Love In Action

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40. KJV)
 
Jesus Himself said the number one commandment was to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. What then does loving God mean? It means that we love God with our whole being. With everything that makes us human; heart (emotional, passion), mind (cognitive, mental), soul (spiritual, prayer), and body (physical, energy). All that we feel, think, say and do should reflect our love for God. Jesus said ALL; therefore we should not hold anything back. We must love Him with everything.
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The number one commandment is our love for God, what is the second? We must love our neighbour as ourselves. Most of us have no problem with the number one commandment but when it comes to number two we falter. How should we love our neighbour? As ourselves; and how do we love ourselves? We:

• Want the best
• Want all that is good
• Think well of ourselves
• Want to be treated with respect
• Are kind to ourselves
• Want to be showered with blessings
• Want the abundant life
• Want nothing negative

God has called us to treat our neighbours in a similar manner.

• Give them the best. Do not give to others what you do not want for yourself or that which you no longer want. Do not give others your garbage. Give to others only what is valuable not those things that have neither extrinsic nor intrinsic value.
• Do good to them. Help them with their problems. Forgive any misunderstanding between you and them.
• Think well of them. Have good thoughts toward your neighbour. Pray for their success.
• Treat them with respect. Watch your tongue; do not be critical of your neighbour. The adage “sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me” is not all true. Words do hurt and the hurt may be deeper and last longer than a broken bone. Allow your neighbour the freedom to be him/herself.
• Be kind to them. Share your time, treasure or talent with them. Take some time to say hello and share a few words. Meet a need they have with your resources or use your skills to help them with a project they are working on or that needs to be done.
• Shower blessings upon them. Pray for them. Pray with them. Show that you care about them and what is happening in their lives. Surprise them with little deeds or gifts.
• Help them to achieve the abundant life. A holistically healthy life is the abundant life that Jesus came to give us.  To help your neighbours to achieve it you will need to help them to be spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically and financially healthy.
• Shower them with all that is positive. Take time to encourage your neighbours. Give them something to smile about. Be honest with them.

Do these and we are obeying Jesus’ command to love our neighbours. Do the opposite and we are helping the evil forces in the spiritual battle spoken about earlier. “But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” (1 John 3:17. KJV)

Who is our neighbour? All people; our best friends, our spouses, thieves, politicians, our enemies, Muslims, Rastafarians, street people, children, adults, etc.

According to 1 John 4:20-21 we cannot do number one (love God) without number two (love our neighbours).

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? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. (1 John 4:20-21. KJV)

Number one is manifested in number two. Jesus has commanded us to love our neighbours; in what practical ways can we demonstrate our love for them? We ought to know our neighbours so well that we are aware of their goals and aspirations, as well as their hurts and needs. We should meet those needs that they are unable to meet themselves.

Church members should not prefer to keep their needs to themselves, rather than share them, because they are afraid of others reactions, especially if it is because they did so and got burnt. Conversely if we have never shared our needs with others but feel we should keep our hurts and needs to ourselves; then we are not allowing our brothers and sisters to minister to us as Christ has blessed them. We are operating from a perspective that may be false or true but we cannot say for sure unless we share our hurts and needs. We should also not be upset if we suffer silently as no one can fill those of our needs that we will not let show. Pride, a weapon used by the evil forces in the spiritual war being waged for our souls, prevents us from sharing in love, the major weapon God uses to defeat those evil forces.

Our gifts and talents are given to us to serve our neighbours in the Name of Jesus. We cannot love God if we do not love the humans we come in contact with (1 John 4: 20-21). How well are you serving others? When was the last time you used one of your gifts to bless someone who was in need? The Lord has given each of us at least one gift that is the perfect solution for a need of someone in our sphere of interaction (usually, but not limited to, our Church home). Likewise He has placed a lack in each of us that can only be satisfied by someone in our sphere of interaction (usually, but not limited to, our Church home). When we can bring the two together we have the most fantastic spiritual fireworks that are beyond our wildest imaginings. You have work to do if you are not experiencing this on a regular basis. Congregations or auxiliaries may want to consider instituting a system where persons place their needs in a box and these needs are indicated to the congregation or auxiliary, without revealing who. Have persons indicating how they can help and match the need with a willing giver. Jesus said we, His disciples, should be known by our love. Can you be identified as a Christian by the love you are exhibiting?

Jesus himself said He came not to be served but to serve. “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,” (Mark 10:45. KJV). Likewise we, His disciples, should not seek to be served but to serve. James, His brother, also said faith without works is dead. “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” (James 2:17. KJV) So we demonstrate our faith through the way we serve God by serving our brothers and sisters (neighbours) here on earth.

You may be asking: what are the benefits of my love in action? Firstly, Jesus commanded us to and therefore we should be satisfied in knowing we are doing His will; but there are other benefits for you and the person you are serving.

• Yours and the recipient’s dopamine levels rise giving a number of health benefits along with feeling good e.g. joy, peace, memory, attention and sleep.
• Feels connected to God in a special way.
• Yours and the recipient’s stress levels are reduced.
• Your resources are replenished to much more than you had before (the more you bless others the more God blesses you).
• Healthy spirit, mind and body.
• Lives longer.
• The fruit of the Spirit flows from your inner being: love, peace, patience, joy, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
• Receive a “well done” reward from our Heavenly Father at the end of this age.

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25: 31-46. KJV)

You will be judged by what you do for others because what you do for others (good or bad) you do for God.

Christ’s disciples must trust and love each other. Then the Church is truly alive and well.
 
Reflection Questions

1. Are you allowing yourself to be God’s love channel of service to others?
2. Have you been guilty of rebuffing someone who approached you with a need?
3. Have you been guilty of keeping your hurts and needs to yourself?
4. What can you do to ensure your neighbours’ needs are being met in love?