Blog

This was brought to my attention this morning, and I thought it was definitely worth reposting. This is from Paul Tripp’s blog: https://www.paultripp.com/wednesdays-word/posts/24-ways-to-love-in-2024

I was initially going to take a break from our Wednesday’s Word series on evangelism and how to be a light in your neighborhood because today is Valentine’s Day. Typically, my devotional during this week every year focuses on love, applied specifically to marriage.

The list below, of course, applies to how you treat your husband or wife. But then it hit me: there’s no better way to preach Christ to your neighbor than by incarnating the love of Christ as an ambassador of the One who is love.

 

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

So, here is a definition of biblical love, followed by a list of ways you can apply it to any relationship in your life. But I encourage you to read through this list first with your evangelist hat on and how you might practically express ambassadorial love to your neighbors who have yet to accept the love of Christ.

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:1-2).

1. LOVE IS willing self-sacrifice for the good of another that does not require reciprocation or that the person being loved is deserving.

2. LOVE IS being willing to have your life complicated by the needs and struggles of others without impatience or anger.

3. LOVE IS actively fighting the temptation to be critical and judgmental toward another while looking for ways to encourage and praise.

4. LOVE IS making a daily commitment to resist the needless moments of conflict that come from pointing out and responding to minor offenses.

5. LOVE IS being lovingly honest and humbly approachable in times of misunderstanding.

6. LOVE IS being more committed to unity and understanding than you are to winning, accusing, or being right.

7. LOVE IS a making a daily commitment to admit your sin, weakness, and failure and to resist the temptation to offer an excuse or shift the blame.

8. LOVE IS being willing, when confronted by another, to examine your heart rather than rising to your defense or shifting the focus.

9. LOVE IS making a daily commitment to grow in love so that the love you offer to another is increasingly selfless, mature, and patient.

10. LOVE IS being unwilling to do what is wrong when you have been wronged, but looking for concrete and specific ways to overcome evil with good.

11. LOVE IS being a good student of another, looking for their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs so that in some way you can remove the burden, support them as they carry it, or encourage them along the way.

12. LOVE IS being willing to invest the time necessary to discuss, examine, and understand the relational problems you face, staying on task until the problem is removed or you have agreed upon a strategy of response.

13. LOVE IS being willing to always ask for forgiveness and always being committed to grant forgiveness when it is requested.

14. LOVE IS recognizing the high value of trust in a relationship and being faithful to your promises and true to your word.

15. LOVE IS speaking kindly and gently, even in moments of disagreement, refusing to attack the other person’s character or assault their intelligence.

16. LOVE IS being unwilling to flatter, lie, manipulate, or deceive in any way in order to co-opt the other person into giving you what you want or doing something your way.

17. LOVE IS being unwilling to ask another person to be the source of your identity, meaning, and purpose, or inner sense of well-being, while refusing to be the source of theirs.

18. LOVE IS the willingness to have less free time, less sleep, and a busier schedule in order to be faithful to what God has called you to be and to do as a spouse, parent, neighbor, etc.

19. LOVE IS a commitment to say no to selfish instincts and to do everything that is within your ability to promote real unity, functional understanding, and active love in your relationships.

20. LOVE IS staying faithful to your commitment to treat another with appreciation, respect, and grace, even in moments when the other person doesn’t seem deserving or is unwilling to reciprocate.

21. LOVE IS the willingness to make regular and costly sacrifices for the sake of a relationship without asking for anything in return or using your sacrifices to place the other person in your debt.

22. LOVE IS being unwilling to make any personal decision or choice that would harm a relationship, hurt the other person, or weaken the bond of trust between you.

23. LOVE IS refusing to be self-focused or demanding, but instead looking for specific ways to serve, support, and encourage, even when you are busy or tired.

24. LOVE IS daily admitting to yourself, the other person, and God that you are unable to be driven by a cruciform love without God’s protecting, providing, forgiving, rescuing, and delivering grace.

A Prayer for Today: God, would you make me the kind of person who moves through this world as a living, breathing example of your love for others? Would you shape me into the kind of loving ambassador you want me to be in my neighborhood so that others might know you, Jesus, and be pulled toward an authentic, loving relationship with you, our God and King. Amen.

by Keith McWhorter