If you long to love more and love better—you’re not alone. God has given His children a spirit of love (2 Tim. 1:7), and He changes us, gently and quietly as we move toward Jesus.
To help us to love like Him, we share some foundational thoughts from Dr. Stanley:
Why do you think God made human beings?
Has it occurred to you that it might have been to express His love to us? We were created to love God and be loved by Him—but our ability to receive and return God’s love was corrupted by sin. That’s why we don’t always feel His love, and why we sometimes fail to love Him well.
Human love is imperfect. It’s tainted with self-interest and gets mixed up with feelings like desire and affection. But God’s love, agape, is perfect. It is self-sacrificing and always does what is best for the other person.
The greatest display of His love for us is summarized in Romans 5:8: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
In Christ, our ability to love is restored. Yet we still often feel our love for God is too shallow. I remember early in my Christian life asking the Lord to show me how to love Him.
I found the answer in Matthew 22:37: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
We are commanded to love God with every part of our being.
This means our affections, thoughts, and entire lives are to be centered on Him. The more we grow in our knowledge of God, the greater our love for Him will become. It will overflow in worship, submission, and thankfulness.
We’re also commanded to love others.
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39). At salvation, God’s love was poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit so it could flow out to other people (Rom. 5:5). This includes family, fellow believers, friends, coworkers, and strangers. Jesus even tells us to love our enemies (Luke 6:27).
It’s not always easy to love others. I remember that I once had a difficult time with my heart toward a fellow minister. He and I disagreed on biblical doctrine, and I unfortunately allowed this to affect my personal feelings. One day we were scheduled to preach at the same event. I started listening to him with a bad attitude, thinking I’d just have to endure his message. But as he taught, God poured out His love for this man into my spirit, and my animosity melted away.
I had to ask God to forgive me for acting as though the man were unworthy of my love and fellowship. Christ tells us to love without condition. That means not only those in the church with whom we may not see eye to eye, but even those outside the kingdom who attack us or treat us hatefully.
Pray for God’s love to flow through you to everyone He puts in your path. You’ll be amazed at the results.
Jesus also tells us the standard by which we are to love others: as we love ourselves (Matt. 22:39).
We do this by treating them as we desire to be treated (Luke 6:31). If we hope for consideration, kindness, an attentive listening ear, compassion, mercy, or forgiveness, that is what we should offer to others.
The implication here is that we naturally love ourselves (Eph. 5:29). But there are times when we think little of ourselves and forget how precious we are to God. To counter this, He has given us many comforting words of love in Scripture, such as Zephaniah 3:17, Luke 11:13, and John 14:27.
Only when we understand that God values us very highly are we able to value others in the same way.
To live without loving is to miss God’s purpose for your life. He created you to be loving. As you rely on the Holy Spirit, He will fill your heart so that love will be, more and more, the natural expression of your life.
What a wonderful reminder that the Lord is with us and for us. He wants us to succeed in our desire to love well, even more than we do.
As you practice the encouraging suggestions in Dr. Stanley’s message, may you find yourself growing in love by leaps and bounds.
Till next time, God bless you.
For His glory,
Your friends at In Touch Ministries
P.S. We are so grateful for you! Your faithfulness and generosity make it possible for us to serve millions of people around the world with the hope of the gospel. We simply could not do this without you.
Thank you for loving God and His people. You are a tremendous blessing.