“Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loves another has fulfilled the law.”
Love is an important word in the New Testament. Paul evidently thought it was important because he wrote that what we mainly owe other people is to love them. The ensuing verses in Romans 8 explain that he meant that if we love God and people, we have fulfilled all of the Ten Commandments. If we keep the first four, which pertain to God, we love God and if we keep the last six, which pertain to people, we love people. This made me think about what the components of our love look like. What can we do to show love for God and people? An acrostic on love came to mind and I will share it here. Listen We can show our love for people by listening to them. People need to have someone who will listen to their concerns. People have a need to be able to share their joys and sorrows with someone who will listen. People spend millions of dollars every year paying people to listen to them. What we say to people is not as important as the fact that we listen to what they have to say. Job’s three friends went to visit with him when they heard about his problems. For seven days they sat with Job and did not say a word – probably listening. It was only when they started talking they really messed up. We need to remember that when we are relating to people. Overlook One might argue with this point because it might seem to be a compromise with sin, and it might be at times, but I have a scripture that tells us this: “Above all maintain an intense love for each other, since love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8 HCSB) Peter quoted from Proverbs 10:12 and it means that love repeatedly forgives others. If God doesn’t hold our sins against us, we can’t hold the sins of others against them when they have repented ( to God, not to us). We might be able to overlook more if we will take a long look in the mirror and think about some of our faults. I’ll quote Jesus here: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Value Every person born into this world is of value, because we were all created in the image of God. We should value people because God values them. I’m not intimating that God values everything that people do. If I meant that I would be calling the Bible a lie, for the Bible tells us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” God will not just judge sin; He has already judged it. But this does not mean that every person is not of value to God, because Jesus died for everyone in the world. After all, the Bible teaches in 2 Peter 3:9 that God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." All people are of value to God and should be to us – as difficult as that might be. Encourage There is not a person in this world that does not need encouragement. I know that I do, and you also need it. We will be encouragers or discouragers Which are you? What do you say to people when they come to you? Even if you have negative things to say, you can still offer encouragement in some form. Which had you rather be around– an encourager or a discourager? Be an encourager. I realize that these components are not the only components of love, and that you might have a different list of components. But I think that you will agree if we adopt this acrostic in our relationships with people they will know that we love them. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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