sinned it was God he was hurting, and he was truly sorry for what he had done. Just read what God himself says of David when talking to his son Solomon : "As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did… 1 Kings 9:4 You What?? Say that again?! Did God just totally forget that David was an adulterer AND a murderer?! Yes he did. Not because he is forgetful, but because he chose not to hold it against him. David had got down on his face in shame when he realised his sin and repented before God. God knew David’s heart and that David truly loved Him, and so when God spoke of David he didn’t bring up his past sin and mistakes, he remembered instead David’s love for his God and his desire to do God’s will.

From another perspective, love between one another, it’s like having a friend who makes lots of mistakes, who regularly puts their foot in it and never seems to be able to make it anywhere on time, they still haven’t paid back that tenner you lent them (and you know you’re unlikely to see it again). Yet this friend knows you so well – sometimes better than you know yourself! They’ve seen you at your best and your worst, but for some reason, they still think you’re great. You know you can call them night or day and they’ll always answer the phone when they see your name pop up on the screen. And, although they ruined your best top by accidentally squirting ketchup down it, and snapped at you last week when they were tired, you forgive them every single time. Why? Because none of that other stuff really matters when love is at the centre of your friendship.

Do you see? Love can cover over all the other stuff, it doesn’t make any of it right, but when you know that someone genuinely loves you and cares about you (and you love them too), the other stuff may be sooo annoying and also quite painful at times, but you choose to forgive, not because you have to, but because you love them and you want to be back in that right relationship with them.

When we love one another, we can be united, despite our differences and the mistakes that we make. When we love we can forgive and choose to re-build relationships, rather than allowing them to be destroyed by an argument or misunderstanding. This brings glory to God, and shows others who He is!

When we love God we can also forgive ourselves when we mess up because we understand that God doesn’t want to punish us or make us suffer. Having a loving relationship with God gives us the freedom to come to Him quickly when we sin, to ask for forgiveness and be straight back in that right relationship with our loving father, knowing he will never hold it against us.

Love also helps us not to sin, because we do not want to hurt those we love, especially when they’ve loved us, and forgiven us so unconditionally.

Jesus replied: " ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39

The thing about love is: Love is the greatest thing we can do!

…That is why I believe love is the most important thing to God.

 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is

love

1 Corinthians 13:13

..be holy, because I am holy.  Leviticus 11:45

I’ve had a song in my heart this week, its the worship song that goes “I want to be Holy, set apart for you Lord Jesus, ready to do your will“. While I was painting wood in the garden this week I started pondering on the words and whether I really meant what I was singing.

Do I really want to be holy, above all else? Do I really want to be set apart – not of the world – choosing not to follow worldly desires and what culture tells me I should act like?  To live my life totally as God wants me to? Am I ready to do God’s will, rather than my own? Am I prepared to make the sacrifice of being holy; of obeying Christ in all things; of giving up my selfish, sinful ways for holy and selfless living?

I thought about this for a while and searched my heart and I found that actually yes, in my heart, I do desire to be holy and obedient to God’s will. This is not because of me, it is because God has done a work in me by His Spirit, and changed my sinful heart.  Yet in practice this is not so simple! As you will know well, there’s still a real daily battle with the flesh and the world, pulling us away from actually doing what our hearts wants to do! (Read Romans 7:18-25, Paul comments on this very thing!)

So what is being holy? To put it simply, it means being like God in our hearts and in our actions. It means keeping ourselves “from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27) and above all, loving God and putting him first (Mark 12:30). It’s so important to God that He even called us to be holy & set us apart before the world was created! (1 Corinthians 1:2, Ephesians 1:4) He commands us to be holy because He Himself is holy (Leviticus 11:45)  and because when we live holy lives, we show Jesus to the world! Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14 ..Quite a challenging verse there from Hebrews.

How do we do it? I think Adam’s series on progressive sanctification is really helpful here! Go and read it if you haven’t done already! It’s a process, but loving and relying on God more and more is the only way we can truly live holy lives. We cannot do it just by willpower, as we will either fail miserably or, if we start to think we’re getting “good” at being holy, we become arrogant, prideful and can often start judging others – then (hopefully) we realise we are not being holy at all!!

