Showing God’s Love

 By: Grace Metzger

Love one another with brotherly affection.
 Outdo one another in showing honor.
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Recently I have been overwhelmed, in a good way, with love and support from people. I’ll admit I’m not the most open or extroverted kind of person, I don’t find it easy to be around people. But I have been shocked at the amount of support I’ve received while I was going through a difficult time. This has gotten me thinking a lot about how I’ve been supporting people who are struggling. It’s great to have those people around you when you are discouraged or hurting but it’s even better to be the person who is there for others when they’re the ones hurting! 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God,
 and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Love is from God, this is a concept that you might have been taught when you when in Sunday school but have we actually ever thought about what that truly means for our lives? 1 John 4:7 opened my eyes a bit to what this means to me. If I was truly born of God and know Him, then am I showing His love? As a kid I was told that Christian means “Christ-like” or trying to live your life the way God did. So if I was trying to live my life like God, then am I being there for others, supporting them, listening to them, helping them? Am I actually putting in effort into creating love with others that mirrors God’s love for them?

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:
 just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭34‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This isn’t just me shouting my opinion of what you have to do, but this is something God has commanded us to do. God literally wrote in John 13:34 for us to love as He has loved us and yet we are allowing ourselves to get so swept away with life that we forget to love others and be there for them! 

If you’re like me then you’re probably thinking, “How do I even do this?” God’s love for us is an incredible and indescribable thing. I felt a bit overwhelmed at the thought that I would have to love like Him because He truly knows love and is love. I felt like it was impossible to do it at His level. But God never asked us for perfection, He asks us for continuous efforts to be like Him. 

These efforts can look different depending on the person and the situation. If you’re already an outgoing person then your efforts are going to look completely different then someone like me who isn’t very extroverted. For people like me you might start off small, like trying to know your fellow believers, signing up to make meals for someone in need, reaching out to a friend who has been struggling, etc. You don't have to start out with these grand gestures, start small and create a habit of being there for others. I’ve always believed that love was in the small, meaningful gestures that you show to those around you. 

I challenge you this week to find two ways to show love to others, like I said it can be in small ways, just try to find something to do for someone else. At the end of the week reflect, how did that make you feel, how did it make them feel, how easy was it for you to do these small things for them? Making this a habit is helpful to start becoming a person who radiates God’s love to all those around them!

Discussion Question!

How do you like to show love to others?