“And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, … (Ephesians 5:2a ESV).
After being on this earth for a while, it can be easy to be convicted by God about how little we really know about love and how often we can be an unloving person. The fact is, we all need work in this area. We all have a lot of growing to do as we mature in God’s love. So how do you build a life of real deep love? That’s a profound question, and you will spend the rest of your life trying to do it. Here are some steps to get you out of the starting block — five things you can do that will help you get on the road to becoming a truly great person of love. 1. Learn how mature love acts and responds. Personal change always begins with a change in perspective. You need to get God’s perspective on what love is really like, because the world knows nothing about real, deep love. You do that by getting into God’s Word. 2. Start your day with a daily reminder to love. The first 10 minutes of the day set your entire mood for the rest of the day. Resolve to get up in the morning and say, “God, help me to remember that the most important thing is loving you and loving other people. If I don’t get anything else done today besides love you and the people that you put around me more, this has not been a wasted day.” 3. Memorize what God says about love. God’s Word is filled with truths and principles on how to become a loving person. The problem is, when you’re in a situation where you’re tempted to be unloving, your Bible is usually at home on a shelf. That’s why you need to memorize Scripture — so that God can bring verses to mind when you need them the most. 4. Practice acting in unselfish, loving ways. Love is like a muscle. The more you use it, the more it develops. If you want to become a truly loving person, you have to intentionally do some things that seem awkward at first. But the more you practice, the more it becomes second nature, and you become a genuinely loving person. 5. Get support from other loving people. If you’re just sitting in your room and reading a book, you’re not going to get very far in learning how to love. You only learn it in connection to others, in the context of community. That’s one of the reasons why a small group is so important! It puts you in situations where you can grow as you see godly love modeled for you and as you practice serving others in unselfish, loving ways. You never learn to love by just sitting back and listening. You learn it in relationship to other people.
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“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2 ESV).
You have two choices in life. You’ll either be conformed or transformed. There’s no middle ground. Just ask Daniel. Daniel faced a choice. Either he could take the king’s food and be conformed to the ways of the Babylonian Empire, or he could refuse to defile his body and stay true to his values. Daniel stayed strong. He never forgot who he was. He said, “You can change my address. You can change my clothing. You can change my name. But you’re not going to change my heart. I won’t be conformed to the ways of this society.” Too many of us choose differently than Daniel did. Instead of sticking to our values, we live like everyone else. We conform. But the Bible reminds us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God” (Romans 12:2a ESV). There are people all the time who can’t figure out what God wants them to do with their lives because they’re conformed to the world. They’re more interested in being like everyone else than in being the unique person that God made them to be. As long as you’re worried about conforming, you won’t worry about God transforming you. And in that case, you won’t know the will of God. But if you make Daniel’s choice and choose God’s best use for your life, he’ll transform you. Then you’ll know the will of God. |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
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