I think the “ready to do God’s will” statement is also a thing is key. God would never ask us to do anything that was sinful, instead he points us in the direction of holiness, by the Holy Spirit living in us (and he always has the best plan for our lives!) Often God will prompt us on something that he wants us to change, so that we can be more holy, and sometimes we can be quite slow to respond. We try to justify it to ourselves, as it’s so hard to change ways of acting/living/thinking or even a relationship that is unhealthy, so we think it’s just never going to be possible or we come up with the age-old excuse that “now is not the right time”. Yet if God is prompting us, who are we to tell him he’s got the timing wrong, or he doesn’t’ realise how hard it is?! The sooner we obey, the sooner He can step in and give us the power to overcome! It’s a joint effort, but it starts with us being obedient to God’s will, no matter what we think the consequences/cost might be.

Father God I pray that you would help us to be holy.  Help us fight the temptations of the flesh and the ways of the world, in order to be set apart for you. I pray that we would be ready and willing to do your will as soon as you prompt us, so that we may become more holy and the world would see Jesus through us. Amen.

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16

Six active disciplines to practice

In my last post on this topic I spoke about how we have a passive and active role in our sanctification. Here, in my third and final post, I will talk about six active disciplines that can help our pursuit of sanctification.

1) Bible reading and meditation

How are we to know God more and understand his will for us if we don’t commit ourselves to reading, studying and reflecting on what he has spoken to us?

People always complain that they don’t “hear” from God. While I do believe that God can speak to us audibly (although rare) as well as through our conscience, I do believe that the primary way that God communicates with us is through the bible. All of it.

It was only the other day that I read 1 Corinthians 10:27-30 in which the Apostle Paul is talking about not eating food that has been offered to idols, not because it in itself is wrong but because it may cause others who see you do it and don’t understand to sin in the hearts by copying. At first I thought this was totally not applicable anymore and discarded it but then only a day later I was watching a film called In Bruges with a friend. Anyone who has seen this film will know that it is hilarious but is full of swearing (and I mean full).

The person I was watching it with is a fairly new Christian and even though I knew in my faith that there was nothing wrong with listening to the bad language I was causing them to sin in their hearts by showing to condone it and almost recommend it. We stopped watching the film after only 10 minutes but it was a real eye opener to me on how the bible is vital for our growth, even the bits that may not seem relevant anymore.

The bible is a big book though (or more accurately collection of books) and can be really hard going. But, just like with sanctification, we are not called to read it all and understand it all as soon as we become Christians. It is a process that will last a lifetime, we just have to keep reading, studying, memorising and meditating on it as much as we can.

2) Prayer

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” – Ephesians 6:18

Where reading the bible is the primary way in which God communicates with us, prayer is the primary way in which we communicate back again. We are called to have a relationship with God and the way we have relationships with people is to talk to them. The more open and honest we are with people, the closer and more intimate those relationships can become.

We are to pray always for anything and everything and everyone. Prayer needs to become as important to us as breathing. Whenever we are troubled we need to learn to turn to God and give it to him in prayer (Philippians 4:6-7).

Prayer can also be one of the hardest things for us to do though, especially new Christians. I remember sitting in silence for about an hour, while my friends encouraged me to pray, because I was too scared to pray out loud.

Thankfully, I am finally realising how important prayer is and am becoming more and more comfortable with it. I still have my moments where clam up or where I don’t pray anywhere near as much as I should but I’m growing like everyone else and I’m learning as I go. Things just seem a lot easier to deal with when I pray about them though…

3) Worship

When I first became a Christian I really struggled with the singing part of church. But as I have grown I have found it is so important and has now become vital to my walk with God. Worship is how we thank God and give him praise (Ephesians 5:18-20)

To further prove that God knows what He is doing, a recent study showed that singing is actually really beneficial to you from a mental and physical point of view.

The bible says that we’ll all be singing to God in heaven, so my viewpoint is we’d better get practising here on Earth!

4) Witnessing

Witnessing has always been the hardest thing for me to do. I know that when I step out and do it I feel closer to God and I long to see people saved but I am still fearful of people’s reactions and putting them off for good.

The only way for people to come to know about God though (not counting God stepping in like he did with Apostle Paul) is for us to talk to people about it. I long for people to ask me about my faith or even challenge me on some of my beliefs. Until then I’ll try my best to be salt and light in the lives of those around me and keep an eye out for opportunities.

5) Self-discipline/self-control

Self control is vital in all areas of our life. Our battle against sin is about learning to have self-control and resist the devil. It also helps us be structured and persistent with bible reading and spending time with God.

