How To Love Others Well

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.John 15:13 (NKJV)This week we will be looking at the word that Pastor Louis shared on Sunday titled ‘How to Love Others Well’.Firstly, we cannot love others if we do not operate in God’s love. We can’t hope to fully understand love on an intellectual level, but we can get to know love relationally, because God is love. We need to search for what God says about Himself in His word so that we can learn about His character. His love is not just a word though, so we also get to experience His love in our lives in practical ways too.Next, we can begin to look at what loving others looks like. Jesus calls us to love not just those who love us, but those who hate us. We can easily become passive or aggressive, but neither are right. We are to both pursue justice and also extend mercy. This does not mean we should be indifferent to abuse, but we are called to respond to dishonour with honour and to hate with love. We need to have mercy for people’s wrong behaviour without condoning their actions.Finally, we need to admit that we can’t do this alone. Only through the power of God’s love working in our hearts can we truly love others well. When we accept God’s love into our lives, it changes how we relate and interact with others.How have you experienced the love of God recently?Who in your life do you need to love better?How can you rely on the love of God to empower you to love others better?