My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18 KJV
One of the most commonly used words and of course the most abused is 'love'. No matter how abused a word is, we need to consider the view of the One who calls Himself the Truth, if we are to gain a healthy understanding of love. What other way could we begin to fully understand love except through the personal example of the One whose view is true? What has he done to hold our attention? The most important consideration here is the fact that He laid down His life for us. We needed help with sin, but we didn't have the strength to defeat it. He came and defeated it for us, freeing us to live in line with His dictates. Now that we are free from the power and consequences of sin, how then are we expected to live?
There are a few important matters in today's extract, but what is in focus now is a matter of the heart. It is the seat of all that I am and do. Whatever my life finally produces is first birthed and nourished in my heart. If I am given to pretence and hypocrisy, the seeds are first laid and of course nourished in my heart. If I am given to double standards, my heart would first agree to it before my life can act it out. That is why God must first work on my heart before it can produce in line with today's extract.
When the Bible counsels me not to love in word or tongue, it is saying that it recognises that my heart can say one thing and mean the very opposite. It is saying that it understands the nature of the heart, and that it must be constantly kept under the control and influence of the Truth Himself. Talk is cheap; men pay good money to motivational speakers. However, how many of these speakers can you testify of their true allegiance to the standards of love as laid down by God Himself?
When I love the way God wants, the world cannot but notice. When my heart is free of wrong motives, or when I am not first moved by what I can get, then my heart is prepared for impact. When my heart seeks to bless lives; when I submit my hands, feet, lips and life to the dictates of Love Himself, impact is non-negotiable. Maybe the reason why the world does not have good examples of God's kind of love is because we have not allowed Him work first in us.
You cannot give what you don't have, and you cannot sustain what you have not originated or ordained. You can make all the noise, but at the end of the day, it is a matter of your heart that the world will take note and respond to. If I will change or impact the world, God has to do a work on my heart first. Then and only then can today's extract be a daily expression. Does God have your heart? Does He control its inflow and outflow? If no, ask Him to. Your eternity will be glad you did. His time of favour is here.
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