8 Ways To Love Others

Last week we talked about the importance of loving others! This month we have been taught that each one of us is perfectly loved by God, love for God is keeping His commands, and we were taught that God commands us to love others. Now this week we are going to talk about 8 ways that we can love others. We are commanded to love others just as God loves us! (1 John 4:11) God loves us so perfectly that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross and save us from our sins! (John 3:16) When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we receive eternal life in Him and we become children of God with Jesus living in our inner being! We don’t deserve these perfect blessings and we cannot earn them, but by God’s grace we are blessed with His free gift of Salvation in Jesus that is to be received by faith. The only way to receive salvation for our souls is to admit that we are sinners and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior! Praise God for His endless love and His relentless grace! Even though we don’t deserve God’s love or His grace, He perfectly

blesses us with them both! God blessed us with His grace and mercy even when we didn’t deserve it and now that we are His we must approach all those around us with mercy and grace as well. Let us always remember that no one is perfect, including us, and we all need Jesus! Praise God that we have Jesus living in us and let us share Him and His love with others! Here are 8 ways that we can love others:

1. Share the Word of God with others

One of the most important ways that we can love others is to share the truth with them.

The Word of God is the truth. We can show others that we love them by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with them. It is God living in us who shares His truth with others and He loves others through us. God will speak through you. Luke 12:11-12 tells us that “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” (NIV) It is also important to remember that in order to share God’s Word with others we must know what His Word says. Make it your goal to read and study God’s Word faithfully each day. Remember, God is faithful even when we are not. Pray to God and ask Him to make you faithful in reading His word and ask Him to teach you His Word and He will do it! Memorizing Scripture is also important! When we memorize Scripture then we can share specific Scripture with others. Pray to God and ask Him to help you memorize Scripture and He will do so! Ask God to teach you the Scripture that He wants you to memorize to glorify Him according to His will and God will do exactly that! Romans 10:17 says “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. (NIV) We can love others by sharing with them that we are all sinners, we all need Jesus, and that we can have eternal life in Jesus if we accept Him as our personal Lord and Savior. Sharing the truth about Jesus and God’s free gift of Salvation that is only found in Him is the ultimate way to show someone that we love them! Visit the How to Receive Salvation page here on Good News Indeed for Scripture to memorize and share with others when sharing the gospel of Jesus with them.

2. Pray for others

Another important way in which we love others is to pray for them. Ephesians 6:18

says “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. (NIV) As we read in Ephesians, we are instructed to pray for people so we must follow this instruction from God. God knows exactly what each one of us needs even when we do not. We may not know what someone is needing but God does, so we can pray to Him and ask Him to bless that person according to His will and He will do it. Pray to God and ask Him to bless that person through you according to His will. Remember God is faithful, and He knows exactly what each one of us needs and it is God who does His will in us and through us.

3. Put others before yourself

We have the ultimate example when it comes to being a faithful servant of God and that

ultimate example is seen in our Savior Jesus! As Philippians 2:5-8 says “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! (NIV) Our very own Savior, Jesus, humbled Himself as a servant to all and therefore we must do the same! We have everything that we need in our Savior Jesus for all of eternity! We are perfectly blessed in our Savior Jesus and there is nothing that we lack and not a thing for us to fear! Our God is in control of all things and He works all things out for our good! (Romans 8:28) Now, since we are eternally blessed, let us put others before ourselves in the hopes that they too may receive eternal life in Jesus and be eternally blessed as well! We are instructed in Philippians 2:3-4 to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (NIV) We have everything that we need in Jesus and we are guaranteed hope for our future and an eternal future with Jesus! We are set! Now let us look to put others needs ahead of ours and be faithful servants of God like our Savior Jesus!

4. Forgive others

As mentioned before no one is perfect and we are all sinners who need our Savior

Jesus. As children of God we have accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior and Jesus is living in our inner being! We have been saved by God’s grace through Jesus and His blood shed on the cross for us! We don’t deserve forgiveness but God in His grace has blessed us with forgiveness in Jesus for all of our past, present and future sins! Since God forgave us in this ultimate way, let us also forgive others. Let us always forgive as God forgave us! Ephesians 4:32 instructs us to “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (NIV) If you are struggling to forgive someone, do not get discouraged. Humble yourself before the Lord in prayer and ask Him to rid you of all offensive ways. Confess your sins to God and ask Him to forgive you for your sins. Believe that you are in fact forgiven, because in Jesus you are! Remember, if Jesus is living in you, then all of your past, present and future sins are forgiven for all of eternity! Ask God to humble you in Him and ask Him to make you see each person as you should in Him. Ask God to make you forgive as He forgave you. Remember to believe that you have what you ask for in prayer and it will be yours. (Mark 11:24) God is faithful even when we are not and He is rich in mercy and grace blessing us richly with both even though we don’t deserve it!

