Plow
Creek Mennonite Church
Sunday
Meditations
Disclaimer - meditations are the personal reflections of the worship leader, not official church doctrinal statements.
Loving One Another
Louise Stahnke
Jesus was very clear about what was most important. He refused to give his disciples a set of doctrines. Repeatedly he called them to two things: Believe in Me, and love one another. He also asks our obedience to him in his way. We live in a culture that has thoroughly messed up the word “love”. We may think we love another person when we have a warm fuzzy feeling toward him or her. I suspect that feeling has more to do with how that person cares for us or helps us feel loved. Love is an action verb. When we have obeyed our Lord and done something loving for another person, we may well feel good or right inside. This is because we are functioning as our Father created us to function. He is Love, and we as his children, are created to love.
Love can be expressed in many ways: We give love to another when we honor them, respect them, care about them. We love another when we want what is best for them. When we protect them from things that would be truly harmful to them. We love when we encourage another, when we manage to say things to bring correction but do so without a spirit of judging or condemnation. Jesus was that master at that. We love another when we make them feel welcome, help them know that we are truly glad to be with them. To do so brings the great gift of joy.
Prayer is a wonderful tool for loving others, an act of power that enables our Lord to give what is needed. In order for an act to be one of love, it must be freely given. The same action, done as a sense of compulsion, or as a way to avoid something we are afraid of, is simply not love. Fear and love are never in the same camp. As people we tend to form bonds with other people, and they can be either fear bonds or love bonds. The effect of those different kinds of bonds on our development is vastly different.
Sharing life in community gives us huge numbers of opportunities to either love or not love each other. Let’s take a few minutes to share with each other ways we have received love, and if you like, what that has meant to you.
Disclaimer - meditations are the personal reflections of the worship leader, not official church doctrinal statements.
Loving One Another
Louise Stahnke
Jesus was very clear about what was most important. He refused to give his disciples a set of doctrines. Repeatedly he called them to two things: Believe in Me, and love one another. He also asks our obedience to him in his way. We live in a culture that has thoroughly messed up the word “love”. We may think we love another person when we have a warm fuzzy feeling toward him or her. I suspect that feeling has more to do with how that person cares for us or helps us feel loved. Love is an action verb. When we have obeyed our Lord and done something loving for another person, we may well feel good or right inside. This is because we are functioning as our Father created us to function. He is Love, and we as his children, are created to love.
Love can be expressed in many ways: We give love to another when we honor them, respect them, care about them. We love another when we want what is best for them. When we protect them from things that would be truly harmful to them. We love when we encourage another, when we manage to say things to bring correction but do so without a spirit of judging or condemnation. Jesus was that master at that. We love another when we make them feel welcome, help them know that we are truly glad to be with them. To do so brings the great gift of joy.
Prayer is a wonderful tool for loving others, an act of power that enables our Lord to give what is needed. In order for an act to be one of love, it must be freely given. The same action, done as a sense of compulsion, or as a way to avoid something we are afraid of, is simply not love. Fear and love are never in the same camp. As people we tend to form bonds with other people, and they can be either fear bonds or love bonds. The effect of those different kinds of bonds on our development is vastly different.
Sharing life in community gives us huge numbers of opportunities to either love or not love each other. Let’s take a few minutes to share with each other ways we have received love, and if you like, what that has meant to you.