"We thank God always for you...remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ..." (1 Thess 1:3)
Loving is not always easy. It does not come naturally. However, we are required to do it. So we must work to show love, the love of God that is within us.
But how must we work to show this love? What sort of things must we do?
The love of God within must generate love and hope within our hearts when He has taken control over our lives. This love must generate us to care for other people who are lonely, to be aware of people who we know are engaged in spiritual battles, and to support those with financial needs. This list could go on and on, but the point I want to make is that we cannot just expect all these things to happen. For they won't just happen on their own.
We need to work against our sinful inclination of just backing off when someone has a need, for leaving them is easier for us. But rather we must always look out for others, look out for needs and be willing to help. This does not mean that we have to be a stickybeak and know everything about everyone, but we must be aware of the people around us and be willing to lend a hand (or more) where ever it is needed.
And another important aspect is prayer. We need to pray that God will work in us this love for our neighbour and the desire to help and labour for our neighbours needs. When we rely on God for this He will hear us and in His time will answer.
No comments:
Post a Comment