An Active Kind of Love

1 John 3:17-18  But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

The Father charged us with the task of loving our neighbor, but how do we show love to our neighbor? Not with words or talk but in deed and in truth.

So what does this look like in today’s world?

In today’s modern world, we as a society can be so self-consumed that we rarely see the people around us. For example, we may notice that our neighbor hasn’t mowed their grass but have we taken the time to find out why?  

With everyone’s faces looking at their phones, it’s challenging to love your neighbor in deed and truth. To accomplish this, we must put the phone down and begin to form face-to-face relationships once again.

How can we possibly know how to love someone if we don’t have a relationship with that person? So, therefore, we must take time to seek out those around us and begin relationships, nurture those relationships and ask the Father to reveal to us their needs.

Maybe we can mow the neighbor’s lawn.

How can we begin to see the needs around us?

1. Before visiting someone, pray.  Ask the Father to reveal a need you can fill for this person.
2. Keep your eyes open. As you visit, look around and see where you can help.
3. Keep your ears open.  Listen to what the person is telling you. Perhaps their son is too busy to come and mow the lawn, or they are really lonely.
4. Put your phone down.  We don’t give people our full attention when we look at our phones. Giving someone your full attention shows you love and respect them and that they are essential!
5.  Be grateful. The Father has given us the opportunity to represent HIM and to show HIS love. We should be grateful that HE has given us this gift.

I believe that as we love our neighbors in very active ways, we are also loving our Father. If we go back to nurturing face-to-face relationships, we can look to help those around us. We can’t rely on ministries to bring the needs of people to us. We need to be in the world watching, loving, and acting.

I hope this helps.

Blessings,