Love…“The Most Excellent Way”
I am grateful as I read God’s Word, It is always exactly what I need for the moment…Great is God’s Faithfulness. But this should not surprise any of us…God, is our heavenly Father and always cares for us…The basis of our Christian Faith is God’s Love expressed in Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Peace. No matter what happens, that is His desire for us as believers to love one another as He loves us… But in our World…How can we live this most excellent way? There are a lot of ways to do things, but the Lord teaches us the Most Excellent Way…not just the right way, or the good way, or even the best way, but the Most Excellent Way…and that is by His Love….
The World needs to see God’s Love in our lives.
We must not act like the World, we must live out the new command Jesus gave us in John 13 to “Love one another.” Love must be evident in our lives…no matter what…We must live God’s Way…with Love…This was Paul’s point. So He defines love vividly. Love is represented in the Scriptures as an attribute of God and as a Christian virtue. Love is the highest characteristic of God. It is affection, plus a tender and passionate attachment, a sentiment of our nature shown forth by qualities in a person or thing that command our affection; Love, whether used of God or man, is an earnest and anxious desire for and an active and working interest in the well-being of the one loved. Love is what you give to others. Love starts and stops with God.
He is the Author. He created it out of His very nature, and He desires that we share
and experience this wonderful gift with each other.
I think it is interesting to compare the most familiar verse in the Bible with another verse that John wrote. Most people can quote John 3:16, but look at 1 John 3:16: "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
The two 3:16 verses have a complementary message: love gives sacrificially. The world knows little about sacrificial love, and the definitions can vary…but….Real LOVE is an outflow of the Holy Spirit.
Love is the action of doing what is best for someone. Paul wanted the Corinthians to understand that agape love is a necessary reality of being a believer. He wanted them to realize that love plays a prominent part in all Christian behavior, and without it, the behavior ceases to be Christian.
Love is action oriented…doing what is right.
Basically what Paul is saying is this in 1 Corinthians 13… Love is very patient, but we are mostly impatient. Love is very kind but we are frequently unkind. Love knows no jealousy, but we are often jealous. Love makes no parade, but we are proud…and on and on… God wants you to know true love, what it is to be blessed. And the real key is simply to learn to love. It is an attitude. A determination to love in spite of circumstances. Doing the most excellent way. And this must be a reality for the Christian. God is love, so if God is to be seen in us, it is going to be when we express His Love. We can react to things in the name of love, or respond to things in love. As God is Love, we must be love, living out our faith. I must confess, there are many times where I have fallen so short of what the Lord would have me be.
But Good news…
God forgives us all (including you and me) and restores and allows us to move on in His Love…
True love is God shining through us. It is perfect and it is possible, but it must be practiced…It is not easy…but it is possible… Now I realize this is not the world’s point of view, and maybe not even yours. But this kind of love emphasizes what you give. It is a decision! You don’t work up true love. It is an attitude.
It is simply, yet intentionally allowing God to love through you.
The world says do this so people will love you, God says, love in spite of and I will take care of the rest. We cannot understand it completely, but we must trust God. Be patient, kind, etc. and God will bless you: Not man but God. Love is not dependent on others, but on your relationship to God.
So what is the point anyway? Can we learn to love?…
Yes if you know that God is in your life, you can. But you can’t give what you don’t have…To love, one needs God. Get to know God better, the better you know God, the better you can love, for God is love.
And so…we decide to live… The most excellent way…
Remember that Love is a Command (John 13:34)
Realize that You have the power to Love (Acts 1:8)
Recognize that Love is Normal Christian behavior.
Rejoice that Love is the Spirits Work (Gal. 5:22)
Recommit yourself to Live out your love…Let Jesus live through you daily
Love one another with the Spirits Power…
Let me invite you to recommit your life to what the Bible Calls the Most Excellent Way…
Let the love of God be what directs your life…Your life and your world will be a better place…
Dr. Baldwin, I really like your point that true love must be practiced. It's a daily decision. It's the practice of holding yourself accountable daily for allowing God's love to flow through you. What have I done today to show love? Truth be told the answer to that question may not be what I'd like each day, but I have to ask the question...and do better tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteKim W.
