**As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.** John 15:9,10
God’s beautiful circle of love.
The Father loves the Son. The Son loves us. We love the Son and show it by keeping His commandments.
What are His commandments? To love the Lord thy God with all the heart, soul, mind and strength and to love thy neighbor as thyself.
God loves us, we love God and all that love spills out on others.
How do we love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength?
–Make God our Number One. Not our spouse or our kids or our job or our ministry or money or our hobby or our health…
God–learning about Him, reading about Him, listening to and talking to Him. Acting like Him. Talking about Him.
–By not being fake. By not being a Sunday morning Christian. By not taking but by giving.
And our neighbors? How do we love them?
–Start at home. Treat each other with honor and respect. Treat our parents with honor and respect. Treat our children as the next generation of witnesses that need to be taught by Word and by example. Be merciful to each other, recognizing that we are ALL flawed humans and need the grace of God to get through the day.
–By keeping our hands and hearts off of others’ stuff and others’ lives. If God didn’t give it to us,if we haven’t earned it, it is not ours to have.
–Thou shalt not kill. Not with our hands, with our mouth, with our attitude, with our superiority, or with our neglect. Death comes in many forms, no?
–Have integrity. Be honest. Be sincere. Protect those around us, don’t slander, gossip or back stab.
**…the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward. ** 2 Cor 1
Living the love circle is about being conscious of the other person. It is speaking into their lives the truth and strength that they need. It is about lifting them up and not tearing them down. It is about loving unconditionally, just like the Lord loves us.
He loves us in spite of ourselves. He stays close. He reaches out to us. He gives and gives and gives. And then He gives some more.
Our part in the circle is to give back.
The beautiful love circle. God loves us, we love Him, together we love others.