I’m not sure there is any way of learning self-control other than practising it. When temptations come about (and they will), practise self-discipline but saying no and resisting. Easier said than done but you won’t get anywhere without trying…

6) Christian fellowship

And finally, sanctification is regularly a corporate process in the new testament. We Christians are all in this together and we have been brought together as brothers and sisters in God’s family to care for each other and help each other along. We are to nudge each other in love and support each other when we are in pain.

The best way to find this kind of support is to get in to a God-loving church and a home group where you can find good friends who will care for you and you can care for them. Nowadays there are churches of all shapes and sizes.

If you believe in Christ and are not part of a group of Christians you are at risk. You are like a lamb that has wandered away from the flock and is vulnerable to the world. Another illustration is to think of Christians as individual pieces of coal and the church is the fire. When you take the coal out of the fire it will slowly grow dim and eventually go out. Put it back in the fire and around other Christians and it will fulfil its purpose and burn bright for God.

Our role and God’s role

Whereas justification is totally down to God and we contribute nothing towards it, sanctification is a co-operative effort between us and God. God wants us to be involved in our growth but doesn’t leave it entirely up to us…

God’s role in sanctification

Each member of the trinity (father, son and spirit) has a role in our sanctification:

God disciplines us as a father: He shows us the path to holiness  by correcting us in love when we stray. Hebrews 12:7-11 beautifully illustrates God’s discipline as a method of teaching.

Jesus earned our sanctification and became our sanctification with what he achieved here on the Earth (1 Corinthians 1:30). But just as importantly, Jesus is our example for sanctification. He came to show us how we are to live our lives. We are to pursue a likeness with Jesus (1 Peter 2:21 and 1 John 2:6)

However, it is specifically the Holy Spirit that works within us to change us and sanctify us. 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Galatians 5:22-23 and Galatians 5:16-17 all show how the Spirit within us works to change us.

Our role in sanctification

To begin with our role is a passive one: We depend on God to save us and allow him to work in us.

However, we need to be cautious so not to become lazy and fall back on the passive role and wait on God to do all the work. So we also have an active role in that we strive to obey God and take steps to increase our sanctification. Philippians 2:12-13 says we need to “work out our own salvation” and I love how Hebrews 5:12-14 tells us to grow up and train ourselves for God.

Both the passive role and active role are important but if we neglect our active role of striving to obey God we become passive, lazy Christians and if we neglect the passive role of trusting God and yielding to him we become proud and overly-confident in ourselves. The correct balance is vital!

To be continued…

Ephesians 1 : 17-19

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Ever wondered what to pray for people? How about starting with Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1. It’s great! Notice that he keeps asking God, it was a regular prayer of his.

v17. “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”

The first part of his prayer in v17 is asking God to enable them to know Him better. This isn’t a head knowledge, this us a heart to heart knowledge, an intimacy with God. We can only have this intimacy with God through the Holy Spirit who reveals to us God’s heart. No matter how much intellectual knowledge of the bible and theory and religion we have, we can’t know God without the help if the Holy Spirit who helps us to get that knowledge from the head and into the heart.

v18. “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you,”

Hope is not what we often think it is.. some sort of vague wish that we hold onto even though we don’t know if it’ll come true or not. No, hope in the New Testament is an assurance of what God has promised is to come. 1 Peter 1:3 says… “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..” Jesus is our hope, his resurrection gives us an assurance that we too have new life when we repent & put our faith in him, and we too will live with him in glory. It’s a promise of God, and God is faithful to all his promises.

v18 cont.. “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,”

That’s US ! WE are Christ’s glorious inheritance!!!! He sees us as his riches!! That’s so amazing! Just think about that for a minute. Jesus died so that his inheritance could be us motley lot. He thought that we were an inheritance worth dying for… For me that’s just such a hard thing to get my head round, but that just shows Christ’s amazing, unconditional love.

v19. “..and his incomparably great power for us who believe”

You can’t compare God’s power with anything you know!! It would be like comparing… well you just can’t do it! And look at the wording “for us” the power is FOR US who believe. It’s for our good and for us to use, the same power that raised Christ from the dead is there for us! Often we don’t make use of the power God has given us because we only attempt to do the things that we know we could do in our own strength, if God didn’t step in. In doing this we’re not trusting that God has given us the same power that rose Christ from the dead, and we miss out on getting to see & experience God’s power. When we take the risk, and put ourselves (and God) on the line, that’s when we see God’s great power at work in & through us!