5. Have compassion and be merciful

Our God is full of mercy and grace and He perfectly and constantly blesses us with both even though we don’t deserve either! Since we serve the one and only living God of all Creation, who has richly blessed us in every way, let us also be merciful like our Heavenly Father! We are instructed in Luke 6:36 to “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (NIV) We must have compassion for people. We know that no one is perfect and we know sin because we all sin! We were once separated from God because of our sinful nature and now we have been reconciled to God through our Savior Jesus! We know what it is to struggle with sin and yet we are eternally forgiven in our Savior Jesus even though we don’t deserve it! We must remember to have compassion on those around us! No one is perfect including us! We are getting to enjoy every waking moment of life with Jesus living in our inner being! Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and share Him and His love with everyone around us not holding anything against anyone. Praise God that none of our sins are counted against us in our Savior Jesus!

6. Have patience

God has blessed us with the ultimate example of patience in His patience with us, sinful

man, and His blessing of salvation in Jesus. 2 Peter 3:15 tells us to “Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. (NIV) God is patient with us even though we do not deserve it and therefore we must also be patient with those around us! As children of God we have every reason to be patient and everything we need to be patient! We are blessed perfectly for all of eternity in our Savior Jesus and we have everything that we need in Him! We are set for all of eternity! Plus, it is God who works in us to do His will and He works all things out for our good! (Philippians 2:13, Romans 8:28) It is God who shares His love through you. It is God who shares His Word through you and it is God who calls us to salvation in Jesus! With all this in mind we can and must be patient! God will do His work in you and through you without ceasing and His will is always done! So enjoy this blessed life to which you have been called in your Savior Jesus and praise God for it all!

7. Listen

Another way that we love others is to listen to them. James 1:19 says “My dear

brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, (NIV) As you listen to those around you listen with sincerity of heart. As we listen to others let us reference God’s Word and meditate on God and His truth before we speak. When we speak we should speak as one who speaks the words of God. (1 Peter 4:11) So be careful what you say and remember to speak as one who has been called to eternal life in Jesus! For we are instructed in 2 Timothy 4:2 to “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. (NIV) Make sure to always live as someone who will inherit the kingdom of God for as a child of God you have Jesus living in your inner being! Praise God that you bear the name of Jesus! Pray to God and ask Him to always make you live to glorify Him and to do His will. Ask God to make you to be faithful in sincerely listening to others and faithfully sharing His truth and love with them. Ask God to always speak to others through you. Remember, God is faithful and He will do all of this and even more than we can imagine in us and through us according to His will! Believe that you have what you asked for in prayer and it will be yours! (Mark 11:24)

8. Be gentle

We are instructed in Ephesians 4:2 to “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient,

bearing with one another in love. (NIV) Interact with others in your life with the utmost, gentle and loving care. We are God’s chosen children through whom He shares His love and truth! Praise God for this incredible gift! 2 Corinthians 5:20 tells us that “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (NIV) We have been blessed with eternal life in our Savior Jesus and He is living in our inner being sharing the truth and God’s love through us! We must therefore treat every interaction with others with the utmost care and understand that God is working in their lives through us. We must see every interaction with others as an opportunity to share the love of God! We are to let our gentleness be evident to all. (Philippians 4:5) So let us be faithful in doing exactly that!

We are perfectly loved by our God! God loves us with an everlasting love that is so complete that it overflows from within us to others! As God’s children we have our Savior Jesus living in our inner being and He loves others through us! The love we know and rely on is God’s love and Jesus in us! (1 John 4:16) We are instructed to love others and now we have just learned 8 ways that we can do that. We have been called to eternal life in our Savior Jesus and now God shares His truth and love through us! As 2 Timothy 2:15 says, we must “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (NIV) So let us be faithful in handling the Word of Truth as we should! Let us make the most of every opportunity with others to share the love of God and the truth about Jesus with each one of them! As Colossians 4:5 instructs us to “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. (NIV) We have everything that we need in our Savior Jesus for all of eternity! We have perfect eternal love in Jesus! Let us go forth rejoicing in the Lord for His endless love and His relentless grace! Let us praise God that we bear the name of Jesus! And let us go forth sharing the love of God with all those around us! For we have an eternal supply of love in Jesus so we must certainly share that love with others!