How Do I Love Well, No Matter What?
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart”
1 Peter 1:22
A few weeks ago, a friend and I had a slight miscommunication that went awry. Something she said, I interpreted very differently than what was her intent and in the moment, I snapped back at her and retreated to my own pity party. My mind and my heart knew that she would never say something to try and hurt me but I let emotions take over and I chose to allow them to rule the situation.
It had been a challenging week, I was worn out with raw emotions and a depleted soul but that is no excuse for the way I responded. I know that it breaks the Lord’s heart when He sees us act in hurtful ways and in turn, that breaks mine. It is imperative to tend to our heart and soul daily so that we can live out the greatest commandment to love and love well.
We see in 1 Peter where Peter urges Christians, because they are purified, to love others purely and fervently. It is our responsibility to love one another deeply. We must love one another sincerely, genuinely and with everything in us.
Whether our feelings are hurt, our opinions don’t align or our views are different, we must love well and we must love deeply. In fact, we are commanded to.
We love well and love deeply when we:
Speak love and encouragement instead of evil and criticism.
“Don’t let any evil talk come out of your mouths. Say only what will help to build others up and meet their needs. Then what you say will help those who listen.”
Ephesians 4:29
Are kind, tenderhearted and understanding.
“Be kind and tender to one another. Forgive each other, just as God forgave you because of what Christ has done.”
Ephesians 4:32
Bring peace and not dissension.
“Therefore, let's keep on pursuing those things that bring peace and that lead to building up one another.”
Romans 14:19
Speak truth in love.
“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”
Ephesians 4:15
Rest assured, that precious friend and I sat together after our quarrel and talked and cried and I asked for forgiveness. Most importantly, we prayed together.
We love well and love deeply through our actions and our words. We love well and love deeply through being more like Christ. We love well and love deeply when we lay our burdens, our pride, and our selfish motives at the cross and allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us.
I messed this up and I will probably mess up again soon, probably tomorrow. That is why I’m so thankful for grace.
Practice Because We’re Imperfect:
1) Say this prayer each morning:
“Father, help me to love well. Help me to not let shameful, hurtful thoughts enter my mind or exit my mouth. You love me in spite of my flaws; I should reflect the same in my love for others.”
