Walking In Love - Are You Keeping Score?

"does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;"
1 Corinthians 13:5 (NKJV)

Have you ever met someone who remembers the score from some sporting event, or the last time their team played a certain opponent?  Then, the next time that important type of game comes up, or when the other opponent is mentioned, that person remembers exactly what happened in the last game, what the score was, and they can even tell you about specific parts of the game.  That can just be a dedicated sports fan, or it can be someone who is obsessed with something in the past.  It is one thing to be a sports fan and have a favorite team, but often past games and scores are better left in the past.

People want to remember the good things in life, and to forget the bad things, usually.  But some people will keep in mind something that someone else did, that offended them or actually hurt them, and the person who was offended or hurt will remember that thing more than they should.  Everyone has been offended and hurt by someone else, but if we are keeping track of the wrong things people have done, and in some way we are keeping "score" with exactly what happened, when it happened, and how terrible it was, that is the kind of thing that can develop into a serious problem. 

In 1 Corinthians 13:5, we see that one of the characteristics of the God kind of love is that it "thinks no evil."  The word "thinks" here, in the NKJV of 1 Corinthians 13:5, means to take an inventory, with the idea of "counting up" something, like someone would keep score in some sporting event.  If we are going to walk in love, where we are fulfilling the will of God, living in the blessings of God, and being helpful to other people, we will need to learn to forget about past wrongs, accidental or intentional, and walk in love towards others.  We need to stop keeping score and start walking in the God kind of love.

Walking In Love - Plank Awareness

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye."
Luke 6:41-42 (NKJV)

It can be easy to notice problems other people have, and be irritated and offended by them, without having any awareness of issues in our own life that cause problems for others.  A good example of this is how people deal with their luggage when boarding a plane, and they sometimes bump into others with their things.  And then they store their bags without any thought of how what they are doing affects anyone else.  It would be better if everyone paid a little more attention to what they were doing, and how it affects others.

While people seem to get more and more self-absorbed, this is not a good thing, and it is definitely contrary to what the Bible teaches.  Too often people are caught up in their own world and what matters the most to them, and they have no thought for how what they are doing affects others.  It can be hard to break the habit of selfishness, and to not be offended when other people act poorly, but as Christians, we have the love of God in our heart, and we can be kind and walk in love towards others.

In Luke 6, Jesus talked about people who saw a small problem that someone else had (which He compared to a speck), and how these people seemed oblivious to the problem they themselves had (which Jesus compared to a plank).  It is easy to see the faults of others and miss the things in our own life that need to be dealt with.  Rather than look at other people's problems (the specks), we need to walk in love and have some "plank awareness," through the help of the Holy Spirit and living by the standard of God's Word.  That way we can be more effective in helping others.

Walking In Love - Fulfilling Requirements

"Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law."
Romans 13:8 (NKJV)

To fulfill, in the sense of a contract or obligation, means to meet all of the necessary requirements.  If you signed a contract to rent an apartment for a year, to fulfill that contract you would then need to rent the apartment for a year.  If you were obligated in that rental contract to pay the rent by the first day of each month, then doing that is what would be necessary in order to fulfill that obligation.  If you did not meet the requirements, or did not do what was necessary, you would not have fulfilled the contract or obligation.

In what we call the Old Testament, God gave the Law to Israel to show them what He required from them as His people, to live the life that they should live.  No person was able to fulfill the Law, until Jesus came and fulfilled it for us.  Today, as New Testament believers, we are not under the Law or the requirements of the Law.  But, the principles of what is found in the Law are still valid for us today.  The New Testament says that if we are led by the Holy Spirit we are not under the Law and that by walking in love we fulfill the Law.

While we no longer live under the Law, we still want to do what is right and not violate any of God's Commandments that were given to show us the right way to live, and we can do this by walking in love.  If we live a life demonstrating the love of God, if we are walking in love towards others, and we always respond with the love of God, we will never violate any of God's commandments.  Love never fails, and living a life of walking in the love of God not only fulfills the requirements of the Law, but it is the best way to live.

Waking In Love - Love Is Not Envious

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up."
1 Corinthians 13:4 (NKJV)

Envy is defined as an awareness of an advantage of some kind that someone else has, and the desire to possess it.  This "advantage" could be some material thing, or it could be a position that another person has, or some favor that was shown towards someone else.  Often, envy and jealousy are seen as the same thing, although not everyone might agree with that.  The point is that when someone has, or is doing, something that you are not, and you wish you had what they had, that is envy.

