The Greatest LOVE Story Ever Told
Many people have heard the Bible/Jesus’ life described as the greatest story ever told, but I contend that the Bible is truly the greatest LOVE story ever! As we plod through life, going to church, listening to sermons, participating in workshops, or doing workbooks, we often miss the most important point of God’s love, discipline, and sacrifice of His son for our salvation and that is the fact that everything He has done for us is motivated by love.
When people claim they have difficulty following the example of Jesus and/or Bible principles, it would be much easier to choose the high road if everyone understood that love fixes everything. Love counters hate, which would solve most of our problems with constant wars, power struggles and certain people constantly creating pain in our lives and the lives of others. LOVE is the answer! So simple, but often overlooked as being too difficult to give unconditionally. However, like paying it forward, loving acts must start with someone and grow exponentially as each of us participates. The Bible is very clear about love and HOW to love.
Romans 12:10 – “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” (Also James 2:8; Philippians 2:3 and Galatians 5:13-14)
1 Corinthians 13:13 - “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
In the above scripture verse, Paul discusses the most important virtues. He says love is the greatest virtue of all. Not only because love is focuses on the needs of others, but because it feeds LIFE into other souls. Love counters every negative action, behavior, and thought. If we all loved each other more than ourselves, then our world of sin and selfishness would turn into a world of paradise. Unfortunately, we are born with a selfish nature and often follow that INSTINCT rather than the example and instruction to LOVE.
John 13:34-35 – “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”
1 John 4:19 – “We love each other because He loved us first.”
John 3:16 – “For this is how (much) God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Not only does God command us to love each other, (take care of others first) but He exampled the type of love He expects us to give. Now, all we need to do is to follow His example. Jesus tells us that He and others will know we are HIS disciples (Jesus's followers) if we love each other as much as He loves us.
So how do we start making changes to love others more than ourselves? It starts by seeking to serve others in everything you do. Look for opportunities to help, support, and care in a kind manner. This often starts with an “attitude of gratitude.” When we truly appreciate all the blessings God has bestowed upon us, then our heart opens to wanting to share those blessings with others. Loving others unconditionally means doing so with no ulterior motive and definitely no selfishness in desiring to get something in return. God freely GAVE us His son, who suffered horribly for our salvation. He was ridiculed, abandoned, spit upon, tortured, and finally killed in order to appease the pride and fear of men who wanted to stay in power.
We must remove pride from our lives to serve humanity with the humility required to be as successful at loving others as Jesus has proven He loves us. We must dispense of our innate desire to think “me, me, me” and replace it with “what can I do to improve the life of every person I meet.” (i.e. you, you, you)
Although this is counter to our sinful and selfish nature, it is possible if you focus on the aforementioned acts of kindness, caring, and servitude. Let me ask you a few questions to ponder as you start working on changing your unloving thoughts, traits, and behaviors:
Why do certain comments and acts hurt my feelings? How can I overcome the hurt associated with certain behaviors?
Who do you like and respect the most?
What type of person are you attracted to? Not intimately, but what type of person do you enjoy being around?
Now think of these questions in comparison to Jesus. When you think of Jesus, what acts and behaviors come to mind? What do you think motivated Him to often stop in the middle of whatever He was doing and heal people? Why did He delay His own goals and travels to encourage, help, and love others? I believe He did it because His heart is filled with love and concern for all of us. We can be like Jesus if we try.
God has offered salvation to all of us. It is a free gift. A gift of love. God gave up fellowship with His son for 33 years in order to save us. He watched in intolerable pain as He observed His son become the blood sacrifice for ALL His people. He gave up everything to make sure we know how much we are loved and therefore, able to give that same type of love to others. If only we would follow His commands and example, not only would we improve the lives of others, but we would improve our own lives as well. We are born to love and neglecting to do so makes life much more difficult and painful for us.
My last question: When you leave this earth what do you want people to say and think about you? Including God…
I am here to tell you that YOUR life can be a LOVE STORY, just like Jesus. All you have to do is stop and consider what you can give to others each day to improve their lives, then do it!
Jesus is the Greatest LOVE Story Ever Told and you can choose to leave the same legacy. Amen.
Love, hugs, and blessings, Lisa ><>
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