LOVE NUGGET 44: Love's Increase
I've read the last page of the Bible, it's all going to turn out all right." - Billy Graham
For this very reason, you must make every effort to supplement your faith with... love. For if you possess these qualities, and if they continue to increase among you, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in attaining a full knowledge of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.2 Peter 1:5, 7&8 (ISV)
The older we get in life, the more clearly we should see things. I'm sure that's the case for you. We ought to realise more and more as the day passes that love is really what we should allow our lives consist primarily of. The Bible is God's book written to us. In it He tells us in summary to walk daily in love. As long as we stay on this path and live this life of love, we can only go ahead, onward, upward and forward.
The end picture of this life has been shown to us. That's what Billy Graham talks about in today's quote. It's colorful at the end. You win at the end. You'll be glad you chose this path. No matter how good love has made your life become now, it's no match to what it is going to be. It will be much better at the end. Sometimes now it may seem hard and unpleasant to remain in this path. But keep enduring. At the end you'll forget your pain.
Next, I want you to notice that the scripture passage for today tells us we can continue to increase in love. This is so beautiful. Increase means a change of level. You can increase in love. We are not there yet where God wants us to be. We are on course though. Consciously seek to increase your love deeds. Deliberately love people more. Deliberately do things from the standpoint of love. People will be nasty to you many times. People will ridicule you for the life you have chosen. People will do things aimed at offending you and making you enraged.
This is how you will respond: You will look at them with the eyes of love. You'll remind yourself that if they knew better they'd act better. You'll be deliberate about treating them better than they deserve in spite of what they did and will do to you. Beginning from this instant as you're still reading these words, ask yourself how you can increase (step up) your loving. How can you become more like Jesus in this matter of loving others?
**Finally, I want to share with you one practical thing you have to do to increase love in your life. Increase is synonymous with harvest. Every harvest happens because something was planted. So, it's only planting seeds and watering them that holds the promise of a harvest or an increase. **
For love to increase you have to first plant the seed of love.
Let's first talk about planting the seed in your heart so that love can increase in you. It's only what you have you can give. To plant the seeds of love inside you, you have to receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your Lord and Saviour. He is God's love sent to us in human form. Jesus is the perfect replica of God. He's the only true picture of our God. He came as God in flesh. And remember God is Love. When you accept Jesus Christ, you have accepted Love into your heart. The next thing is to water this love in your heart until it takes over your life (that is, until it increases). You do this by focusing on what God has said to you about His love for you. Keep your mind stayed on his love. As you do these, love will increase in your life. I hope to share more with your along these lines soon.