Dear brethren,
In our Sunday services, we have discussed that for us to walk consistently in the Blessing, we must walk in the light. This means being a doer of the Word that we know…the revelation we have received. The most fundamental, most vital area of walking in the light is walking in love. The Bible clearly tells us that love is greater than hope or faith.
1 Cor. 13:13 NKJV And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. NKJV
I’m not surprised about that because God is love, but He is not hope or faith. Love is His make up or nature. As we saw in last Sunday’s bulletin, when we receive the love of the Father, it becomes natural for us to flow in that same love.
Now look at John 13:34-35 NKJV A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
This is our commandment in the New Covenant. In this Scripture, Jesus was not talking about loving those in the world but about loving everyone that’s a brother or sister in Christ no matter their denomination. They don’t even have to be doctrinally one hundred percent correct but as long as they’re born again, they’re entitled to our love. According to Jesus, this is the best way for us to be a witness to the world that we are His disciples. Every believer in Jesus is not His disciple.
As we have studied before, when you love, you fulfill all the law. (See Romans 13:8-10.) If you’re serious about pleasing the Lord, walking with Him, you’re going to be serious about walking in love. This love of God is not to be confused with worldly love. It’s not based on what someone does or doesn’t do for you. For example: People who say things like: “I love you, I need you or I love you I can’t live without you” are not talking about the God kind of love. All they’re saying is that they love themselves. They’re saying: “I love me and I love what you do for me.”
The God kind of love is what you give away to someone else, not what they give to you. The apostle Paul shows us what that is like when he says: And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
2 Cor.12:15 KJV
Notice the apostle Paul allowed himself to be spent for others …gladly. Not sadly, but gladly. He also said that he had made himself a servant to all. Paul also told the Philippians to:
Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Phil 2:4 KJV
This is what Jesus did…He made Himself of no reputation, came to earth as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even to the death of a cross; the most humiliating of all deaths. Hebrews tells us that He did this for the joy that was set before Him. He endured the cross for the joy. That joy was to see you and me saved. He gladly spent Himself for all of us.
Walking in the light of love is all about what you give to another, and not what you receive. Brethren, let’s give ourselves as long as it helps someone else. That love at work in us produces the greatest joy we ever experienced. There’s joy set before you, when you genuinely and practically love another. Amen.
