Live It Out!

The bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:13: “Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells us to not only love those who love us, but to love our enemies (Mt. 5:43-48).

Ephesians 3:17 tells us to be rooted and grounded in this love. Our ultimate hope that we are to hold on to is nothing we will receive in our natural lives. It’s the resurrection and eternal life that comes only through faith in Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:13 says that we have been born again to this living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We must continually live with this hope in the forefront of our minds. Through love, and with this hope in mind, we are called to branch out and live by faith (Hab. 2:4).

God wants us to make faith connections with Him, not just faith exchanges for blessings. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

So how do we become rooted and grounded in love? How do we stay solid and unshaken by the winds of life in our hope to come? How can we branch out in faith? As we look through the Scriptures this week we’ll find the men and women throughout the Bible have leaned on one simple truth.

Let's work on living out this love no matter the natural circumstances or emotions you’re feeling each day: 1 Corinthians 13:1-8

Romans 12:10 In this verse it ties in how we are to love others with kind affection and to give them preference above ourselves. In other words we are not to seek our own, but to view others above ourselves. We are to seek to please those around us before we look to please ourselves.

So, show a stranger a kind action out of love that places their needs and wants above your own.

Psalm 119:97 Our love for God should not only show in love towards others, but in our devotion to His Word. By meditating and studying His Word we begin to know and understand God in a more intimate way. This in turn brings a greater revelation of his love for us, which allows us to show a greater love to the people we come in contact with, which ultimately shows our love for God.

Lets search the book of Psalms and find a verse that reveals God’s love to you and meditate on it throughout the day on top of 1 Cor. 13.

1 Peter 1:22-23 Once again we see the importance of the Word in living with love. It says we are able to love with fervor and a pure heart by having been born again by the incorruptible Word of God. Therefore when we begin to take the Word and allow it to become a part of us we will be able to take the love of Christ and show it to the world. We also see that sincerely loving our brothers and sisters in the faith brings a purifying upon us, which Jesus said those who are pure will see God (Mt. 5:8).

Meditate on how you can begin to show that sincere love to those around you every day. Begin to apply that to your prayers and to your every day living.

Psalm 130:5 When the fight of faith is at full force, everything in our lives seem in disarray. We must do all we can to stand in faith, and having done all to stand we must continue to stand (Eph. 6:13-14) and wait on the Lord. If we put our hope in our stance in the Word, the cares of this life will by no means overtake us. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 1:13 to put our hope fully in the grace to come. When Jesus returns we will be made perfect and will spend eternity in Heaven.

Now meditate on what areas in your life you need to do a better job of standing with hope in His Word, and begin to apply it daily.