“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35
Love is to be the hallmark of a Christian. It is the primary fruit of the Spirit working in the life of a believer (Gal. 5:22). Love is the very essence of God (1 John 4:16).
What does it mean to love other people? God’s love is not like human love. Human love (Greek phileo) is about giving and receiving. It says, ‘I love you because you do thiis for me’. But God’s love (Greek agapeo) is a conscious decision to do the best things you can for the other party, without expecting anything in return. It’s also not dependent on whether you like that person or not – because it’s an act of your will, not driven by your emotions.
Doing good things for people for no apparent reason, and with no apparent sense of reward, is a foreign concept to the people of the world. It makes them stop and think, ‘Why did that person do that? What’s different about them?’ Thus the door is opened for you to share the gospel, how God sent His own Son to die in our place and set us free from our sin even though we didn’t deserve it.
Let’s make a conscious decision to love other people today.
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