One gift from God has been given to His children, setting them apart from the rest of the world. There is one thing that characterizes a servant of the Lord and is opposite to that of the wicked: God’s most significant and powerful characteristic. It is what can change the vilest of sinners to become compassionate, merciful, kind, and gentle. What is it? It is simply the love of God.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8
You will recognize His children by their love because they are full of the fruits of His Spirit: love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, patience, and self-control. It is different and unique from anything you have experienced in your everyday life. That is compared to the love of man and the world around us. God’s love causes wars to end, enemies to become friends, and heals broken hearts. Those who truly experience God’s love are transformed from feeling despair and loneliness to having hope and warmth in their souls for their savior, Jesus Christ.
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you, I entrust my life. Psalm 143:8 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word, I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, Psalm 30:5-6
Only God’s love can change the world. Only His love can motivate the worst of enemies to make amends and come together in peace. Just as it was written in the past, a gentle answer turns away wrath, and love can cover a multitude of sins. This is true. Think about it: if you are outraged and the other person answers with a calm, controlled demeanor, with forgiveness in their voice, it can deescalate the entire argument.
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8
Can you see how critical loving one another is? So many people in this world deal with the overwhelming temptation to hate one another daily. But deep down in their heart, they are desperate to be loved. They may not feel like loving, but they desire everyone to treat them with kindness, understanding, and compassion.
It may feel foreign to them when you show them the patience and love of God’s love, but it has the power to flip the script and change their heart. Those lost in this world need to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God’s love letter to them. They need to see the love of the Lord. Most don’t even know it is their deepest heart desire.
Besides the Gospel, they need to hear the truth. The truth is that they are sinners and that they have broken God’s Law. They need a healthy amount of fear for the Lord and knowledge of the judgment to come that the devil has been hiding from them for their whole lives and that they will be held responsible for their wrongdoing. But it must be communicated and expressed simultaneously with love, gentleness, and boldness.
But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15
Listen, if you have great exploits in your life, built great empires in business, are successful in multiple ways by the world’s standards, or have even become world-renowned as a preacher or church leader. But still, you have not shown others love by the works of your hands. It very well may be that you have done nothing for the Lord at all.
Remember what Paul said through the Spirit of the Lord, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3,13
Without the fear of God, you will never seek to do His will. Without faith in God, you will never please Him with your deeds. Without God’s love abiding in your heart, you will never reach out to others, which is His plan for your life, and therefore, you will never receive the reward He wants to give you. So seek the love of the Lord so that you may have what He has planned for you and that your top priority in life will be to love one another.
The Soul Sower 