It was cool this morning to think about sincere love for people in terms of last week's reading on the genuine love of Christ. A genuine love of Christ has to be the motivation for EVERYTHING. When it comes to a sincere love for people, and every topic afterwards, it has to be viewed in light of this one singular love motivation. I have to keep reminding myself that each of Jesus' commands to Peter - "shepherd my sheep," "tend my sheep," and "tend my lambs" - are all preceded by one question:
Do you love me?
And here's another thought - love of Christ has to be the motivation behind my "ministry to myself". I need to understand His love me on a deeper level and then ACT like it! I don't sit with the LORD daily because I should or because I know I need it to get through the day (although, true), but because He loves me.
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
I like this. There's a flow to the formula:
ReplyDeleteA -> B <--> C
Christs asks. We answer and our response is loving others. That love for others further opens our eyes to Christ's love.
How quickly we forget this when our ministry demands become too great. When there's too much to do during the day, my personal time with Jesus suffers the most. People/friends don't "see" the time you spend alone with Jesus, but it shows. And is so important! Sincere love that has the power to change hearts is only produced from a genuine love of Christ. Feeding His sheep is our RESPONSE to the question, so why do I try to reach "C" when the only way to get there is by starting with "A"?