LOVING PEOPLE

To master the act of living with people, the fundamental thing you need to do, is to walk in love. To be able to live well with people in peace and harmony, you will need to love them. God expects us to love  because he himself is love( 1 John 4:7). He loves us all and expects us to love each other( 1John 4:11). To prove that you are a follower of Jesus, you must love( John 13: 34-35).

WHAT IS LOVE

If all we know about love is how we feel towards each other, then we do not know love. If Jesus commanded us to love, then love is more of a decision than it is a feeling. Love becomes a decision you take everyday. This is not to say that our feelings aren’t valid, they are,  infact they are very important because they play a  role in our decision to love, but we are not to love out of the way we feel because sometimes we may not feel right towards each other. This then is how to love;

1 Corinthians:13.4
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

This is how God ecpects us to show love to the people around us. He wants us to be kind to them, to be patient to them, to forgive them and to do them good. He wants us to love them by understanding them and tolerating them. When you say love a friend, neighbour or family, you must make the decision to be good to them. You must decide on all occasions to show them goodness and to give them the good part of yourself. God wants us to show people love by our actions, letting go of our feelings and doing the right thing, just as he loved us by giving his son whiles we were still sinners.

This does not mean you won’t  get angry at people. You will! But because of love you will have to decide not to hurt them out of anger.

It’s always a decision to take so you first need the fruit of love in you. If you don’t have it, you can’t give it.