Anyone who knows me knows that it's no secret that I love John Mayer. In fact, he is probably my favorite artist. A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to one of my favorite songs from his most recent album. In the song, "Love is a Verb," he sings, "when you show me your love, I don't need your words." While I honestly don't know where John Mayer's personal life with Christ stands, I think he got it right with this lyric. 1 John 3:18 says, "...let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." Do you see the resemblence? I can't be sure John Mayer consults the Bible when he sits down to write, but in that moment, I can tell you he hit a Christian principle right on the head.
1 John 4:19 says "we love because He first loved us." Jesus is love. He's the reason for it and the only way we know it. It only makes sense that we spend our days loving just as He does. The Bible is full of examples of the way that Jesus showed His love for us through action. The most overwhelming example I can think of is the sacrifice He made on the cross. He didn't just talk big. He didn't sit in Heaven and make decisions from a throne in the most unfathomably perfect place in existence. That would have been easy. Instead, He willingly left Heaven. He became a man on Earth knowing He'd face injustice, temptation, and hate. He knew He would have to die for us. What a way to show love.
While Jesus so generously gives us the Bible as a means for communication and understanding with and of Him, and chooses to daily interact with us through payer, words are not the only thing we have to rely on. He gave us action as well. The way He sacrificially lived a life of love is a perfect example of how we should live.
When we show people love, they don't need our words. In fact, how many times have you said something you didn't follow through with? How many times has someone told you something that you had a hard time believing they actually meant? When we act out our love for others through service, generosity, and sacrifice, no one has to guess how we feel or where we stand. We are showing the world Christ's love through our actions.
As I continue to process this idea of putting love into action, I have to evaulate my own life. I find myself asking, "How did you show love today?" Some days I have no answer for that question. I can't even imagine, however, how beautiful a world would be if every person had an answer for it every day. What if we truly did show love just like Jesus?
1 John 4:19 says "we love because He first loved us." Jesus is love. He's the reason for it and the only way we know it. It only makes sense that we spend our days loving just as He does. The Bible is full of examples of the way that Jesus showed His love for us through action. The most overwhelming example I can think of is the sacrifice He made on the cross. He didn't just talk big. He didn't sit in Heaven and make decisions from a throne in the most unfathomably perfect place in existence. That would have been easy. Instead, He willingly left Heaven. He became a man on Earth knowing He'd face injustice, temptation, and hate. He knew He would have to die for us. What a way to show love.
While Jesus so generously gives us the Bible as a means for communication and understanding with and of Him, and chooses to daily interact with us through payer, words are not the only thing we have to rely on. He gave us action as well. The way He sacrificially lived a life of love is a perfect example of how we should live.
When we show people love, they don't need our words. In fact, how many times have you said something you didn't follow through with? How many times has someone told you something that you had a hard time believing they actually meant? When we act out our love for others through service, generosity, and sacrifice, no one has to guess how we feel or where we stand. We are showing the world Christ's love through our actions.
As I continue to process this idea of putting love into action, I have to evaulate my own life. I find myself asking, "How did you show love today?" Some days I have no answer for that question. I can't even imagine, however, how beautiful a world would be if every person had an answer for it every day. What if we truly did show love just like Jesus?
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