In Galatians 5:21, we are told that envy is a work of the flesh, 1 Corinthians 13:4 tells us that love does not envy, and Romans 5:5 says that the love of God is in our hearts.  From these verses we can see that if we have envy over something that someone else has, it is something coming from the flesh, from our natural desires, and not from the love of God that is in us.  If we are envious about something, it shows us that we are being motivated by the wrong desires and looking to the natural rather than the spiritual side of life.

If we are envious, then we are focusing on the wrong thing, and instead of trusting in God and what He can do for us, we are comparing ourselves to others and giving in to the idea that somehow someone has some advantage over us.  God loves us and if we put our faith in Him then He will supply whatever we may need, just as much as He has done for anyone else, so there is no reason for us to envy or covet what someone else has.  We need to walk in love and be glad for the good things we see in the lives of others.

Walking In Love - Looking Out For Number Two

"does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;"
1 Corinthians 13:5 (NKJV)

While I do not know for certain if people still say this or not, there used to be an expression where people would say something like, "I'm looking out for number one".  The basic idea was that you had to pay attention to what was important to you, because no one else will.  Although there is some truth in that statement, and we do need to pay attention to what is going on in our own life, we don't want to be so self-centered that all we do is pay attention to what we need and ignore everyone else.

It is natural for us to be more interested in what is important to us than what is important to someone else, but is that always the way it should be?  We can be so concerned about what we want that we never notice the needs of other people or the things they are dealing with.  The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:5, that love "... does not seek its own ..."  Well, if love is not seeking something for itself, what is love looking for?  The answer is that love looks to meet the needs of others. 

The question is, will we be like Jesus and be moved with compassion to help those around us and do what we can to meet their needs, or will we be self-centered and selfish people who believe that our main focus in life should be on ourselves and what we want?  Love does not seek its own, but love seeks to meet the needs of others, and that is a goal for all of us.  If we are going to walk in love, we need to stop being overly focused on looking out for number one, and start looking out for number two, for other people.

Walking In Love - How Hard Did You Look?

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;"
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NKJV)

When you lose or misplace something, you usually look for it until you find it.  How hard you look for something depends on how much you want to find it.  For example, one time I misplaced my passport.  If I am not carrying my passport with me, there is one place I usually keep it, and when I could not find my passport, I looked as soon as I could, every place that I could, until I found it.  But, if I had lost an old pen, I would not bother looking for that, because it has no real value to me.

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul talked about what real love is and how love acts.  One characteristic of love is seen in 1 Corinthians 13:5 where it tells us that loves "does not seek its own".  In other words, love does not seek what it wants, love seeks what others want and need.  If you are really walking in love and displaying the love of God towards someone, you are not focused on what you want, you are interested in what the other person is interested in and you are looking for the things they are looking for.

In the area of walking in love, how hard do we look to help others and meet the needs of others compared to our own?  Are we only seeking what benefits us, or are we considering others and seeking what is best for them, regardless of our own interests?  If things were reversed, how much would we want others to help us find what we are looking for?  True love helps others find what they are looking for; this is an area that we can all develop in.

Walking in Love – All And Nothing

"And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."
1 Corinthians 13:2 (NKJV) 

When I travel in Europe, one thing I pay attention to is the currency that I need to use.  This is not too difficult in Europe, because many nations there use the Euro as their currency.  But, in some countries, like Norway and Denmark, they do not accept the Euro.  There have been times that I was in one of those nations, and I have had some Euros in my possession, but I have not been able to use them.  No matter how many Euros I had, I was not able to purchase anything, so despite all the Euros that I had, it really amounted to nothing.

In writing about the love of God, in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul talks about what love is and he also gives some examples about how valuable love is.  In 1 Corinthians 13:2, Paul says that someone could be able to prophesy, understand all mysteries, have all knowledge, and all the faith necessary to move a mountain, but without love it would be nothing!  Love is so valuable, and so important, that no matter how much you have of anything else, without love those things are worthless; all you would have amounts to nothing.

The really wonderful thing is that as Christians we do have the God kind of love in us (Romans 5:5), and so we should do all that we can to let God’s love work in us and through us.  No matter how much we have of anything else, without the love of God operating in our lives, it is all for nothing!  We all need to be sure that our emphasis is not on just knowing a lot or even having vast amounts of faith, but our focus is on developing in the love of God.

Walking in Love - Is Louder Better?

