20 Days Of Relational HealthExemplo

It’s easy to say we love someone but do our actions support our words? When our interactions become difficult or inconvenient, or even dangerous, does our love hold fast? 

I often vacillate between two types of love—the transient, shallow emotion our culture displays and the action, known as agape in the Greek, said to define God and His children. The fact that the former denotes a feeling while the latter a verb reveals the stark contrast between the two. 

Our culture says: I’ll love you if you love me back. Or, I’ll show kindness so long as, eventually, you react as I expect. Or perhaps, I’ll share God’s truth with you when I have time and there’s nothing worth watching on television. Scripture calls us to a higher type of love. 

Paul, a Hebrew who wrote numerous Bible books, including Thessalonians, showed this type of love in how he interacted with the churches under his leadership. His love went deep and came at a lofty cost. Not only did he labor “day and night” (1 Thes. 2:9) so as not to burden them, but he routinely risked his life for them and the sake of Christ. The church in Thessalonica knew this. They’d seen the riots jealous Jews and troublemakers had started in their streets. They watched the mob drag prominent believers before the city council, and they’d experienced the persecution that soon followed. (Acts 17:5-9).

They knew the price Paul paid so that they could find freedom, and they responded by listening and accepting his words for what they were—the very truth of God. 

It’s easy to clog our neighbors’ mailboxes with gospel tracts or clutter their Facebook feeds with verses. But our greatest impact will come from love, the type that says, “My desire for your spiritual freedom is so intense, I’m willing to invest myself personally, no matter how inconvenient and for as long as it takes.” 

~ Jennifer Slattery