Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. ~Colossians 3:23 (NLT)
God hasn’t called us to be “half-hearted” people. He wants us to work and serve with our whole hearts. The only way we can do that is if love is the motive behind everything we do. Every decision we make must be filtered through love. When you decide that you are going to go that extra mile and demonstrate to your coworkers there is no task beneath you, you are operating in love. When you step out courageously and speak up for the cause of Christ in front of your children to demonstrate to them their obligation as believers, you are operating in love. The bible teaches that God is love. Therefore, love does nothing half-hearted. Love gets the job done in full, girdled with grace and justice. If we are going to call ourselves Christians, then we must follow Christ and give up "our way" as we seek “His way”. The Lord’s way was to operate unhindered by what others thought. He only cared about what God thought. He called Peter the devil when Peter’s plan didn’t line up with what God’s plan was and Peter ended up the pastor of the early church. We all miss the mark at times because our carnal nature just cannot fathom how selfless love puts us in a better position with God and man than our own agenda. Our way tends to leave us high and dry. It doesn’t ever work out the way we expect it to because we have skewed motives and limited perspectives. Were you any happier before you knew Jesus and learned to walk in love wallowing in all that selfishness? Putting God and others first and loving them more than ourselves is work and it is the work we have been called to accomplish every day.
1 Corinthians 13 is known as the love chapter in the bible. Verses 4-8 tell us “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” (NLT) Are you struggling with any of these? When was the last time you were impatient with God? Have you ever prayed for something for years and over those years it seemed that everyone’s prayers were getting answered but yours? It can be easy to become impatient with God when we aren’t walking in love knowing that He has our best interest at heart. Have you ever kept a record of a wrong? How about that time your coworker took credit for a job you did? Did you keep walking in love and forgiveness knowing that God would make you shine in His time, or have you been trying to make yourself shine ever since with a campaign to promote yourself no matter what the cost? We can come up with plenty of excuses as to why we aren't walking in love whole-heartedly, but there is no good one. The bible says God's love has been poured out in our hearts. We have it and we need to discipline ourselves to live it. The next time you have an opportunity to choose your way or God’s way. Take God’s way. It will make your heart sing as you come up higher in your relationship with Him and the people He has brought into your life. Learn to be led by the Holy Spirit and He will exchange your motives for the Lords and give you an unlimited perspective of what walking in love can accomplish in your life!
The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who was given to us. ~Romans 5:5b (NIV)
What circumstance are you enduring today as an act of demonstrating the love of God?
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