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[irshjne]

Loving Others Well

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‎Do you know what love means? Many people grow up with imperfect pictures of love. It can be difficult to think about when we may not have ever experienced true love. It can be even harder to love others when we aren’t sure what that means. 

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‎Jesus spoke a lot about love, and He also commanded His followers to love people. More than that, Jesus modeled love in His life and ministry. He gave us a picture of what pure love looks like.

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‎Jesus instructed His disciples multiple times to love one another. The Old Testament also contains commands to love others. Jesus’ command is new, not because it was the first time it had ever been said, but because He uses Himself as the standard.

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‎He doesn’t command us to love people until we’re tired. He doesn’t say to love others until we don’t feel like it. He says to love others in the same way He has loved us.

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‎Jesus loves us unconditionally. He does not hold anything back from us. Instead, He gave His entire life up for us. And He didn’t do this to please other people—but because He loved His Heavenly Father, and His Heavenly Father deeply loved us. It was unconditional love that led Jesus to the cross.

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‎Jesus cares about the quality of our love toward others, and the measure of the quality of our love is Jesus, not people. We shouldn’t compare our acts and thoughts  against other people, because the only person we are called to be like is Jesus Himself.  

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‎Think about the past few days and reflect on how loving you were toward other people. Did you go out of your way to help someone? Were you selfless in showing love? Consider a few practical ways you can love others the way Jesus loves you. Spend some time in prayer, and then take a step toward showing someone love.

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[irshjne]

Let's Heal Together

Imagine a sick person who won’t tell anyone about their symptoms. Without help, getting through their illness would be challenging. Whether they need help from a doctor or just someone checking to see how they’re doing, it’s much easier to heal with the help of others. 

Similarly, when we don’t tell anyone about the challenges we’re facing, it can be harder to work through them.

Sometimes we do things we know are wrong, but we don’t tell anyone about it because we're embarrassed, ashamed, or think we can handle it on our own. This is because we’re all affected by sin—the wrongdoing and brokenness that separates us from God. It can be hard to share our mistakes with others, but when we keep our sin to ourselves, we’re like the sick person who won’t ask for help—we suffer in isolation rather than allowing others to help us heal. 

James 5:16 tells us to share our wrongdoings with other believers so that we can heal together and pray for one another.

When we share our past mistakes with someone, we are released from isolation. And when we pray together, we give God the opportunity to heal our hearts. God is our healer—He saves us from the eternal consequences of sin through His Son, Jesus Christ! And because of Jesus, we have access to a relationship with our Creator. We can bring our requests to Him and trust that He hears us. 

This doesn’t mean that God will always answer our prayers in the way we think they should be answered. Instead, when we share our brokenness with Him, He invites us on a journey that will help us grow closer to Him. 

If you’re struggling with something today, take some time to share it with a trusted believer. Allow them to pray with you, and you with them, as you ask God to guide you as you heal.

🗒️-Aia