My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. – John 15:12-13
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. – Romans 12:9-10
My question to you today is this: do you love? And I mean REALLY love the way Christ instructs us to in the Word. Many will probably say, “Yes I love my neighbor and I love God the most.” But, according to the scripture above, do you?
Have you forgiven someone but deep down you’re keeping record of their wrongs in the name of boundaries? Have you justified pushing someone away because of their past actions? I do not write this because I am perfect or have mastered this area- I write this because I know I am guilty and need the Lord to purify me each day in this area. Love is not easy. Human love may be, but true, biblical love isn’t. Because if you’ll look at the verses above, most of us are falling short in this area.
Love is a living sacrifice. It puts others above self. This means loving our enemy just as much as our favorite person. And i’m talking about that 1 Corinthians type of love. I won’t draw this out but I want you to truly let the Lord search and convict you of areas you really aren’t loving others in.
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. – Luke 6:35
How many of us are doing good to our enemies? I leave you with that question today. Because the Lord knows it’s easy to love those who love us, but how well are we loving those who are our enemy? I believe that’s the true measuring stick of how greatly we are loving like Jesus. Are we really loving our Judas? Because Jesus did and did it so well that others didn’t know what Judas would do.
So you may be the most anointed speaker, worship leader, friend, or coworker… but, do you love? Because in the end, that’s all that will matter.
Lord, forgive us and help us to truly be like you in how we love.
Hannah Smith, author of the Moving Mountains blog, is a woman who feels she has experienced a lot of life in her 33 years.
At 19 years old, Hannah joined the Army. After moving around the country, getting a divorce and losing what seemed like everything, she landed back where God wanted her in Ohio, even though she fought the whole way. She is now a devoted follower of Christ and seeks the Lord with all she’s got.
Hannah is married and a RN, but works as a stay-at-home mom to her 3 children per instruction from the Lord.
She loves to hike, travel, drink coffee, and talk about Jesus. Hannah also has a heart to create a home and life in which she can be a safe place for the hurting and the broken. Her biggest piece of advice would be to never tell the Lord you will never do something- because He will most likely then ask you to do that very thing, LOL!
To her readers, Hannah says, “I believe that God set every single one of you reading this apart, for such a time as this. It is my hope and prayer that God would use the words I say to change your life in a way you and I never thought possible!”
by leaps and bounds 
Leave a comment