I pray that you may KNOW God more, in a heart to heart way. I pray that you will know the HOPE to which you are called through Christ. To know this hope is an eternal hope and an assurance that is set in the promises of God. I pray that you would know just how VALUABLE and PRECIOUS you are to Jesus. I pray too that you would trust that you have God’s GREAT POWER with you, and so you would have the BOLDNESS and confidence to step out in faith and “walk the walk” not just “talk the talk.”

“For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20

I’ve had a few conversations with people recently who are finding their walk with God a bit of a struggle. Perhaps it’s the winter blues, the thought of all that dark, cold weather. Perhaps it’s tiredness or perhaps it’s spiritual attack. Either way, we all know what the “correct Christian answer” is– seek God. Yet we all also know that sometimes it’s really tough to do this when we’re tired, fed up and don’t feel like making any effort at all.

So I thought I would give you (and me!) a few tips on how to beat the blues by seeking God!

Tip 1) Remind yourself that it’s not about feelings. I think this is the biggest trap we can fall into. Because we don’t feel “it” or feel like worshipping or feel like praying, we give up before we’ve even started. Feelings are unfaithful – God IS faithful! Therefore, let us trust in God & his Word more and in our feelings a lot less!

Tip 2) Remind yourself of the Truth in scripture. Pick out some encouraging verses of who God is and who you are in him (even if you feel it’s not true.. it IS true, so start claiming it).

Read them OUT LOUD, not in your head. The spoken word has power. Your spirit responds to the spoken word (faith comes by hearing) and you will find yourself being built up just by speaking out words of truth.

Try some of the verses below as a starter, but on a good day try to pick out some scripture for yourself so that when a bad day comes along you can look at your personal list on the wall/fridge/in your diary and read them out-loud to yourself and to God. Turn them around too, so you are talking to God through the scriptures and thanking him for his blessings…

For example:

Thank you Father God that in ALL things you work for the good of those who love you, who have been called according to your  purpose. Romans 8:28

Thank you Jesus that you promise that you are always with me, by the Holy Spirit, and that you will never leave me. Matthew 28:20 & John 14:16

Thank you Jesus that I can do everything through the strength that you give me! Philippians 4:13

Thank you Lord that you know the plans you have for me. Plans to prosper me, and not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Thank you Father God  that you have given me victory over sin and death through Jesus my Lord and my saviour. 1 Corinthians 15:57

Even if you don’t feel these scriptures and you actually just feel like your being a bit of a parrot, keep on going! You’re talking to your soul and feeding it with the truth, your also demonstrating to the enemy that you are choosing God’s word over his lies or your feelings. Remember that whether you feel it or not, God’s word IS the truth and it doesn’t change depending on where you are at or the day you have had.

Tip 3) Don’t listen to the lies! You know what the lies are – anything that speaks against the word of God. Anything that destroys rather than builds, anything that undermines who God is, what Jesus has done, or your relationship with Him. Choose not to dwell on these things. Like it says in Philippians 4:8, we should be thinking about whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy.. If it doesn’t fit into these categories, decide not to let yourself dwell in those negative thoughts. Even more so, don’t keep speaking them out over yourself!!! Just as the word of God spoken out-loud is powerful for building up, speaking lies over yourself has exactly the opposite effect.

Tip 4) God is always worthy to be praised. (Even if you don’t feel like it.) Pick a worship song that is easy and that you like (when you’re in a good place!) And sing it out loud to God.

Pick one that shows the greatness of God, or what he has done for you (rather than your response to him, which you may not think you can sing at that moment) For eg. “How Great is Our God” or “In Christ Alone.” And Thank God for being God! Thank Him for being constantly faithful, loving, compassionate and forgiving (even when you are not!). Thank Him that His mercies are new everyday Lamentations 3:23 (which means that even if we feel bad / fall into sin, he always has enough mercy to cover it all because of the blood of Christ, and He has the grace to give you a fresh start in Him every single day!)

Tip 5) Don’t give up easily! If you quote a couple of scriptures and attempt to sing a song and don’t get immediate results remember that although we live in a world that wants everything instantly, life really doesn’t work like that. (Just look at how awful instant coffee is! Yet people put up with it because they forget how good the real stuff is!). Press into God. Wait on Him and know that he’s listening to your prayers and he loves you with an unending love. Remember too that you may need to repent to get that connection back with God (esp. if you’ve been feeling negative as this can cause you to fall into sin more easily) Check your heart and ask for forgiveness, then go back and start again!

1 Corinthians 3:4-7

4 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?

