For His People was created during a time in my life where I needed to learn how to love people better. Today, I briefly share my story and practical ways to love people better.
I was alone and hopeless during my second year of college (Jan 2021). I was hurt and suffering, which caused much drifting from God. I had a tainted view of God’s love for me and fell into some traps that ended up hurting me because I thought people loved me well.
It was during this time in my life where I learned that a lot of Christians assume that they already love people because they call themselves a Christian. They base love on emotions and how well they’re treated. Our perception of love is tainted.
I discovered where I lacked obedience to God regarding loving others, so I asked myself two questions:
- Why should I love other people?
- And how can I love other people?
I realized that in order to love people better, we must know why we should love them in the first place, so that we can be obedient to God.For His People was discovered in the midst of learning how to love others better. I love to teach, share, and point others to Jesus, and that is how I love others. Our intentions for this blog platform are to extend our love towards others by providing useful information and meaningful relationships so that we can grow as a body of believers. We believe that one of the greatest gifts to another person is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
So, we’ve listed a few reasons as to why we should love other people, and some ways on how to do that.
Why should we love other people?
We should love others because God first loved us — 1 John 4
If ALL sin results in the same punishment (death), then why do I deserve Jesus dying for me more than someone else? God sent his only son for whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16.) God first loved us, and with that love came redemption and a renewed relationship with himself because He sent his only son to die on a cross for our sins.
Now that we have been born again, we have the chance to extend that love to others. We have the chance to show sacrificial and forgiving love to others, or we can taint it and only show love that benefits ourselves. BUT if we choose to falsely share what love is and the meaning of the Gospel, we will be led astray from truth and life that we can only find in Jesus Christ.
We love others because God first loved us. Denying a stranger of true love could potentially prevent them from hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that the way ALL will know we are HIS disciples, is by our love for others (John 13:35).
We should love others because we’re commanded to in the Word of God
God’s law is the standard to which we live and behave. However, as sinners, we will always fall short of God’s expectation. Even if we’ve perfected every other commandment of God, if we fail at loving God and loving others, we would be guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10). Because we are born as sinners (Psalm 58:3; Proverbs 22:15) we have the first inclination to do evil things. Evil thoughts and behavior come from our hearts (Mark 7:20-23). So, when it comes to love, our first instinct is to love ourselves and do what is best for us. But, there is hope, because of Jesus Christ!
He was sent by our Father to die for our sins and save our soul. However, once we accept him as our Lord and Savior, we must submit to His will and commandments in our lives. God commands in Scripture that we must love Him and our neighbors (Deuteronomy 6:5, Joshua 22:5, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27, John 13:34-35). These are his greatest commandments. All of the other commandments are built on the foundation of these.
We love others because we’re commanded to by God in the Holy Scriptures. If we’re obedient to God’s Word, we glorify him!
We should love others to imitate & be an example of Christ — Ephesians 5:1-2
In Scriptures we find that the Christian lifestyle is a continuous process of denying oneself (Luke 9:23) for Jesus’ sake. In order to follow Jesus, or in other words call ourselves a Christian, we must deny ourselves daily.
What exactly does this mean? To put it simply, this means to flee from the natural human instinct to sin and be selfish, or overcoming the natural fleshly desires. (Galatians 5:17 & 5:24) Once we do so, God gives us the strength to be imitators of Christ, and love others (Ephesians 5:1-2).
We love others so that we can be imitators of Christ and win people over to Jesus.
So, How Do We Love God & Others Better?
This is the question I sought after and explored last year. I’ve broken those things down into a few steps. While this blog post isn’t exhaustive to all ways to love better, I’ve provided the crucial steps.
Dive Into God’s Word & Seek Him.
While there isn’t a direct path to learning how to love better, God’s Word is a wondrous place to begin. Not only did God provide commandments by word, he himself is our greatest example of love (John 3:16). God sent his only begotten son, Jesus, to die for those he loved. Reading the Bible is one of the best ways to learn about Jesus and learn how he loved.
Realize That You’re A Wicked Sinner.
For all, this is hard to do, but in order to grow mature as a Christian, it’s crucial to realize that our hearts are deceitful and we are sinners. Without realizing we need a savior, we will attempt to save ourselves. Our salvation is by God and His grace alone. This gives you the opportunity to see others as they, too, are saved and loved by God alone. None of us deserve forgiveness. Not a single one of us on this earth is righteous before God without Jesus. It is through his death on the cross we have been redeemed. We must love others the way Jesus loves us.
Ways to Love One Another.
- Check your own heart for pride & disobedience to God.
- Pray for others.
- Share the Gospel with others.
- Be patient with your words & voice.
- Be quick to love & slow to anger.
- Forgive any wrongdoing.
Reflection Questions:
I encourage you this week to reevaluate how you’re loving others, and attempt to love them like Jesus. Here are some questions to help guide your prayer and evaluation.
- Do you love your friend who is deep in sin & ungodly lifestyle enough to share the true Gospel?
- Do you flee when loving someone gets too hard? Or do you stay, be patient, and learn unconditional love like Jesus?
- How can you love others better?
Talk soon,
Ashleigh