Stop and Love (part 2)

In part one of my post I began with a verse from 1 John 3 that said. "let us stop just saying we love each other; let us show it by our actions." I then went on to say how love has become just that, a saying. I asked you some questions pertaining to what role love has played in your own life. Now lets find out how Jesus viewed love. 

Jesus gives a perfect example of how true love should be expressed, and how love should be a sacrifice and not a convenience. Jesus was not a man who was afraid of interruptions. He was not afraid to stop. He stopped when others needed his help. He stopped when someone was in need of protection or comfort. When someone had a problem or question that really needed answering, Jesus stopped. Jesus saw these little intrusions into his daily routine as opportunities divinely appointed by God. These were opportunities where Jesus could show God's love to people who desperately needed it.

Jesus took the show first, tell later approach when it came to love. Jesus defined love as meeting the needs of others, he described love as foremost an action. God wants us to be successful, and he has called us to change the world, but he never wants us so busy doing so that we ignore the interruptions of those in need.  Just as the good Samaritan stopped and allowed God to touch someone through him, Jesus wants us to always be ready to help. 1 John 3:16-17 (MSG) says, 

  This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear

Jesus showed that you can not have love without showing love, or doing love, or being love. You can not possess love without giving it away. When the followers of John the Baptist asked Jesus to prove that he was who he said he was, his first response to them was to look at his service, or actions. He said, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” (Luke 7:22 NIV)

Then James speaks of action, “Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup – where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?” (James 2:14a-17 MSG)

Francis of Assisi, a Catholic friar wrote, "Preach the gospel; if necessary, use words." 

In showing love, no act was below Jesus. He served and sat with lepers, tended to children and washed others feet. He was able to do this freely because his service came from his love. 

Next time you tell someone you love them, think of how Jesus expressed love. Make the sacrifice, put yourself on the line for someone else, not because you should, but because you love them.