This is something that needs to be shared with all people. Love is something that most of us are lacking, you would be surprised at how many people do not even receive a hug from anyone all week. That is an act of love. Agapao love is the Godly love that we need to exhibit to one another. First Corinthians 13 teaches us the way of love and what love is. I feel if everyone had a better understanding on what real love is then we may possibly be able to show it more.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Sir. I can't wait for more.
True Love is also empowerment. An active intentional process. True Love involves empowerment equipping, strengthening, building up,
ReplyDeleteThis article has provoked critical thinking.
Thanks
Adrienne Butler
Love…“The Most Excellent Way”
ReplyDeleteI was greatly blessed by your thoughts on love being the most excellent way. Especially in the context of Christendom because love us a birth mark. 1st John 4:20 declares “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” My thought on this particular text is how can I declare with all confidence that my love can reach God in heaven but can't reach my brother whom I share time and space with.
The World needs to see God’s Love in our lives
I absolutely agree with this thought because we are the body of Christ in visible form in the world. We are the hands and feet of Jesus in the Earth realm called by Him to be beacons of light to a darkened dying world. The apostle Paul declared in 2nd Corinthians 3:2 –3 “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” We are the only Christ this world will see on this side of the grave.
I agree with Charles Stanley who says, “While we are to live in faith and hope, our most important dwelling place is God’s love.” As Christians, I believe our spiritual growth is somehow essential to our believing in God’s love. After all, “God is Love.”
ReplyDeleteLove is an action word and God truly demonstrates that in John 3:16 which says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Imagine God’s love being so great that He sent His only Son to die on the Cross in our place. In other words, to better understand true love, we need only to look at the Cross, where the ultimate act of love was performed by Jesus Christ. 1 John 3:18 says, “My little children, let us not love in word or tongue, but in deed and in truth” (NKJV). The fact that Jesus died for us, that should motivate us to love others. And this means not just saying we love people but really loving them by our actions. Simply put, we can love our families by showing each other respect, patience, and even understanding. We can love our neighbors by reaching out in kindness. At the end of the day, loving actions can reveal the truth and maybe even the depth of our love.
Love is truly a gift from God. 1 Corinthians 13:7 says that love “bears all things,” in other words love can be a shelter or place of safety. I believe when you have love, you feel protected and that you have a safe place to fall in. Also, love “believes all things,” perhaps put in another way, that means that love never loses faith in others and you are willing to think the best of each other. Love “hopes all things,” could very well mean that love looks forward with a certain optimism, knowing that God surely works all things together for good (Romans 8:28). Lastly, love “endures all things,” with certainty there is little doubt and love will hold on.
Bottom line, God’s love never fails and God’s love never ends. Amen to that!!!
“GwenJ”
Dear Pastor Garry:
ReplyDeleteSometimes all I can say to God about representing God with excellence in my actions and reactions is “Ouch” Why ouch because sometimes I fail and other times I fail big time. When God disciplines me all I can say is Ouch! The good news, there’s hope for me and others out there like me when we fall short. God does not give up on imperfect humans who are His Ambassadors.
I’m so glad that God is excellence in all that He does and because He lives within me I have the ability to operate in the most excellent way.
There’s an old secular song that may sound trite but really speaks to the need that the world has today. “What The World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love.” It needs the sweet love of Jesus’ agape love. That love shows who Jesus really is and how much He really loves mankind. He loves us enough to die for us that we might live eternally with Him and God the Father.
Sometimes we Christians get caught up in the trappings of the world and began to fall short showing the most excellent love of Christ. The Bible in Romans 10:13-15 “for, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (v14) How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? (v15) And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
This entire verse is the way a Christian can show the most excellent way of love. Telling (the preacher) others about Jesus and backing it up with Godly love for them is the true essence of who God is-love.
Winnie