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal."
1 Corinthians 13:1 (NKJV) 

Have you ever been in a place where someone had the idea that louder is better?  It might be that someone thought that by talking louder the other person would hear them better.  Or it could be that someone thought that by turning up the volume of the music, that somehow this would make the music better.  The quality of speech, music, or anything else does not improve just because it gets louder, or even if there is more and more of it.  If something is good, it can be quiet and still be good, because the quality of the thing itself is what matters.

People call 1 Corinthians 13 the “love chapter” because love, the God kind of love, is described there.  Usually, people will focus on verses four through eight, but the entire chapter is talking about love.  The first verse of this chapter gives us a very important fact about love; if what we say is not said in love then we are just making a lot of noise and wasting our time.  Sometimes people think that if they just have more emotion or volume with what they say, or if they say something more and more, that somehow this makes what they say relevant, important, or valuable.

The words we use are important, but if we are saying something with the wrong motive, or just to prove we are right, then it does not matter how loud or lengthy it is, it is not worth listening to.  If we wrap our words in love, if we make it our aim to use our words to help and comfort others, we don’t have to be loud or even use a lot of words, the meaning will come through “loud” and clear.  Make sure that what you say is said with the right motivation and in love, and you will have a sweet sound to your words.

Walking in Love - The Know It All

"For we know in part and we prophesy in part."
1 Corinthians 13:9 (NKJV) 

Have you ever met a “know it all” type of person?  Most of us have, and it is usually not a very pleasant experience.  Sadly, there are some people who think that they do in fact know it all and you really can’t tell them much, if anything, that they do not think that they already know.  The problem is that no one really knows it all, because there is always more to learn.  If someone has the “I know it all” attitude it also very often results in those people having a bad attitude.

Christians are called to walk in love.  This is not always the easiest thing to do, and we all have room to grow in this area.  One thing that has helped me to walk in love with others is what we read in 1 Corinthians 13:9, “we know in part”.  No one knows everything about every other person, and if we really understand this it can help us to walk in love.  We don’t know what other people are dealing with, and we don’t know all of the things that they may have gone through.

In 1 Corinthians 13 we can read about the love of God, and Romans 5:5 says that the love of God is in us.  But how does that work in our lives?  If we look at the characteristics of love in light of how we only know a part of what is going on with the other person, it can help us to be patient, kind, and so on.  We need to understand that we don’t know everything about other people and that they may not even realize how poorly they are behaving.  By recognizing that no one knows everything, we only see a part of things, it can help us to walk in love.

Walking in Love - Adult Language

"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things."
1 Corinthians 13:11 (NKJV)

Almost every movie or show on television has some kind of a rating that tells you who the suggested viewing audience is.  One of the things that is considered in this rating is the type of language that is used, which usually refers to profanity.  There have been times that I saw a rating for some movie or show that cautioned people because "Adult Language" was involved.  What they meant is that there was some profanity used and this movie or television show was not appropriate for children, hence the term "Adult Language".

While being a Christian is not based on following a set of rules, there are some things that are appropriate for us to say and do and some things that we should not say or do.  One thing that is always right is walking in love.  If we allow the love of God to help guide us in our life, we will have a much better life and we will be a greater help and blessing to others as well.  1 Corinthians 13 talks about the love of God, and Paul helps us to see that speaking in love is the kind of "adult language" that Christians should be using.

Paul said that when he was a child that he spoke, understood, and thought as a child.  Children tend to be self-centered; everything revolves around what they want and what makes them happy.  This is true of natural and spiritual children.  Paul goes on to say that when he became an adult that he put away the childish things.  For Christians, we need to grow and develop to spiritual adulthood and act and speak accordingly, in love.  As a part of our walking in love with others, we need to be sure that the words we use are motivated by the love of God and not our own personal interests.

Walking In Love - Whose Parade Is It?

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself; is not puffed up;"
1 Corinthians 13:4 (NKJV)

There are many different kinds of parades.  There are 4th of July Parades, Veteran's Day Parades, Thanksgiving Day Parades, and even a Circus Parade.  In 4th of July Parades, there are always a lot of flags and symbols of the USA, for Veteran's Day Parades, there are a lot of military things involved.  But, wouldn't it be strange for there to be things from the Thanksgiving Day Parade in the 4th of July Parade?  And wouldn't it be odd for things from the Circus Parade to be in the Veteran's Day Parade?  The answer of course is yes, those things would be inappropriate, they would be in the wrong parade. 

