Living Out Love
We live in such a selfish culture, everybody is trying to get something out of somebody, climb that corporate ladder and seem to only be available to return the favour if it’s beneficial to them. This is not the way Jesus lived – in fact, He lived quite the opposite of that. Jesus showed compassion on every human He came into contact with, no matter the cost. The bible says, when Jesus fed the crowd of 5,000 He saw that they were hungry so He, “in compassion multiplied the food and fed them.” In another story, a crowd of people were following Jesus, and although He was heading to get some quiet time, when he saw that the people trying to get a hold of Him were ill He “in compassion reached out to heal them”. There was never a hidden motive when it came to Jesus; his motive was only love because everything He did was done in love.
1 Corinthians 16:14 reads, “Let all that you do be done in love.” I’ve pondered this verse for many years of my life. I would say that I’m fairly good at loving people; but I’ve always wondered how I could be better at this. Loving comes easy to me, but I’m certain if I stepped back and looked at the way I love those around me, it’s in the most convenient times for ME.
On January 1 of this year, my grandmother passed away – she was 96 yrs old and lived a full and beautiful life. God brought this verse in 1 Corinthians to life for me thru the passing of my grandmother; because the truth is, it’s one thing to say “let all that you do be done in love” and it’s another thing to actually live it out. For the last 6 years I’ve watched my own mom set aside her daily needs making multiple trips a day to visit my grandma making sure she was being fed, kept warm and just generally taken care of. Basically she forfeited the happiness of her own life to make sure her own mother could live the rest of her life in peace and comfort. This is love. This is the kind of love that doesn’t think of your own needs but instead the needs of another.
The night before my grandmother passed away, my mom at the age of 72 slept on the ground in a nursing home next to her mother so that she wouldn’t die alone. This selfless picture of love has touched my life more than I can articulate because this is 1 Corinthians 16:14 brought to life.
I’m challenged to lay aside my needs, wants and conveniences to love the way that was just demonstrated to me by my mother. I pray that for both my life and yours that as we move forward operating in the spirit we can let all that we do be done in love. Praise God for giving us Jesus to show us what that looks like – praying that God would put us in more situations where we can show unconditional love in a selfless Christ like way!