Love More

This past Sunday I shared a message on love that has been with the Church from the beginning when Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34).

There is nothing new here. The rules have not changed. The truth remains the same. We are to love one another. In fact, it is so important that Jesus indicated love serves as a test of the authenticity of our faith. He said, “By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

Perhaps even more important for us to remember is this: The areas that show we are Christians are the areas we are to grow as Christians. If we are not more loving today than we were yesterday, then we are not growing spiritually as we should be. Even worse, if we are more selfish, unloving, and spiteful than we used to be, then we are not growing at all!

Moreover, let us challenge ourselves to translate our love into actions. The Apostle John wrote, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue (only) but with actions and truth” (1 John 3:18). We should not just love by our words, but through our actions.

I heard about a preacher who preached a sermon one Sunday on loving your neighbors. That next week he was pouring a concrete patio behind his house. He left it to harden, but later when he looked out the window, some neighborhood kids were writing their names in the concrete. He opened the back door and yelled at them to get out of his yard. He wife heard him and said, “I thought you preached last Sunday that you were supposed to love your neighbors.” He said, “Well, I do love them in the abstract, but not in the concrete!” Maybe, that is our problem. We say we love others, but don’t always show it. True love takes action. Let us resolve to do no less than to show more love through the things we do!

Devotedly yours,
Pastor Ron