In 1 Corinthians 13, we have a detailed description of what love is.  In the New King James Version of the Bible, it says in verse 4 that "love does not parade itself".  The word "parade" used here literally means "to boast", with the idea of boasting about oneself.  We learn that if we are walking in love we will not focus on ourselves, telling others about what we have done and putting our own deeds or character on display.  This is where I like the use of the word "parade".  If we are walking in love we do not make a parade out of what we have done, but we might do that for others.

It is never a good thing to brag about yourself, talk like that is self-centered and arrogant.  But, what if we know of someone else who has done something deserving of praise?  Would it be good, and walking in love, to let someone know that what they did was good and appreciated?  Instead of focusing on ourselves and hoping someone will notice us, what if we would pay attention to others and look for opportunities to share and promote what they have done and point out their good deeds?  That is what love would do, love does not focus on itself, it looks for ways to say good things about, and promote, others.

Walking In Love Is Always Appropriate

"Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end] ..."
1 Corinthians 13:8a (AMPC)

Have you ever been to a party or some event where when you arrived you realized that everyone else was dressed in a different style than you were?  Maybe you thought it was a very casual event but you found out that everyone else was dressed up.  It might be that no one told you what the right style of clothing was, or maybe some notice was given about what to wear and somehow you did not find out.  No matter how it happens, it is always a bit uncomfortable to find out that what you are wearing, or even what you are doing or saying, does not fit in and is not appropriate.

Not wearing the right type of clothing can be uncomfortable, but it is not the end of the world, acting inappropriately or saying something that is out of line is another thing all together.  Unfortunately, there is not one perfect set of clothes you can wear that will always fit in and be appropriate, but there is a way that we can be sure that what we do and say will be appropriate in every situation, that is by walking in the love of God.  In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul talks about the love of God and he shows us what it looks like by giving us a clear definition of what love is and how we can and should act to display God's love to everyone, in every situation.

If we learn to walk in love by following the guidelines given in the Bible, and by looking for ways to do things that will help and build up others, then we will always say and do the right things at the right time.  No matter what the circumstance, walking in love is always appropriate, the love of God fits and works in every situation.  And the good news is that as Christians we can walk in love because the love of God is in us (Romans 5:5).  By walking in the love of God and allowing it to be what motivates us, we can be assured that what we say and do will always be good, right, and appropriate.

A "Must Have"

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing."
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NKJV)

There are some things that are considered so necessary that they are often called a "must have", something you can't do without.  These are things that are absolutely essential to the situation.  For example, if you are interested in traveling to another country you must have a passport, without a passport you are not even allowed to leave your country.  Another example would be having fuel in your car.  You can have the nicest, newest car around but if you don't have the necessary fuel your car will not move.  Or you could have the latest telephone with the latest technology, but without a network connection it is useless.

In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul talked about something that is a must have for success in the life of a believer, love in everything we say and do.  When Paul wrote about love, he was not talking about what most people commonly refer to as love, Paul was writing about the love of God, not some emotion.  In Romans 5:5 we learn that the love of God is in us and because of this we can, and should, operate in God's love.  Anything that we do or say that is outside of the love of God will not really benefit us, or anyone else.  No matter what we do, if we do it outside of love it will not have the results it should have.

Paul talked about having the ability to speak the most wonderful words, but without love it would all be just noise.  Paul said we could have knowledge, understanding, and faith, but without love it would still amount to nothing.  Paul also told us how we could do the greatest acts of kindness and charity, but without love there is no benefit to us.  There are many things that we can do that are good, but without the right motive behind it, without love, those things would mean nothing.  Love is something that is "must have" for Christians, it is essential for everything that we say and do.

How We Walk In Love

"For you, brethren, have been called to liberty, only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."
Galatians 5:13-16 (NKJV)

Knowing what to do is one thing but knowing how to do it is another thing entirely.  You can hear about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle of eating right and exercising but exactly how you do that is something else.  People can give you advice on the benefits of investing and saving money but where do you start with that and how do you do it effectively?  If you only know what to do but you don't know how to do it you are not really going to be able to succeed in what you need to do, we need both the what and the how of things.

Most Christians understand the idea that we are supposed to be kind and patient and walk in love with everyone.  But, if you ask believers how to do that you will get a lot of different answers.  We are told in Galatians 5 that we need to serve each other through love and that love fulfills that law, but exactly how does that work?  How can you walk in love with everyone, including the people that seem to do nothing but annoy you?  The good news is that God not only shows us what we need to do but He gives us the guidelines necessary to be able to do what He tells us to do and the help of the Holy Spirit to do it.

