Identity
If we do not know our identity, then we will live our lives trying to please human beings. Knowing our identity means knowing our position in Christ. When we know who we are, we will not allow others to abuse, mistreat, or misuse us; we stop being people pleasers. Knowing who we are involves knowing our innate worth in God. Without knowing God and His love, we cannot love others. What we call loving others is validation if we do not do it out of God's love. We give to others until we become deficient, then expect others to give back in the same giving measure as we did towards them, in an effort to be validated or liked. When people do not do as we had expected, then we get frustrated. Many people are happy to receive, but giving back is hard. Therefore when we give so much expecting others to fill us in return, we run into self destruction. When we rely on people to fill voids within us, many start taking advantage, they start mistreating us and using us for their gain. We should never reach that point. We should never belittle ourselves so that others can feel more significant in a prideful and arrogant manner. We should never allow that to take place. We are children of God, created in His image and likeness.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs, it does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. I Corinthians 13:4-8.
Loving God is the greatest commandment. God is love. We are commanded to love one another, and it starts with loving God and knowing our identity in Him. Then, we are able to love others with the same measure; loving with the love of God.
Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man become a living being. Genesis 2:7.
God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. Genesis 1:31.
God made us wonderfully and He loves us. We cannot love without God; the love we have flows from God. In God we are loved, and knowing that truth, we can then extend the same measure of love to others.
God breathed into the man made from dust His life giving spirit. At our core, we are spirit with a soul residing in a body. We were created by God. Our bodies die but the spirit does not. That is why when the spirit departs back to God, the body sleeps and is returned to dust, awaiting resurrection during the second coming of Jesus.
God is love and everything He does is with love. Love is a gift from God that we only have to receive; we do not earn God's love. God has given us the Holy Spirit to minister to us and remind us of God's truths. We often forget very quickly who we are in Christ Jesus. We start to look down on ourselves, even hate ourselves, diminish ourselves, and live defeated lives. Yet, as believers in Christ, we are children of God. We are all equal before God. God loves us in Christ Jesus our Lord. He empowers us through His Spirit to live a life that is pleasing to Him. When we know who we are in God, we are unshakable.
He tends to His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young. Isaiah 40:11.
We are to love with a love rooted in God, and in doing so we have the ability to love others without being clingy or expecting something in return. When we are full and overflowing, then we are able to love others selflessly. We love in obedience to Christ, and that type of love only comes from God.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this; 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these. Mark 12:30.
Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don't be concerned about the fact that they won't repay. Then your reward from heaven will be great, and you will truly be acting as sons of God: for He is kind to the unthankful and to those who are very wicked. Luke 6:35.
Love is not arrogant or boastful, it is gentle and meek; it is an inner strength that emanates from us with God's help and comes from God. It is not flashy or off-showing, it is inner confidence that is unmistakable, not confidence in ourselves, but confidence in God.
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2.
Love is powerful, it has the ability to unite us to an extent we have never seen before. When we get rid of all hate, jealousy, malice, and such like, we will realize that at the end of the day we are brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. God reveals Himself to us in amazing ways. When we understand that God is love, and that He holds the universe together and is the Creator of all, then we will begin to understand why we are here on earth. We are to live for God and love one another as Christ loves us.
We were not born to kill, steal and destroy each other; that is the work of the devil. The devil brings confusion so that we forget who we are in Christ and eventually end up in hell. But thank God that through Jesus Christ we have victory and have the promise of eternal life.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:8.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 1 John 3:16.
Then if my people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sins and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14.
When we love we have no fear, because God's love takes up the place occupied by fear in our hearts.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4:18-19.
Our life on earth is a gift, given to us for a purpose and for a season. Our home is heaven with God eternally. Our life here is just temporary. When we understand these, then we will live a purposeful life, full of love, with full reverence to God. When we love, we have nothing to lose, on the contrary, we know it pleases God when we love one another as He has commanded us.
For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18.
If we have to outdo each other, let it be in doing good.
Blessings.
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