“How excellent is thy loving kindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.”
Psalm 36:7
In the above scripture notice what it says draws people to put their trust in God; His loving kindness. People turn to God because of the revelation they have as to how much He loves us. Therefore, as believers in Christ, what should be the main thing people notice about us? Our loving kindness toward others.
You can purchase the most expensive luxurious car in the world, but if you open up the hood and find there is no engine, then it doesn’t do you much good. It won’t get you anywhere. The same is true with our faith walk. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NKJV) tells us: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”
Isn’t that interesting, you can have all knowledge, mountain moving faith and even give all to the poor, and yet without love, it doesn’t profit you at all. Why and how could this be? Well, God Himself is love. Therefore, if you have not love, then God is not in it. Without God, it doesn’t amount to anything. If we don’t have love, then we don’t have God working through us; lives will not be changed for the better. This is why 1 John 3:22 tells us: “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and LOVE ONE ANOTHER, as he gave us commandment.” Galations 5:14 tells us: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” In Mathew 22:37-40 Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is and He responds: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Faith works by love. If you are operating in unforgiveness, judgementalism, pride, selfishness, envy, malice or strife, then you are not acting in love and your faith will be like that beautiful car without an engine. LOVE IS THE ENGINE THAT MAKES FAITH WORK.
Many people think that love is a feeling, an emotion, but it is much more than that. The emotion is a by product of love in action. Love is a choice. It is a decision of your will. You choose to love regardless of how you feel. Corinthians 13:4-9 (NIV & NKJV) describes as such: “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; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
Love and Faith are inextricably linked. When the Lord lists our armor in Ephesians 6, He tells us to put on our “Breastplate of Righteousness”. What exactly is the Breastplate of Righteousness? The answer is in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the BREASTPLATE OF FAITH AND LOVE: and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.”
Romans 2:4 says: “…the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.” Are you showing people the goodness of God in your everyday life? Are you putting love into action by doing what Jesus commands? In Mathew 7:12, Jesus tells us: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Are you treating others the way you would like to be treated? Do you see the best in others? Do you see them the way God sees them? Love is the key. Love covers a multitude of sins.
The good news is you don’t have to rely on your own love to love others. God shed His love abroad in your heart when you got born again. Love is one of the fruits of the spirit. How do you get fruit to grow? You water it, you feed it. Exercise the love of God that is in you and watch it grow. Meditate on those things that are true, honest, lovely of good report. Choose to think the best of others; instead of assuming the negative, think the best of them and assume the positive. Meditate on scriptures that speak of how much God loves you. Get the revelation deep down inside of you of how much you are loved by God. As you realize His love for you, then you are able to more easily love others. Feed your spirit with the word of God. Confess 1 Corinthians 13 over yourself; declare that you are patient, you are kind, you do not envy. As you make this confession of faith and water it, it will grow in you.
Finally, learn to forgive yourself and others quickly. Don’t worry if the feeling isn’t there. You continue to walk by faith in love, and that feeling of love will magnify in your heart.
1 John 4:7
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God: and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another; God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.”
1 John 4:16-19
“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us, God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother; he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.”
1 John 5:1
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
Galations 5:6
“For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”
1 Peter 4:8
“And above all things have fervent charity [love] among yourselves: for charity [love] shall cover the multitude of sins.”
1 Peter 2:17
“Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.”
Romans 13:9-10
“For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
Ephesians 4:29 -32
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
