Determine to Love
It means being willing to be misunderstood, mistreated, and misrepresented for the sake of incarnating Christ’s love. It means overcoming evil with good. It means not letting race, social class, gender, age, or ethnicity get in the way of a biblical call to Christlike love. It means being willing to have your schedule and plans interrupted or altered. It means being willing to grant and seek forgiveness. It means paying attention to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the people God puts in your path, and looking for ways to help them bear these burdens. It means believing that God will not call you to a task without giving you what you need to accomplish it. It means being willing to get up earlier and stay up later. It means learning the details about someone’s struggle so that you can love wisely, while at the same time guarding the reputation of the person you are loving. It means weeping with the one who weeps and rejoicing with the one who rejoices. It means being willing to endure tense and uncomfortable situations lovingly. It means not allowing yourself plausible excuses that seemingly free you from love’s call. It means making a commitment to being a faithful friend. It means being willing to take on big things, even as you humbly admit your limits. It means keeping your promises and being faithful to your word. It means being open to correction, loving criticism, and godly rebuke. It means believing in the body of Christ and recognizing that you are but one of the tools in God’s big toolbox of redemption. It means being open to counsel and receptive to advice. It means being willing to go to bed tired and to awake to another day of calling. It means hiding God’s Word in your heart and keeping his Kingdom always before your eyes.
173
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs