Love, Love, Love

A topic that was placed in my hear this afternoon was love in action.  There are two different passages in Romans that I want to share with you.

Love in Action

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of lower position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of the everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. ( Romans 12:9-21 ) 

Love is something that you must also do. You cannot just say you love something, or love someone, you must love with action. That action is your actions and what you do on a daily basis. When people you are around start to talk wrongly about someone, you love by not participating or telling them to stop. When you see your friends doing something or saying something they shouldn't be doing...you can love by saying something. People cause and swear, it's not right, but it's just something that people do, it may sound a little dumb but when I have heard my friends swear this week, I say something about it. We need to live in harmony with one another. Like the scripture said, we need to rejoice with those who rejoice in mourn with those who mourn. We must associate with everyone. Not just the people who we are comfortable being around but everyone. When people do wrong to you, don't try to get revenge but try to show them love and that you care for them deeply. That is what God does for us. We screw up and we sin every single day. When we sin, we are wronging God, he doesn't try to get revenge against us. HE LOVES US. We are broken. We are so messy. Yet, God still loves us unconditionally.

That is what love is action looks like.

Love Fulfills the Law

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal, "You shall not covet," and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. ( Romans 13:8-10 ) 

There is one thing about this passage that sticks out to me and I love. It's the part that says all the commands can be summer in one one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Lastly, the day of salvation is near. Every single day that goes by the day becomes closer and closer. I am so excited for that. As scripture says..."The night is nearly over; the day is almost here." Since the day is coming quicker than we know, we must put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. We need to love as many people as we can before we run out of time.

Don't miss out on any opportunities to love someone or to show love to someone today.

You are loved!