Timberlake Tales: Missional Focus: {Day 28} Love

Being missional is living a life that involves intentionally serving others to win more to Christ through living out and sharing the Gospel.

¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? ¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²² and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. (1 John 3:16 - 23 NIV)

¹ If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV)

Loving others the way Jesus does, seeing people through His eyes, is something I have been praying for a lot recently. And I have to say that the days I do pray this, I am noticeably more patient with people, I get frustrated a lot less (and I am easily frustrated!) and I have a real, deep desire to give more of myself to others.

I know that I can't love people the way God calls me to love on my own. I can only love wholeheartedly, compassionately and without expecting anything in return if I have the Holy Spirit pouring into me first.