Love Is Where Your Life Is

Remember when you first heard the definition of love in the scriptures? A great way to understand love is understanding this; there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Jesus said it Himself!

"Let's find ways to lay down our life, in life."

When we think of laying down our life we have a tendency to think in terms of jumping on a grenade or some similiar great sacrifice ending in our death. We sacrifice our life so that others may live. That truly is love.

A single act of selflessness, demonstrates love and engenders a deep sense of gratitude and new found purpose in those who were preserved... i.e. loved.

Our Lord and Savior did exactly that. He was on a mission to give His life so that all could be saved. Again, true love, and we are motivate through gratitude that could not be gained any other way.

He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. - 2 Corinthians 5:15 NLT 

It's beautiful. It's humbling. It's life changing when you get your mind wrapped around the love it took to do what Jesus did. Will we be called on to give our life for another? Maybe, yet there is something more...

Life From Life 

Let's also look at love from another angle to see all it has to offer. If we show love by a single heroic act of giving our life, could we say that, "we demonstrated love by laying down our life, in death?" Sure!

If that is a fair assessment, then could there be a side of love where, "we lay down our life, in life?" You bet!

... and this is where we are equipped to love every moment. So how do we do it?

Our Lord has defined the greatest among us is the one that makes themself the lowest. The one who serves is the greater. The one who spends his life, gives life. Why? One reason is because they love greater by taking action!

Thinking fondly about someone really does nothing for them. You may feel good but if you want to love, find an opportunity to take action.


Love Is Where Your Life Is

So then let's make this easy. Go love by finding a way to help or encourage another Christian. Go love by laying down your life, in life!

Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. - Philippians 2:3 NLT

Go love by lifting up your brothers and sisters in the Lord. It helps to see each one as highly valuable. Think of them as better than yourself. It's actually very liberating. :-)

Be joyful to serve, show kindness and see if there is something you can help with. Then your love will be where your life is.

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. - 1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT

Let's be ready to lay down our life, in death, just as our Lord and Savior did for us. Just as important, let's find ways to lay down our life, in life.

~~~~~~~

Take Action!

How can you discover a need that is not being met? 
It won't take too long to find a real need if you listen closely to the people you speak with. It's as easy as listening and can be as easy as asking, "Is there anything I can help with, brother?" Listen for the response and your opportunity for love will most certainly present itself. 
Make a point to never miss that opportunity. Start with something small and work your way up to the big stuff. Become an expert at love.
Here are a few skills to develop that are key to becoming expert at love:

Please, add your thoughts in the comment section.

~~~~~~~

Concept >>> “Love is lay down our life, in life.”
Next >>> "Activate Thinking FTW"


In The Cool Zone concept. Think like Jesus thinks.

Comments

Post a Comment

Please, select Name/URL from the list below to comment. Note: URL is not required.

Popular posts from this blog

New! Discipleship Unveiled Podcast

Image
We are very excited at In The Cool Zone to be adding the Discipleship Unveiled podcast to our discipleship aresnal! There are different styles of learning. Reading is great for some and listening can work better for others. We want to serve as many learning styles as we are able for disciples of Jesus. Thus, Discipleship Unveiled is born and a welcome addition to the family. Please, enjoy this new tool and Like and Share to help spread the Gospel and effective disciplship! Listen to "A Disciples Perspective" on Spreaker. Take Action! How do I get a discipleship perspective?  There is a three-fold action plan that gets one moving forward with knowing their Lord and Savior and walking in the process of being transformed by the renewing of the mind. Prayer, reading the Bible and connecting with a seasoned Christian! These action steps set a disciple up to move forward with a clear plan and a new mindset. They seem like easy practicle steps but you'll...
Read more

Happiness vs. Joy

Image
There may be a few ways to look at happiness vs. joy and maybe this will add value to their distinctions. Happiness is generally determined by what is happening to us or even an accumulation of good or bad events or circumstances. Joy is completely different. It is determined by what we choose. When you ask someone if they are happy, the happy person says something like, "I feel good, things are going well, there haven't been any emergencies, my relationships are going well." The unhappy person says, "I haven't felt good, things are not going great, I've had a few emergencies and relationships have been tough." These are all external influences. Joy, for the Christian, is internal. It is a fruit of the Spirit and the Holy Spirit, in a Christian, is always producing this fruit. It's our job to get in on it. The barrier for doing this, comes from thinking we are the source of joy and we have to go outside of ourselves to get it. The Old Man ...
Read more

Armor of God | Watchful Perseverance

Image
The armor of God has been a topic that has been difficult to get our minds wrapped around. What it is and how we put it on, has seemed to be a bit mysterious. So maybe by looking at the effect of the armor we can get a better understanding of how to put the armor on. We previously looked at  The Word of God , so let's take the next piece. We're leaving in,  The Effect of Armor,  section here for continuity. The Effect of Armor The most prominent place the armor of God is listed is in  Ephesians 6:14-18 NKJV .  Each piece of armor has an effect. Since it is spiritual armor, and we are physically oriented, it can be difficult to understand what is happening when we have it on. One of the things we know about armor is that once we are in the battle, we shouldn't have to think about the armor. It will passively protect us and we shouldn't have to give it another thought. We inspect, test and repair the armor on a regular basis and ensure it is fit...
Read more