Love in Action

We often hear people say they love someone or something. We say it often. But what does that mean? Do we have soft emotional feelings about a thing? Do we want what is best for someone or are we more focused on ourselves? Do we even understand what love is? 

First Corinthians 13 lays out what love looks like. Love is more than a feeling. It’s a change of heart and it’s action. Love is patient and kind and is not rude or arrogant. Love loves the truth. Love carries burdens for others. It is forever. Can you say you feel that way for someone else? If so, how do you show it? Love is an action word. It is not passive or complacent. 

God is Love (1 John 4:16) and He gives to us daily (Matt 7:11), so therefore Love Gives. According to scripture, it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). So if we love, we are patient, kind, not arrogant or boastful, we rejoice in the truth and we give. While there are other traits, these stand out to me. To live in this space, we have to be unselfish, putting others ahead of ourselves and our own desires. 

How often do you put someone else’s needs ahead of your own? How often do you make time for someone close to you instead of taking care of your own wants? How patient are you with your children or co-workers? How often do you calm irritability or stop resenting others? Love isn’t always easy, sometimes it requires sacrifice (John 3:16).  But it is worth it. We are all called to it - Love God and Love our neighbors as ourselves.

My regular prayer is that God would help me love as He loves. I’m a long way from it and I can get irritated or impatient just like the next person, but I strive more and more every day to look and act like He does. I can only do that under the power of the Holy Spirit. I lean and rest in Him. Take a long look at your life and see if love is obvious in your life. If not, now is the time to seek God and change it. 

As Paul wrote, we are nothing without love (1 Cor 13:1-3). So now faith, hope and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love (1 Cor 13:13).