Live a Lover's Life
So recently in my quiet time I have discovered two verses that have really got me excited about God's word! I am gonna break them down and show the beauty of how God speaks to us.
In 2013, as most of you know, I went to Atlanta. That is where I discovered the beauty of Philipians. If you haven't read Philipians, please make it a priority to do so! It is my favorite book of the Bible. You will discover some of the greatest words of peace and comfort for all seasons of your life.
As I am getting ready for round 2 in Atlanta, I figured Philipians would be a good place to start. I can't even begin to tell you how rewarding it is. Paul writes to the Philipians about things we can relate to and apply to our lives now. Get ready to be excited about God. :)
Part 1-So lets break this down the first part "So this is my prayer, that your love will flourish and that you will not only love but love well. Learn to love appropriately." I think this is so beautiful because it describes how we should live; we should live in love. Love is selfless actions for another person. Our love for Christ should flourish for Christ everyday, and our love for others should flourish every day. One thing that always gets me is to close my eyes and picture myself on the cross. Then slowly fade from seeing myself, to seeing Christ on the cross.. For me. I literally come to tears every time, because He loves me so much. He loves YOU so much. It is our duty to be a place in our own hearts where we can feel His love. I don't think we will ever be able to understand how much He loves us, but my meditation in His word, we can feel and see His love all around us. It is also our duty to spread the love. Think of yourself life a mirror. Mirror Christ-like behavior, but also as His love is put upon you, reflect it back to others. I want every one I come in contact with to feel so loved. I know I fail at this, but I really do try. I want others to know how much I love them because God loves me. We should all try to be not only a light for Christ in others lives, but a warm conversation, a hug or however you show love-just let people know you love them. Hence, love much, love well. Give it all you got.
Part 2-"You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush."- Here I believe Paul is telling us that love enriched by knowledge and moral discernment leads believers to experience what really matters. Be mature in your emotions and know God's word. If you do that, you can feel and experience what God is really trying to show you. You want your love to be genuine and real, not meaningless and short lived. He gives us agape love and we should return that to Him and to others.
Part 3-"Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God." This is my favorite part! This is actually verse 11. I think this is already explained so well, but it makes me so excited, because I strive, yet fall short, of this every day. Like I said before, I want make everyone feel so loved! We should strive to be kind and have great character and serve others daily! Don't you want to enter the gates of Heaven to have God say He is proud of you?! Just imagine that moment! What have you done to make God proud of you? How have you made others feel today? What have you done for others? If you haven't done anything, its not too late! Give someone a compliment, do a surprise gesture, say kind words, help someone out-show somebody you care. Isn't that what its all about? Sharing the love of Christ. With our behavior and showing others we care, we can make Jesus Christ attractive to all.The world is so full of sin. With recent issues like the transgender population and the homosexual community, we know those are sins, but we must still show love towards them. Stand your ground, but show love. I think as Christians, we judge easily because we have a moral compass. That is not an excuse. We should be showing more love to everyone. No exceptions. Because if we don't, who is going to tell them about Christ? Its all about the glory of Christ. We should do everything we do, to honor, glorify and praise God. That is why we are here.
Sometimes it is so hard for us to love someone. Maybe its someone who has hurt you, who isnt kind to you, or maybe just one of those people.. You know what I'm talking about. But we have to. We have to love. We have done so much to defile the name of God, yet He still loves us everyday, regardless of what we do to Him. We want to be loved, by others, so start the chain. Love on somebody you normally don't, someone who is having a hard time, or love on someone just because. You never know what kind of impact you may make on their day. I can't wait to get to Atlanta and hug those sweet babies necks. Most know me, but some don't. That's okay though. It's my job, and your job, to share the word and the love of Christ. I can't wait to see them feel the love of Christ. It's nothing I have done, but its what Christ is doing through me. So if you think you can't change the world, you're right. But God can. God can change you, He can change the world. Don't you want to make others happy? But especially make God happy? Then Live a Lover's Life.
