Goodness, the Lord has been showing me so much about this word. What it truly is. What it is not. The greatest thing I have been learning and so deeply desire for my life is that I would become love (shout out to Bob Goff’s Everybody Always book). That I would show genuine, authentic, sincere, and personal acts of love. I desire to love with purity. Where love is the end goal. Nothing more. Just love. What would it look like to love someone so deeply and authentically that even if the words of Jesus are not shared, they could feel His very presence through my love for them? I desire for people to walk away from an interaction with me feeling the very love of Christ through me. No hidden motives or hidden agendas or trying to get a certain message across. I just want to be love. But what does this look like? I’ll share a story with you.
I visited Chicago a couple of years ago. While on the water taxi, I met this young woman, Courtney. We spoke about China Town and how they have one of her favorite boba tea places. She was headed home, but she decided to show me the spot and get a tea with me, a complete stranger. She went out of her way to show me one of her favorite spots and to show me a bit of Chicago. Did she share the name of Jesus? Did we share our faith stories? Did she even share the reason why she chose to love me that day? Did we swap numbers or information to keep up? The answer is “no” to each of those questions. But I felt genuinely loved. I was deeply grateful and I still remember her face and her act of kindness and love to me. It was genuine, real, authentic, and personal. No hidden motives. Paul touches on this often.
“Let love be sincere.” ~Romans 12:9 (ESV)
“We speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others.” ~1 Thessalonians 2:4-8 (ESV)
The Message version states it this way, “we and the Message are free of error, mixed motives, or hidden agendas… We took you just as you were.”
While I long for others to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, because that is where I believe true and full life, joy, and peace is found, I have come to learn that showing genuine, personal, deep God-love can still have a massive impact on someone, just as Courtney had on me in Chicago. God is love. Therefore, I believe if we share love with people, we share a bit of God with them. It’s tricky, because what the world defines as love is different from how God sees love. I love the passages in 1 Thessalonians and 1 John, which I believe can speak to this.
“Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word, not only in the province but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore – you’re the message!” ~1 Thessalonians 1:7-8 (MSG)
We are the Message! Not just what we say (which is crucial and a part of our calling as believers from Jesus’ words of the great commission (Matthew 28)), but who we are is an expression of God’s love.
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” ~John 13:35
Quite literally how we interact with those around us displays who we are and our affiliation with God! Our love for each other is the Gospel being proclaimed. It’s so easy to notice how people treat others and when it is done with intentionality and genuineness. I’ve seen this countless times on the Race. We’ve encountered people that will share that the joy and life that we have as a group or individual is noticeable and felt. They can feel peace when they are around us, which leads into another note about genuine and authentic love.
I believe God’s love is something that people can genuinely feel. Not how the world defines it. It is something that they are moved by. We are in Peru and when I entered Asunta, a souveneir shop, Arile the store operator, came up to me, gave me a hug and with a bright smile and warm expression welcomed me in. Once again, I don’t know her background or story. But I know I felt a God-type love in that moment. It brightened my day. It made me smile. I couldn’t get over how sweet she was.
And where does it stem from? I believe it comes from an overflow of receiving God’s love in our own hearts. And that love turns into a love for others, which directs our actions. I LOVE Paul’s language as he fearlessly expresses his feelings for the Thessalonians.
“So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” ~1 Thessalonians 1:8
Ahh, I just love how he engages with his emotions and feelings and how they drive him to love others. He was affectionately desirous of the Thessalonians, not looking to share the Good News alone but his very self to them. He also uses mother and father references in verses 7 and 11-12, stating how he cared for and exhorted the Thessalonians. I just love how deeply he desired to spend time and be face to face and in fellowship with his fellow brothers and sisters. It’s not about sharing some words and moving on. It’s about sharing the greatest news I believe any person can hear, which is the abundance of life had in relationship with Jesus Christ and showing real, genuine, deep love for people. Loving people really really well.
I’m on the journey, but one of my deepest desires is that I would simply love people with authenticity, depth, rawness, and with a personalness (don’t think this is a real word…) that penetrates hearts and is deeply felt. All to point back to love God has for us. So that they can dive into a relationship where the love they receive from God is quite literally out-of-this-world! It’s an indescribable sensation, feeling the deeply personal and intimate love of God. I hope that my life points people to the Lord so that they can feel this deep love in such great depths!
At the end of the day, it really does all come back to love. How do we purify our hearts? Love (1 Peter 1:22). How do we remove anxiety, worry, or fear? Love (1 John 4:17-18). How can we be united? Love (Colossians 3:14). How is a life changed? Love (1 John 4:18-19). There are countless things we get bombarded with in a day, sometimes it is hard to remember the 3-5 takeaways from church last Sunday. At the end of the day, if you are struggling to become more peaceful, patient, etc. etc., I give you a word of encouragement and hope. Hopefully it is easy for you to focus on just one thing. Love. Simple and yet deep and sincere. Loving the person across from you soo deeply and profoundly. At the end of the day, what do our hearts long for most? It could be a number of things, but I would argue that near the top of that list for every single human heart, the answer would be love. Love others and you show them a bit of God Himself. God can do the rest from there. Just focus on love 🙂
