Am I loving my brothers and sisters and desiring their good?

34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

INSIGHT:  God’s purpose for our loving others is that they might come to know and glorify Him.  God showed us sacrificial love through the life and death of Jesus.  We return sacrificial love when it costs us something to put Him and others first.  Our flesh will often feel that sacrifice, but I can personally attest to the joy that so often comes after, because of His empowering grace.  Jesus said that we are to love each other the way He loved the disciples.  Here are some of the ways Jesus loved them: 

• He intentionally pursued them – John 15:6

• He spent quality time with them- Mark 6:31

• He provided for them- Matthew 17:27

• He comforted them- Matthew 8:25-26

• He taught them- Matthew 5:1-2

• He prayed for them- John 17:9

• He warned them of danger-John 16:1-2

• He corrected them – Luke 10:41-42

• He rebuked them- Matthew 8:26, Luke 9:55

• He humbly served them- John 13:5

• He gave Himself up for them-Matthew 20:28

I used to feel inferior or envious when I compared my ministry to others.  I would see documentaries of people feeding the homeless or feeding the poor orphans in Africa and then say, “that is superior to my work, all I’m doing is sending Christians voice recordings rebuking them, telling them to stop sinning and to obey the words of the Lord.”  Then one day, I realized how wrong my reasoning was from how God sees it, while meditating on Acts 6:2, where Paul said it wouldn’t be right for the disciples to neglect the ministry of the Word of God, to wait on tables, feeding the widows their food.  That was a loving work, and people were appointed to do it, but in God’s heart, the spiritual is superior to the physical.  Jesus told us, “Do not work for food which spoils, but for food, which endures to eternal life.” and “Man cannot live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” I can think of several people who have what I think is a more valuable ministry than me, but God’s word says the gift of love we each give, is acceptable to God according to what we have, not what we don’t have (1 Cor 8:12).  Therefore, the most valuable work for any of us is to do exactly what the Lord has gifted us in, and called us to, whether its picking flowers in private, or teaching the Word of God in public.  Our expressions of love will be different, because of the various gifts and forms of God’s grace (1 Pet 4:10), but He accepts them all according to what He gave us. 

Over the years in ministry, I’ve learned a few things by experience: 1. Hearts are growing harder and colder and our efforts to love others will be met with increasing frustration as in the days of Noah, where not one person listened.  We are approaching those days when Jesus said men can no longer work, but we must continue to trust God, doing the work He asks, regardless of the results.  2. Godly love requires spiritual discernment to know when to persist in love and when to let go.  No one has greater love than Jesus, yet we see Him shutting out from Him those with bad hearts in John 2:24, giving up on the rich young man in Mat 19:23, turning away from the spiritually blind in Mat 15:14, condemning the parents of a new follower as being spiritually dead in Mat 8:22, condemning the religious hypocrites to hell in Mat 23, and removing his offer of mercy in Rev 2:21.  3. There are times when loving others means separating from them, leaving them in their afflictions that brokenness may have its way and God’s will may be done. 4. Sometimes love for others is not what you do for someone, as much as what you don’t do, that you could do, (not paying them back or returning evil for evil).  (1 Sam 24:10, Rom 13:10).   To do what God commands us, and only what He commands us, with a sincere desire to see someone better off (love), is the most valuable work you can do!  Are you doing it?