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  • Love God, Love Others

    Kara Benson English blog 7.29.2020Written by Kara Benson, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Little Rock, Arkansas

    “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”– Luke 10:27

    What does it mean to love God?
    A few elements come to mind...

    Obedience. “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me” (John 14:21). If we love the Lord, we will obey him. 1 John 4:18 teaches us, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” Why? The second half of the verse answers, “because fear has to do with punishment.” If we are living in obedience to God, we have no reason to fear! We don’t have to be afraid of impending judgment for our repented sins or agonize over our future inevitable errors because God sent his Son to take our place. God’s perfect love provided a way to drive out our fear. We can rest assuredly and live confidently in the peace of a right relationship with the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. And if we truly love God, then we will want to obey him – not from fear of punishment, but from the heart.

    Pursuit. “I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands” (Ps. 119:10). There is a difference between having warm feelings for someone and being madly in love. When we are in love with someone, we will stay up late to talk with them, think of them throughout the day, and set aside special time to spend with them. We delight in learning details about them, miss them when we are apart, and eagerly anticipate being reunited. Psalm 63:1 says, “Earnestly I seek you, my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Is this our attitude about spending time with our Lord?

    Overflow. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matt. 5:14). When you love someone deeply, others notice. Your love for that person is so great, it often overflows into everyday conversation. Grandmas love sharing photos of their grandkids. Engaged couples often begin sentences with, “My fiancée...” New parents can’t seem to stop talking about their kids. “For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Do others see and hear evidence of our love for God?

    What does it mean to love others?
    The world asserts that to love someone means you must accept or approve of everything they believe or do. However, true love is seeking the best interest of someone else, as we see in Philippians 2. We love others by serving, comforting, encouraging, and challenging them to grow. If we see someone in sin without trying to help, how can we say we truly love them? James 5:19-20 states, “Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” Putting someone’s long-term good above our own temporary comfort is an act of love; their eternal soul is more important than forgoing an awkward conversation or keeping a superficial peace.

    Love is patient, kind, and forgiving. This can be hard. This is where we can easily mess up. If we are not patient, kind, and forgiving in our communication, then our message is ruined. May the Lord give us wisdom to discern the right timing and the right words. Our heart must be right. We must be honest and willing to confess our own sins as well. Looking back, I am thankful for those who have loved me enough to show me what I needed to change.

    Our love matters. Galatians 6:10 teaches, “do good to everyone, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” While we are called to be slaves to all (1 Cor. 9:19, Mk. 10:44), we have a special calling to love and serve our family in Christ. Hebrews 6:10 says, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” I absolutely love this verse! Every time we help someone, every time we serve... God sees. God knows. God remembers. Sisters, it’s all worth it! Our love matters.

    When we love God and love others, we are fulfilling the first and second greatest commandments. How are you showing a love for God and a love for others, especially His people, in your daily life?

  • We Are Part of The One-Anotherness: Love God/Love Others

    2020 07 Deanna BrooksWritten by: Deanna Brooks, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Searcy, AR.
    Friendship. Fellowship. Togetherness. Caring. Our Creator made us for relationships, and in the past few months, because of COVID-19, most of us have realized how precious our time is with “one another.”

    Our times of being together for worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ went to online events. Many of us had to postpone family gatherings and celebrations, and we missed “one another.”

    “One another”... ἀλλήλων (ah LAY loan) is two words in English, but it is only one word in Greek. I like that thought.

    ἀλλήλων is used 100 times in 94 New Testament passages. Forty-seven give instructions to Christians.

    When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He responded, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39.)

    Jesus response was from the Shema, a passage every Jewish child learned early in life (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

    From the “one-another” passages, we learn how to love our neighbor as ourselves:
    Be at peace.
    Don’t grumble.
    Be of the same mind.
    Gently and patiently tolerate.
    Be kind, tender-hearted, forgiving.
    Seek good.
    Confess sins.
    Love.
    Serve.
    Be devoted.
    Give preference.
    Be in submission.
    Speak truth.
    Comfort.
    Encourage.
    Stimulate to love and good deeds.
    Pray.
    Be hospitable.

    We sing “Bind us together LORD...with cords that cannot be broken.” King Solomon wrote, “And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him – a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Eccl. 4:12).

    Jesus told His followers: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

    First John 4:20 tells us how important it is to love one another: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” These are powerful words, just as relevant to our lives today as they were 2000 years ago when John wrote them.

    Jesus prayed for unity in John 17:11: “...they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” This prayer was not just for those disciples with Jesus at that moment; later, in verses 20-21, He prays: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

    Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if we put “one-another” into everyday practice in our lives?

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