What Does God Love?Намуна

PUT THE OTHER PERSON FIRST

Always remember the reason you are on earth — to fellowship with God and declare the Good News of His love to people so they can be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). This is how we bring in the great last-days harvest before Jesus returns.

We do this by walking in the God-kind of love – the kind of love that He put in our hearts when we got saved (Romans 5:5). In a nutshell, this love does what’s better for the other person. It puts the other person first. 

That’s what Jesus did for us. In the Garden of Gethsemane when He saw clearly the sacrifice that He was going to have to make on the Cross, He asked God if that cup could pass from Him. The Message says that Jesus “...fell on his face, praying, ‘My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?’” (Matthew 26:39 MSG). His own choice would have been to not go through that.

But He didn’t put His own wishes first—He put you and me first. He said to the Father, who had been planning this great redemption for 4,000 years: “Not my will, but your will be done.” 

That is the picture of love. In spite of the pain, the shame, the separation from God that He would endure, He did what was best for us. He went to the Cross and shed His blood, paying the ultimate price, making the ultimate sacrifice.

John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” This is the kind of love that God put in our hearts when we were born again, and that’s the kind of love you and I are called to walk in. Jesus is our example. He gave Himself first.

What if everyone who is married did this with their spouse? What if we did it with our children, our co-workers, our fellow students, our neighbors, or other family members? 

What if, when we’re dealing with a difficult person, we chose to walk in love instead of getting even or wanting them to change? I think we’d find a whole lot more of God’s power applied to our situations, and we’d come out on top every time.