MOVING FORWARD - pastor mike landry

Jesus said the second greatest commandment was "to love your neighbor as yourself." He prioritizes our relationships with people above everything else except our relationship with God; which happens to be the greatest commandment.

Some people are lovable and some are not. But our love for people cannot, and should not, be dependent upon whether they are lovable. Love is not to be a response to someone who makes you feel good. Love is so much more than a feeling or returning a favor.

We live in a culture that pressures us to see love as simply a feeling to be experienced and to be paid back. That's one reason why people can so quickly "fall out of" or "fall into" love. It's all based on the emotion of the moment.

But, the biblical definition of love is not dependent on your feelings but rather on your decisions. 1 Corinthians 13 is not a list of feelings you hope to have but rather a list of choices you must make. You are not powerless when it comes to loving others.

I've put together a check list of these choices and hope they help you, as they have me, to better "love one another."

LOVE CHECKLIST:

1. Love gives in to the inclination to forgive. ("love suffers long" - 1 Cor 13:4)

2. Love meets the needs of others. ("love is kind" - 1 Cor 13:4)

3. Love helps others to succeed even if it costs you personally. ("love does not envy" - 1 Cor 13:4)

4. Love refuses personal recognition that puts down others. ("does not parade itself" - 1 Cor 13:4)

5. Love is honest and humble. ("is not puffed up" - 1 Cor 13:4)

6. Love chooses behavior in consideration of others. ("does not behave rudely" - 1 Cor 13:5)

7. Love looks for ways to bless others. ("does not seek it's own" - 1 Cor 13:5

8. Love does not look for a fight. ("is not provoked" - 1 Cor 13:5

To Be Continued.


Did you know? Albert Einstein said, "My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities."