August 17, 2021
Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
~Romans 13:10~
Love is our mighty conqueror of all things. Creation began with it, life came from it and death was defeated by it. It is that "secret ingredient" to all our actions as followers of Christ. It is the very fiber holding the church together from unraveling. Love can not hurt but only encourage. It does no harm. It never fails.
"Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away."
(I Corinthians 13:8)
Jesus Christ was sent to fulfill all of the Scripture which was spoken out of God's love. Each moment, each prophecy and each person we read about were ordained by His great love for us. The fulfillment couldn't be done without it. The Lord warned us how useless we will become without being filled with His love. Our gifts will remain stale and our words will grow cold. "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing."
(I Corinthians 13:3)
Many of us want nothing more then to fulfill our own purpose for the Lord and are searching high and low for that missing ingredient. We attempt to pray harder or fill up our time with all kinds of worship or teachings to gain that special feeling of fulfillment. All in all Jesus is telling us as we love our neighbor we are walking in that very fulfillment, just as He did. "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
(Galatians 5:14)
Jesus loved us in this way enough to have compassion on those who others may have turned away. He blessed adulteress women, He laid His hands upon "unclean" lepers, He welcomed a tax collector in as a disciple and He cast thousands of demons out of a boy who remained chained alone. This kind of love fulfills all things. This kind of love conquers all fear and worry; "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)
We are to mirror that love and that compassion to everyone around us without picking and choosing. God may make us feel uncomfortable for another person to receive great healing. He may have us preach a word to a grumpy non believing person. He may even tell us to give all that we have to those who give nothing back. This is the fulfillment of God's love in us. We are to serve as Christ served. Walked as He walked. Hear as He hears. Be as He is. As we surrender to His will we grow more in His love. I doubt any of us want to grow cold with the world. Let us grasp ahold of God's love, seeking all that He so that those we are sent to are being fulfilled. That secret ingredient will no longer be a secret. We can share it openly to others so that they may multiply His everlasting love onward.
Prayer:
Gracious God, thank you for fulfilling the law
by the love of Your Son and my Lord Jesus Christ. It is that very love in which i crave to be filled with each day so that I may share it to others. I desire to walk in Christ's compassion of others and to have discernment of the hearts. Let my speech be seasoned with grace and its secret ingredient, Your love. Without it I am not benefitting anyone. I admire You as my role model, that others may see You only and glorify Your Name in my actions. I bless all of those who are hungry to walk in the fullness of God's love and be a blessing to others. Let truth, unity, peace and kindness flow out from me. I crave to grow more of the fruits of the Spirit. I love You Jesus and I worship You. It is in Your Name I pray this. Amen.