Let love be your guide

Most of all, let love guide your life. (Colossians 3:14)

Any number of things can motivate us: pride, hunger, anger, jealousy, greed, power. But what about love? How often do we let love guide our thoughts, words, and actions? 

I’ve always been driven by love. I love my family, friends, home, job, friends, boss, co-workers, my kitties – you name it. I love it. It used to drive my ex crazy. “You love everybody,” he’d say. “It’s ridiculous.” 

In my mind, love is anything but ridiculous. Love is what gives life meaning; it makes us strong; it gives us purpose. As Christians, especially, we are called to love one another. As John 13: 35 says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” 

In the past, I let my love for my spouse consume me. I did everything I could to demonstrate love in hopes of receiving an equal portion in return. That never happened. How could it when my motivation was all wrong? I truly believed that if I loved hard enough, I would earn love, back. 

How very wrong I was. 

Love is not something we can earn, nor should it be something that drives us to receive the same. Sure we can work to achieve it, but if we do, that “love” is conditional, not pure. 

Of all the types of love that exist – brotherly, romantic, familial – the greatest love is agape. Agape love is the kind of unselfish love that expects nothing in return. It’s the love that God feels for us; it’s the love that He demonstrated when He gave His Son to die on a cross for our sins. Agape is the kind of love we should exhibit to one another. 

Pastor David Jeremiah explains agape love like this: “When the love of God captures your heart, what you discover is, you’ve got too much for just yourself, and you’ve gotta let it spill over into the lives of others.” (1) I couldn’t agree more. 

Every living thing on earth needs love – plants, animals, people. Yet, few of us ever receive the kind of love that we need to thrive. We, as Christians, have been given supernatural love through Christ Jesus. We are called to love one another. We are called to demonstrate Christ’s love on earth. We are commissioned to be the hands and feet of Christ so that everyone that sees us sees Christ in us. 

Are we living that way? Does love emanate from our pores and latch on to everything we touch? Imagine how much better the world would be if we all demonstrated true love for one another. Imagine how much better our own lives would be if we stopped worrying about whether someone loves us and concentrated on loving them.

Our motivation needs to change. Love needs to be the guiding force in everything we do. 

Listen when people speak to you. Show compassion when others are hurting. Demonstrate radical kindness. Put the needs of others before your own. I’m not saying you should be a doormat. I spent too many years of my life as such and can testify that nothing good can ever come from that. 

I’m saying, learn to practice agape love. Let it guide, motivate, and humble you. I promise your perspective will change. When you practice agape love for others, your heart will be filled to overflowing in return. 

Let the love of Christ fill your soul, then let that love seep into everything you do. You can make a difference in the world by practicing this one simple rule: let love be your guide.  

You may be surprised at how your existence will change as a result. It certainly has mine.

Reference:

Jeremiah, David. (2019) Selfless love. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.davidjeremiah.org/television/weekend?date=2019-11-10