In 2013, as most of you know, I went to Atlanta. That is where I discovered the beauty of Philipians. If you haven't read Philipians, please make it a priority to do so! It is my favorite book of the Bible. You will discover some of the greatest words of peace and comfort for all seasons of your life.
As I am getting ready for round 2 in Atlanta, I figured Philipians would be a good place to start. I can't even begin to tell you how rewarding it is. Paul writes to the Philipians about things we can relate to and apply to our lives now. Get ready to be excited about God. :)
Philipians 1:9-11- So this is my prayer, that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but love well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.- The Message
( You may life KJV or another version better-I just loved the way it explained it here.)
Part 1-So lets break this down the first part "So this is my prayer, that your love will flourish and that you will not only love but love well. Learn to love appropriately." I think this is so beautiful because it describes how we should live; we should live in love. Love is selfless actions for another person. Our love for Christ should flourish for Christ everyday, and our love for others should flourish every day. One thing that always gets me is to close my eyes and picture myself on the cross. Then slowly fade from seeing myself, to seeing Christ on the cross.. For me. I literally come to tears every time, because He loves me so much. He loves YOU so much. It is our duty to be a place in our own hearts where we can feel His love. I don't think we will ever be able to understand how much He loves us, but my meditation in His word, we can feel and see His love all around us. It is also our duty to spread the love. Think of yourself life a mirror. Mirror Christ-like behavior, but also as His love is put upon you, reflect it back to others. I want every one I come in contact with to feel so loved. I know I fail at this, but I really do try. I want others to know how much I love them because God loves me. We should all try to be not only a light for Christ in others lives, but a warm conversation, a hug or however you show love-just let people know you love them. Hence, love much, love well. Give it all you got.
Part 2-"You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush."- Here I believe Paul is telling us that love enriched by knowledge and moral discernment leads believers to experience what really matters. Be mature in your emotions and know God's word. If you do that, you can feel and experience what God is really trying to show you. You want your love to be genuine and real, not meaningless and short lived. He gives us agape love and we should return that to Him and to others.
Part 3-"Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God." This is my favorite part! This is actually verse 11. I think this is already explained so well, but it makes me so excited, because I strive, yet fall short, of this every day. Like I said before, I want make everyone feel so loved! We should strive to be kind and have great character and serve others daily! Don't you want to enter the gates of Heaven to have God say He is proud of you?! Just imagine that moment! What have you done to make God proud of you? How have you made others feel today? What have you done for others? If you haven't done anything, its not too late! Give someone a compliment, do a surprise gesture, say kind words, help someone out-show somebody you care. Isn't that what its all about? Sharing the love of Christ. With our behavior and showing others we care, we can make Jesus Christ attractive to all.The world is so full of sin. With recent issues like the transgender population and the homosexual community, we know those are sins, but we must still show love towards them. Stand your ground, but show love. I think as Christians, we judge easily because we have a moral compass. That is not an excuse. We should be showing more love to everyone. No exceptions. Because if we don't, who is going to tell them about Christ? Its all about the glory of Christ. We should do everything we do, to honor, glorify and praise God. That is why we are here.
Sometimes it is so hard for us to love someone. Maybe its someone who has hurt you, who isnt kind to you, or maybe just one of those people.. You know what I'm talking about. But we have to. We have to love. We have done so much to defile the name of God, yet He still loves us everyday, regardless of what we do to Him. We want to be loved, by others, so start the chain. Love on somebody you normally don't, someone who is having a hard time, or love on someone just because. You never know what kind of impact you may make on their day. I can't wait to get to Atlanta and hug those sweet babies necks. Most know me, but some don't. That's okay though. It's my job, and your job, to share the word and the love of Christ. I can't wait to see them feel the love of Christ. It's nothing I have done, but its what Christ is doing through me. So if you think you can't change the world, you're right. But God can. God can change you, He can change the world. Don't you want to make others happy? But especially make God happy? Then Live a Lover's Life.
Comments
Post a Comment