Love is the Answer

by Cherie Bright

2 John 1:5-6

And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.  And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

I believe that “Love is the Answer.”  Whatever we do, we should do it in love.  God does everything out of Love.  His love is supreme and we should try to be more like God.  That’s the whole point, right? 

I try to remember that "Love is the Answer" daily.  I even have an old worn out cloth bracelet that has “love is the answer” stitched on it.  I want to love like Jesus loved.  I want to love not only my friends and family, but also the lady checking out my groceries, or Zaccheaus the tax collector, or the little kid screaming in the store, or the Samaritan woman at the well, or the guy who admittedly did some bad things and just got through serving time, or even that person that I find really annoying that I might try to avoid on occasion.  I want to love them all, just like Jesus did.  And, it’s really hard. 

And do you know what’s harder than that?  Teaching my children to love everyone like Jesus did - that is hard.  Because you know even though I can say to myself, “Hey, you should love them even if they are making some big mistakes” it’s really hard for me to accept my children loving others whose choices aren't the best. 

Here is what I know scripture teaches me, we must do all things out of Love for God. We can help the poor, make a dinner for our elderly neighbor, volunteer at the local school. All these things are good, but if we are serving without the Love of God it has no meaning.

In Colossians 3, it states “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”  You might even want to go and finish up chapter 3 in Colossians.  It is written beautifully.  

Prayer:  Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving me the precious gift of Love, for it is through Your Love that I receive salvation and your most complete Grace.  Thank You for Loving me Lord.  I love You. In Jesus Name, Amen.

This Guest Post was submitted by Cherie Bright.  Cherie is a happily married stay-at-home mom of two great kids, a daughter age 12 and a son age 14.  She grew up in a Southern Baptist Church and has been a member of The Woodlands United Methodist Church for the past 9 years. 

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