“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:35
The bible summed up in one word - love
The bible makes it clear that there is just one word that rises above all of the clamor in Christianity, it is the word “love”. What if there was a device called the “love-o-meter” and it could measure how well you love, and how deeply you love, and who you love? What would our rating be? That is the one thing God cares most about in our lives, it is how we love. What if you are a follower of Jesus and your love-o-meter results are very low, what do we do? My love meter rating is very low, so i decided to think about what love is and how to create a mind frame for loving more and better.
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love".
1 Corinthians 13:13
God breaks the entire bible, the entire law down to one simple word, one simple task, one simple action, it is love others and love Him. He sums up all the law into one word for us, love. If we could only do one thing right in our lives, it would be to love others and God well. There are so many topics of discussion and debates in among believers, I believe that we should all ask this one question, “Does this discussion help me love more?” If the answer is no then it’s not something that is important.
In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 7:12
Practice Loving Others
If seems like loving others is like singing, you either have that gift or you don’t. But is love a skill? What if it does not come naturally to us? Can we love more and better? I believe if God tells us to love, then we all have the ability to love and to improve how we love. As I pondered how I can love more, I started with thinking about what people need, how people really want to be loved. I think in its essence, people want
someone to care about what they love, what they like, and what they are concerned about.
I started thinking, “what if you were to love other people for 1 hour a day, for one year?” You didn’t do anything for that hour but something that demonstrated love for that hour. You were to concentrate and think about only them. How would that effect others, and how would it effect you? What would your love-o-meter score be?
Focusing on others loves, likes and concerns
I pictures listing out the people and their loves, likes and concerns. Then I thought about putting down what I could do to show love and care. At first this feels like a homework assignment from middle school. But as I began to fill it out, I began to feel excited to do the actions that I put down.
“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.”
John 1:22
Taking action
Try with just one person and a piece of paper. Don’t get too caught up in who the person is at first, just practice putting down what they love, like and are concerned about. Pray that God gives you ideas and helps keep you from being interrupted while you write. Ask the Holy Spirit to warm your heart as you think and write.
Try this for just 15 minutes and see what you feel.
