Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
How many conditions have you put on the way you love others? Well with God there are no conditions or limits to how He loves. He shows no respect of persons (Romans 2:11). We love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). There is no partiality with God (Acts 10:34).
The next question is how do we measure up to loving that way? The truth of the matter is we can’t. We are covered in flesh and it is a constant battle of offenses that often separate us from those we really love.
Though we should love unconditionally most of us struggle to do so. There is refuge in trying to love with godly love and understanding you won’t do it with perfection.
There will be times when those we care about make it easy to love them. There will be other times when the person we are trying to love, we fight to love them. What do we do in those times? We trust God to give us the strength to love them as best we can.
Jesus never came to condemn the world. His ministry was for the lost, spiritually bound, and those who felt separated from God (John 3:17). As we try to love others with godly love we must remember we are limited. Sometimes it can be a fight to love those who are broken.
The love that Jesus showed on calvary we can never measure up to. All we can do is strive to give a piece of that to our friends, loved ones, and surprisingly even our enemies.
The way we love is founded in our relationship with God. We must understand that as we get closer to God loving others with godly love is strengthened.
Godly love is love that gives space for God to use us to be a light to others. No matter the offenses as believers we are the example of how to love with godly love. Yes, it is hard, but loving with godly love grows as we grow and mature in Christ.
Give yourself grace, you will not be perfect in it, but strive to love with godly love.❤💖💞
Resilient Inspired Spiritual Excellence R.I.S.E. 