Our Daily Bread of Love

Dylan is a delivery driver from Lancing.

1 John 4:19 (NIV)
We love because he first loved us.

Love is a pretty important part of the Christian faith. It's a word mentioned in the King James Version 310 times and 801 times in the New Living Translation! It’s a word that I personally use regularly. 'Lots of love' at the end of a message, or ‘love you, bye’ at the end of a phone call, or my personal most used phrase: ‘I love Lord of the Rings’.

However, as easy as it is to say, it can often be a whole lot harder to mean. The Greek used in the Bible for Jesus’ love is Agape: of the four Greek terms for love, it is the highest form. It is the unconditional, selfless love that transcends and persists regardless of circumstance. The love Jesus showed. He demonstrated what this perfect love looked like: serving and loving all who crossed his path, no matter what. 

Such unconditional love is nigh on impossible for us, his disciples, to emulate.

I know I personally can find it difficult to love people well, especially when they’re annoying or when I’m tired or when they’re annoying and tired. But that’s the beautiful thing. It’s not from our own strength or energy that we are called to love. 

 The verse above tells us that our love comes from the fact that Jesus loves us first. It is not up to us to build up the reserve to love those we struggle with. It is the overflow of the love we already have. So, when you are finding people difficult to love, just focus on how loved you are and let that spill out to those around you.

 Prayer - Lord, I receive your love so that I may love others.