5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.

7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

It’s God who makes things grow !

I’m not really sure what I want to say about this passage, except – it’s all God’s work!!

Even when God uses us to plant and to water – It’s God who does the work in people’s lives to bring them to Christ. Our job is to be faithful in the small things he’s given us to do – to plant seeds in people’s lives, and to water the seeds that other people have planted, but it’s God and only God who can make those seeds, those words of truth that have been spoken by man, grow into a knowledge and an experience of the living God. Only God can make those words / actions touch the hearts of those who don’t yet know Him.

So let us all play our parts as servants of God – sowing seeds and watering others in people’s lives, and lets trust God with the rest; knowing that only God makes things grow – and it’s not up to us to force this process!

God will do it, by His Holy Spirit, and in His perfect timing!

So we’ve looked at being Christ’s friends and God’s Children. Now lets look at the rather strange picture of us being members of Christ’s body – which is the church. Not church as in a building, but a church as in the people of God all coming together to glorify him.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27
12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. [..] 14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Each one of us is unique, we form different parts of the church, or “body” and we each have our roles to play and our jobs to do. We cannot be the church God has called us to be unless everyone plays their part and uses the gifts and skills that God has uniquely given to each of us.

We should not put ourselves down, thinking that we are an insignificant part of Christ’s church (if you look, the passage says the seemingly weaker parts are indispensable). We are each unique and have something to offer that no-one else can bring. Neither should we look at others and put them down if they don’t do the things God has put on our own hearts to do – they’ve been given a different job to us, and different skills and abilities. If we were all exactly like one another the body would be unbalanced and would not work well.

We also need to remember that we cannot fulfill God’s purposes alone! There is not one single body part that can keep functioning outside of the body! We all need each other!! We need to be part of a church body to keep our Christian faith alive, and we need the support of other Christians in order to grow, serve and reach others effectively. Without us all working together in unity, we can do nothing. And without the head, that is Christ, we are dead.

So if you don’t yet know how you fit, ask God what your part to play in the body is. Ask Him to help you work alongside other Christians and to remain in the body where you will grow and thrive. Don’t think you can be a hand without an arm, or an eye without a face – you aren’t going to last very long! Embrace the fact that we are all different – that there’s not another “you” in Christ’s team, but there are many other different people all serving God in the way God’s called them to, so that together the many different parts can make up a beautiful whole!

We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. 1 John 3:14

(more…)

Do everything in love
(1 Corinthians 16:14)

This very short verse which, if put into practice, could have an amazing impact on our lives, our relationships, our work and our relationship with God. “Do everything in love.” It’s so simple.

We can have so many views on what love is and what the world tells us love is, so lets see how the bible defines love.

In 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 it says “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Love is a tough thing to do!!

The bible says that “God is love” (1John4:8), he ticks every single one of the boxes every single time. So much so that Jesus chose to come and live life as a man on earth, giving up all his appearance of glory and roughing it with us humans. His life on earth was perfect and everything he did was in love. He even died in love, knowing that this was what would save us from our sins.

What a great role model we have in Jesus – he showed us what it looks like to “do everything in love.” It’s not about being a push-over, Jesus certainly wasn’t, it’s not about agreeing with everyone and not standing up for what is right. It’s about doing what’s best for others and responding to everyone in love, no matter what they’ve done to you/someone else. Love is a choice, it’s a commitment, it’s letting other’s needs and feelings come before your own. Yet it’s also correcting (2Tim4:2) rather than letting people go down the wrong path, it’s warning (1 Thes5:14) when you know that someone’s actions could cause them/others harm. Yet it’s doing all these things with the right motivation – not to boast or be proud or to put yourself first. Not because people annoy you or you think you are better than them, but because you love them and want the best for them.

As it says in the verse above, love is patient and kind. Love isn’t easily angered. We can be so impatient with people who don’t see things our way, we can be quick to get angry when someone does something which upsets us and we can be unkind to those people who really need a little kindness. We should seek to protect, not expose, to trust even if we feel we could get hurt, we should cling to hope even in difficult situations and persevere when it would be easier just to give up on someone.

I pray that each one of us will be able to remember this short verse and to use it in our everyday lives to test our actions and our words. To stop just for a few seconds and consider…

“Am I saying this in love or for my own gain?”
“Am I doing this in love or do I have ulterior motives?”
“Am I reacting out of hurt, or am I responding in love?”
“How should I handle this situation differently, if I really want to do everything in love?”