Dave’s Monday Blast – August 1, 2022
Have you ever noticed that Jesus served others in ways that were unexpected? I know that He was always INTENTIONAL about what He did, so I know He calls us to do the same. Author John Vandenoever comments: “We could spend our entire life on ourselves and give nothing, no thought whatsoever, to anybody else’s needs and stay busy for the rest of our life. The only problem is, that doesn’t fit who you and I are. We are sons and daughters of the living God, and we’re to encourage each other, bear each other’s burdens, help each other, whatever it takes, because we’re to be loving, caring, sensitive people.” (I confess this is hard for me!)
Love is easier when I get to set the terms (Luke 6:32). When I look at my life, I see choices made to protect my comfort, fence in my solitude, and promote pleasure over sacrifice. But Scripture tells us that love is patient and kind, not jealous or proud or arrogant. It does not seek its own benefit, is not provoked, and does not keep an account of wrong suffered. Love keeps every confidence, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:1 – 13).
Furthermore, Christ tells us to “love one another; just as I have loved you (John 13:34). Stepping out of glory, He subjected Himself to hunger, sweaty labor, His earthly parents, and to all manner of temptation. Jesus laid down His life, and so “we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16). He lived to love, and I must do the same.
Vandenoever continues: “Most days these standards seem out of reach, and I feel incapable of matching Jesus’ perfect example. But we are not without hope. We are given the power to love as we look only at Jesus, the originator and perfector of our faith (Ephesians 3:20; Hebrews 12:2). The disciples relied on Christ’s power to dispel demons, Stephen gained courage in the face of death, and Paul found strength for his thorn. In the book of (Acts 4:32 – 35) believers are described as “…one of heart and soul…” and so generous and sacrificial that “there was not a needy person among them”.
In Jesus I can turn from my own comfort, accomplishment, and pleasure to His power to love as He loved. This love is not easy, nor is it “normal”. But consider my brothers the difference it makes as we develop a lifestyle of laying down the best of ourselves for others. As we serve godly love to those around us, may it encourage others to do the same, so that together, God’s transformative love spreads into all our spheres of influence.
