Bible Verse of the Day Sunday August 24th, 2023

1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

In Paul’s writings in what is universally known as the love chapter of the Bible (1 Corinthians 13), Paul lays out in the simplest terms what Godly love looks like in verses 4-7.

Essentially, the Lord tells us that we would be equivalent to robots without love in our hearts. He tells us that we demonstrate our love for God in how we love others. In the great commandment (Matthew 22:36-40), Jesus spoke of the immense value of love for others. He says that it is through our love for others that we show the world just how much we know and love God. Loving God and loving others should then be our number one priority.

Sometimes, we throw the term “we love” around, referring to how we view certain worldly matters in our lives, “we love our cars, we love our new vacation home, we love traveling. However, this is not the form of love that the Word of God speaks of. Notwithstanding the world’s concept of what love is, there is great confusion in the world about what love means. People sometimes misconstrue love as a feeling. Several years ago, there was a pop song entitled “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.” People speak about “falling in love” like they slipped on the ice and fell in the parking lot. The sad aspect of this scenario is that just as fast as they fall in love, they fall out of love. For too many people, love is a sea of feelings; even though love produces certain feelings, love itself is not a feeling but a choice. If we do not choose to love, the world will see us as hypocrites because we are in love one day, and the next, we have fallen out of love.

The most loving thing we can do for another human being is tell them about the love that Jesus has for all humanity. If we truly possess the love we profess, the love of God, we will live our lives as a reflector of the love of God, through Christ Jesus, for the world to see. The greatest desire that all Christians, all followers, and believers in Christ Jesus can possess is to share the gospel with the lost of this world. The most effective method we can utilize is allowing the way we live to be a sermon for those who need the saving grace of Christ Jesus in their lives.