"So these three things continue forever: faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:13 ICB
Welcome back to this writeup on God's love. If you missed the first; Never Enough Of It (Pt 1), please read it so you get the whole package. Read Part 1 here.
Remember Michael Timmis, a great American Christian author, defined love in an intrinsic way we would be seeing together. He says:
"The way I define love is by using the fruit of the Spirit, which starts with love. I believe that joy is love rejoicing, peace is love at rest, patience is love waiting, kindness is love interacting, goodness is love initiating, faithfulness is love keeping its word, gentleness is love empathising, and self-control is love resisting temptation".
5. Goodness is; Love Initiating;
Initiating and interacting aren't the same, but they achieve the same purpose - to meet others. When Jesus met the Samaritan woman, he didn't wait for her to talk first - he started the conversation. And because of the way he spoke to her and how she had never seen love that way, she told others about this wonderful man that told her about her life (John 4). Dear friend, are you always waiting for someone else to say hello first? You could wait forever. How do you want someone to know about Christ, if you don't chin up, give a smile and initiate a friendly hello?
6. Faithfulness is; Love keeping its word;
God's word says: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it (Isaiah 55:11 KJV).
God has never failed on His word
Dear reader, do you keep to what you say or do you deviate from it? Let others see God's love in you when you live up to what you say.
7. Gentleness is; Love Empathising;
Empathy is understanding the emotional state or feelings of others. Children of God are to be respectful towards the feelings of others. Jesus never left us without showing us how he empathised with those sad, relegated and alone. When the crowd who had been with him all day, listening to his sermons were hungry, he knew they were hungry and fed them. When the wine at the wedding in Cana was exhausted, he understood the emergency at hand and he provided a sweeter wine (John 2:1-11).
How do we treat others who come to us with their troubles? Do we neglect them or do we pray for them and attend to their needs if we can?
8. Self-Control is; Love resisting temptation;
Temptation is a time of testing our faith. Jesus was tempted after he just got baptised, and finished fasting too. He had an assignment ahead - he was to bring an end to the barricade between God and man. The devil was out to make him sell his sonship and kingship, but because He loved us, he said no. There was too much to love for, and Jesus couldn't afford to be tempted (Matt 4:1-11).
How much love for God do you have in you, to not fall into that sin?
That porn site you've been so eager to watch, that "chokes" you want to enter with into the exam hall, that place you're going to hide to eat when you should be fasting.
Jesus did all that sacrifice, just because he loves us. We should also love him back, by resisting that temptation and controlling ourselves.
After all has been written and said, God's love is just so much to go around. You can never stop experiencing it or giving it out to others. Show a little love today, don't hoard the love😌🥰.
God bless you.