1 John 3:18 (NIV)
Both friendship and love take time and effort. Neither are passive things. Neither are simply labels if they are genuine. We may feel good when we say we love others, but if we do nothing when they are in need then we have fooled ourselves.
We are asked not only to love our friends and family, but our neighbours also. We are asked to love the stranger, to love the foreigner, to love those we don’t understand. And, to love anyone is to take a certain responsibility for their well-being, both spiritually and physically, as we would for any of our closest friends.
It may seem daunting at first but through God we are given both the desire and the ability. When we focus on the love God has for us, for all the things He has done for us, all that He has sacrificed, it becomes difficult to keep that love contained. We discover that He has given us the grace to love others even if they seem difficult to love at first.
The power of God’s love is transformational.
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15 comments:
Amen Lynda! Love is an action word. We are told to even love our enemies. How many of us can say we do that in the way He did? Such a challenge but one we must rise too..
God bless you my friend xoxo
Transformational (love that word) His Love is! Love your post....a lot of love here
kim
God's love does transform us, if we let it. May we all reach out to others and show His love.
Thank you Lyn for posting. Blessings.
God's been teaching me about flattery lately. I've seen it flung around and am often tempted to speak it, out of a genuine kindness. I'm learning there are times to not speak a kind word (if you can believe it). Learning to check my heart first.
Not sure this relates all that well, but I thought of friendship and how it takes time.
~ Wendy
I'd like to think that we don't completely understand God's love if we are not able to love others. It really helps when we are truly deeply rooted in His love first.
Passing by to drop a warm hello and thank you for your encouragement at times of my busyness. God bless you sister and protect you always.
That's right, Lynda. The Lord
gives us the power to love as
He loves. And it is hard at
times to love everyone but we
are commanded to do so. We
can't say we have love for God
and not love our fellow man.
It just doesn't work that way.
Wonderful post!
Blessings,
Sandy
Hi Lynda,
Very inspiring post.
Love is the essence of life.Love can transform people into wonderful human beings.
But love is also a scarce commodity.How many people pretend to love with ulterior motives.How many marriages fail due to lack of love?
We,human beings with flesh and blood, feelings and thinking ability need love to sustain us.
Mother Teresa said-YOU CANNOT DO GREAT THINGS BUT YOU CAN DO LOT OF LITTLE THINGS WITH GREAT LOVE.
Even when Jesus was being crucified,HE said-FATHER FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.
Excellent post and very educative also.
Best wishes,
Joseph
I'm so glad the Lord gives us the Grace to love those that are even our enemies. Does'nt the scripture say
The more I love, the less I be loved?
I'm not quite sure where with out looking it up. But it's not about us. It's about the Love of God in our lives reaching out to others.
Lynda, thank you for the lovely 42nd Anniversary wishes! It made our day special!
Yes it lights the fire that glows within us that we share with our friends, families and neighbours :O)
Joseph, when I tried to go to your blog my computer got attacked my viruses. It's a good thing I keep my anti-virus up to date. I just wanted to let you know that soemthing on your site is corrupted (or whatever the techie word for it is)
Transformational. So true. Nothing else transforms us inside out like God's love for us. Then spills unto others. Lovely post.
Transformational. Nothing transforms us inside out like God's love. Lovely post.
Great truth. I esp like your idea of love as transformational. It is. Good post.
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