“Do everything in love.” I Corinthians 16:14

Becoming a grandparent is one of the coolest things in the world. Although our grandson Jack is only 2 1/2 months old it seems like every time we see him he has grown and changed more than we could imagine. With our own children, their growth happened gradually over each day so it was easy to miss, but not seeing Jack every day makes his growth much more obvious to us.

As we live in relationship with Jesus one of the things that should always be growing in us is love. In John 15:13 Jesus set the definition for love when He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” He then proceeded to demonstrate what He meant when he laid down His life on the cross for His disciples, and for us. And Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners. Christ died for us.” Even when we might be what we would consider “unlovable,” God showed His love to us.

As we think about how to grow into this kind of love Romans 13:8-10 give us some great direction:

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, who is the ultimate example of love, may we continue to grow in love and in the ways that we demonstrate the love of God to the people around us.

In the days to come, invite Jesus to open the door for you to show His love to the people in your life and be looking for the ways that He leads you.

In God’s Love,

Mark