A guy I mentor in highschool asked me the other day how he can love the world. I sat and pondered and this is what God put in/on my heart. Mind you, it is not complete, there are so many others ways to love, just I felt that I should post this. These are not my words, but God's. Give all the glory to Him!!
A. Accept people for who they are, exactly how they are.
B. Befriend them, not just to "save them from Hell" but for actually being a person that God created and loves. This is called being genuine and is a large part of integrity.
C. Love people with pure motives. Don't have a hidden agenda as to why you want to get to know them.
D. Be generous to them with everything you have. Whether it is money, your time, books, games, food..etc. when we give of ourselves to others without any expections of getting anything in return, this is real love.
E. Watch your words, actions, and thoughts. I'm not saying you have to walk on egg shells all day, but you are showing who Jesus is to people whether you believe it or not. Sometimes people don't become a follower of Jesus because some yahoo who claims to be a Christian is not loving people and is dishonoring the name of Jesus.
F. Spend time with people. When you are with them, value them and the time you have with them. Don't be thinking about what else you could be doing. You are there and God has you there.
G. Don't retaliate when people wrong you. To steal a few words from Jesus/Bible: "love your neighbor", "turn the other cheek", "be QUICK to listen, SLOW to speak, and SLOW to become angry". Bascially, watch how you respeond to what people say.
H. Pray for the people who you don't like, who treat you like crap, who hate you etc. and let God transform you heart to love them.
I. A short story..... Mother Teresa was once asked how she could help so many people who were sick, dying, had aids, STD's, infections etc. She looked up at the man who asked and simply said, "I see them as Jesus. When I take care of someone or help them, I am actually doing this to Jesus."
J. View everyone as Jesus and treat them the same way you would treat Jesus, especially of they don't know His love for them yet.
*Check out Matt 25:31-46--this is huge for us who are Chrisitians.
Do 3 things to start:
1. Love God.
2. Love people.
3. Ask God to help you love Him and others.
I like this list. As 'simple' as it is, sometimes I wonder if I am capable of coming up with stuff like this. I am glad that Adam did; part of why I'm posting this is in hopes that more people can read it. Despite being a 'simple,' 'introductory' guide, I think these suggestions are all suggestions that we can all use.
I think item letter C is one of the toughest to do. In reality, we have many different reasons why were first talk to someone. They're cute; they are in our major; they are older; they hold positions of leadership; we would like them to hold positions of leadership; and the list goes on. Now, none of these are inherently wrong; but, as Adam is suggesting, we really need to talk to people, show interest, love them from the get-go for no 'reason.' We need to love them because they are. Because they exist. Because they were created by God.
Loving people, truly loving in a Christ-like way is hard. That list is a great "Quick Reference" of how to go about loving people. As Adam stated, it is by no means exhaustive. But I think it's worth a read every now and then. Goodnight and God Bless!
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