Faith Directed Love

Faith Directed Love. Having just had Easter with the remembrance of Jesus Christ’s love for us with His sacrifice on the cross for our sins, this is an opportune moment to reflect on the real meaning of love. In 1 John 4:19, we read; ”We love each other because He loved us first,” thereby expressing the love of Christ as a mirroring of Christ’s own love for us. On the topic of love, it was a dad who told me his expression of love is working hard to take his family on a memorable holiday. A mum said today she’s showing love to her children by teaching them about consequences. A businessman showed love this week by giving a great sum of money to a local charity. A teenager showed love by mowing his neighbour’s lawn. A toddler showed love by serving me a pretend coffee in a pretend cup. Love can be expressed in many different ways but the directional flow of love is changing significantly these days with the rise and rise of self-love. We live in an age of me-time, self-identity, self-expression and selfies; we are encouraged to be in touch with our own beliefs and to prioritise ourselves first. Reading the words from James 2:8 it says ‘Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the scriptures: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”’ It doesn’t suggest we love ourselves before we love others, but it recognises that we understand fully the love Jesus has for us and the emphases must be on reaching out to others in the same way Jesus reached out to us. The scripture indicates that this is the right way for us to live. This plan is simple and it works well when we’re all playing by these same rules. If we all help out the people around us then nobody misses out because then we can confidently say; “I know someone is looking out for me.” It’s a plan made in heaven, just some food for thought.