Galatians 5 tells us what to do and it also tells us how to do it.  We are told that if we only focus on our liberty, our side of things and what benefits us, we will just end up biting and devouring one another.  Insisting on our own rights and ways is yielding to our flesh.  But, if we follow the direction of the Spirit of God and follow the guidelines that God gives us in His Word then we will serve one another and not fall prey to the lusts of our flesh.  If we follow the flesh we will have chaos but if we follow the Spirit we will walk in love and produce the fruit of the Spirit.  The choice of what we follow is up to us and will determine if we walk in love or yield to the flesh.

Walking In Love - Believing The Best About Others

"Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]."
1 Corinthians 13:7 (Amplified Bible)

Has someone ever cut you off while you were driving and your first thought is that they have no idea how to drive?  Have you ever been in a restaurant and the server was not as sharp as they ought to be and you think they are the worst service person ever?  Have you ever been boarding a plane, train, or bus and someone got in front of you and you suspected they had no manners and were probably the rudest person alive?  It is likely that all of us have had these experiences and thoughts at one time or another.

But is it possible that we misunderstood what happened and were too quick to believe the worst about someone?  What if the driver was a bit lost and did not realize they cut you off?  What if the server in the restaurant was filling in for someone else who was not there and had to do the work of two people?  What if the person who got in line ahead of you legitimately did not see you and what they did was an honest mistake?  Our thoughts and reactions to how others treat us and how they act around us is an indication of how much we are walking in the love of God.

God's love bears up under anything and everything and believes the best of every person and that love is in us as Christians (Romans 5:5).  Are we quick to believe the best or worst about others?  Do we look for the best and expect the best of others or are we ready to find fault and see mistakes?  How does God see us when we make mistakes or do wrong?  Is He expecting the worst things from us or is He gracious and quick to overlook the mistake and continue to love us and do what He can to help us?  We all need to walk in the love of God where we expect and believe the best about others.

Walking In Love - Speaking The Best About Others

"He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends."
Proverbs 17:9 (NKJV)

We all face choices every day about different things: what we do, where we go, and what we say.  Some of the choices we make may not be entirely up to us because of obligations and commitments we have.  What we do depends on who we are, whether we are single or married, have children, and so on.  Where we go also depends somewhat on other factors, like what our occupation is, where we live, and things like this.  But one choice that all of us have, that is really just up to us, is the choice of what we will say about ourselves and others; no one chooses our words for us.

We should say the right things about ourselves, based on what the Bible says, but do we realize the importance of how we talk about others?  Do our words help or hurt?  Do we talk about other people the way we would like them to talk about us?  What do we do when we hear something negative about another person?  We have all heard bad things about others, whether it was something they had intentionally done wrong or just a mistake.  But should we repeat everything we hear?  Do we think about what the results will be if we repeat something bad that we have heard about someone else? 

We have a choice with what we hear, are we just going to repeat it to others and possibly create more problems or are we going to walk in love and watch our words?  This does not mean that we overlook problems or ignore something that is wrong, but it does mean that we don't have to repeat everything negative we hear or know about other people.  Our words can help keep people together or our words can separate even close friends and family members.  Walking in love means that we speak the best about others, even when we know something about them that is not so good.

Walking In Love - Love, The Identification Of A Disciple

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
John 13:34, 35 (NKJV)

There are some things that are easy to identify because of how they look or sound.  For example, a cow and a chicken look and sound very different; I doubt that anyone has ever gotten those animals mixed up.  Another example would be a small car and a semi-truck, they look and sound very different.  We are able to identify these things because of the distinctive look and sound that they have.  But wouldn't it be strange for a cow to cluck like a chicken and a chicken to moo like a cow?  And imagine the confused looks on people's faces if a small car would drive by sounding like a huge truck.

When Jesus was on the earth He showed love for His disciples, even though they argued about who was the greatest, misunderstood His intentions, and did not always do things the way He wanted them to.  John 13:1 says that Jesus loved His disciples to the end.  Then, in John 13:34, 35, Jesus told His disciples to love each other the way that He had loved them.  Jesus went on to say that people would recognize His disciples because of the love they showed to each other.  The love shown between those who follow Jesus should be an easy way for people to identify who they are.

Jesus performed miracles, did amazing teaching, and had a great prayer life, but Jesus never said these things would be the identifying traits of His disciples.  In this context Jesus was specifically talking about those who followed Him, Jesus was not talking about our relationship to everyone but to fellow believers.  If Christians demonstrated the kind of love that Jesus was talking about a lot of people would be very interested in joining that group to get some of the love.  Our goal should be to walk in love with one another, to love like Jesus loved, and to be the example that Jesus intended us to be.

