Loving Others Selflessly

Happy Wednesday! The week is halfway over! This week has been busy and will continue to be busy until Sunday. But, like I said yesterday, busy doesn't always mean bad. 

Today, I am going to talk about loving others. Interestingly, I keep hearing or reading John 13:34-35, and I believe that God is trying to tell me something. John 13:34-35 says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Loving others isn't always easy. It's actually quite hard. Loving others can be uncomfortable, but God is showing me that most great things are uncomfortable. 1st Corinthians 13 says that without love, we have nothing. Also, it essentially says that love is selfless. I don't know about you, but to me, selfless love seems difficult and kind of scary. The definition of selfless is "having little or no concern for oneself".  I don't know if I am ready to have no concern for myself.

God calls us to love selflessly. Without concern for ourselves. Gently, He calls us to love without wanting anything in return. He calls us to love the unlovable and even the ones who do everything but love us. When we, as Christians, love only the people who love us in return, we become hypocrites because God loves us in spite of our failures and shortcomings. So, we should love others in that same way. 

As John 13:34-35 tells us, our love defines us. The way that we love others--and God--describes and determines who we are. If our love defines us, then who are we? Do we represent Christ and the way that He loves us, or do we look like the world? 

When we love the way that God wants us to, barriers are broken, walls of separation are shattered and hearts are healed and made whole again. Our lives, and the lives of those around us, change when we choose to love selflessly, the way God wants us to.

One thing remains: How can you and I love so that the barriers are broken and lives are changed when we are extremely busy and can never catch a breath? Thankfully and amazingly, God doesn't ask us to do it all. It is only through Him and because of Him that we are even able to love others. We don't have to do the miracle working because that is God's job. It is not our responsibility to do everything. We must simply obey God as He calls us to love others and walk closely with Him, and he will take care of the rest.

What do you think? When is it hardest for you to love others?

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