Walking In Love - By Faith

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love."
Galatians 5:6 (NKJV)

Everyone knows someone who is not so loveable.  Whether it is a family member, a coworker, a neighbor, or even someone in our church, we have all met people who have been difficult to get along with.  Sometimes we even go so far as to find a way, if possible, to avoid that person rather than deal with them.  While this type of person can be a challenge for us, we need to realize that no matter what other people do and how they act we don't have to let their bad attitude or actions dominate our life.  No matter how the other person acts we can still walk in love and treat them right and do good to them.

Galatians 5:6 gives us a key that can help us, faith works through love and love can work through faith.  God's love is already in us (Romans 5:5) so we don't need to get more love, we just need to use what we have.  One problem is that we are often looking at our feelings and having a hard time dealing with them.  We need to move past our feelings and act on the love of God that is in us, by faith.  We may never be able to do anything to change how the other person acts but we can act the right way and treat them the way we would if we really did have the feelings of love for them. 

The Bible tells us in Romans 5:8 that God demonstrated His love for us in sending Jesus to die for us when we were sinners and we did not deserve His love.  This is an example for us to follow.  God acted the right way towards us and showed us love even when we did not deserve it or respond properly and this is what we need to do.  Others may not respond the right way but when we walk in love it opens the door for God to work in the situation and it will help us with the unpleasant feelings we have towards the other person.  If we release the love of God that we have in us towards other people, no matter how they act, we are walking in love and walking with God.

Walking In Love - Being Moved With Compassion

"But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
Matthew 9:36-38 (NKJV)

Jesus is our example in every area of life.  It is good that we have a record of the life of Jesus and the things that He did so we can learn about how He lived and follow His example.  We can know what worked in the life of Jesus and in turn what will work for us.  Wherever Jesus went it seemed that people followed Him.  People came to hear Jesus teach, to get healed, and sometimes people probably just came to see Jesus because they were curious.  What is interesting for us to see is how Jesus acted with these people and how He reacted to them.

In Matthew 9 we see Jesus teaching, preaching, and healing.  After this Jesus saw a multitude of people around Him, there were a lot of people and Jesus noticed that these people needed some help.  How did Jesus react to this multitude and their situation?  Jesus did not just feel sorry for the people because they had problems, He looked for a way to meet the need.  Jesus had a reaction of compassion; He told His disciples that more workers were needed to help these people and to pray for more laborers.  How would we have reacted to this and how do we react to people and their needs today?

Jesus did not say, Oh I wish these people would leave me alone. I've been busy with all my work and now there's this whole crowd that needs help!  No, Jesus reacted with love and compassion realizing the need and seeking a way to meet the need.  We can have a similar reaction because we have God's love in us (Romans 5:5), we can be moved with compassion just like Jesus was.  Jesus did not just focus on what He wanted and what was best for Him, we too need to look past our own needs to the needs of others.  Start looking past the crowd and the problems and start looking at people with compassion and see how you can help to meet their need.  We have the love of God in us, we just need to let it motivate us to help others.

Walking In Love - The Golden Rule

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
Matthew 7:12 (NKJV)

When I was growing up I remember hearing people talk about what they called "The Golden Rule".  The Golden Rule is something some people take from what Jesus said in Matthew 7:12 with the idea being that you should treat people the way that you want to be treated.  This is generally a very good concept and Matthew 7:12 also says that this "Golden Rule" is what the Law and the Prophets is all about.  Much of what is known as the 10 Commandments refers to our relationships with others and this is how treating people the right way relates to the Law and the Prophets.

In the New Testament we are told that love, walking in love, fulfills the Law (Romans 13:10) and that the Law is fulfilled in loving your neighbor as yourself (Galatians 5:14).  If we are walking in love then we will treat others exactly the way that we would wish to be treated.  Think about what it would be like if people, and especially Christians who have the love of God within them (Romans 5:5), would treat others the way they wanted to be treated.  Often we want other people to treat us like kings and queens while we treat those same people as servants.

If we looked at situations from the standpoint of what is best for the other person and we then acted accordingly it would be a shocking experience for many people.  If we did everything we possibly could to help someone, considering how much help we would want to have if we were the other person in the situation, we would not only be a great help to those around us but we would be making use of the love of God that is in us.  We need to look for opportunities to put the love of God in us into action and treat others the same way that we would like them to treat us.