What is Hindering You From Loving Others?

       This week, yet again, God has used breakfast club to help me thoroughly examine my life. The scripture we focused on this week was derived from 1 John 4, where God calls us to genuinely love one another. When I took the time to reflect on whether I shared GOD'S love, I realized I was lacking. People see love so differently in this world. How can I gain recognition? How can I be #1? However, in 1 John 4, God tells us that true love is His act of grace and mercy, which He bared on the cross. Christ should be the ultimate example of how to love others. In previous verses, He tells us how we know we love and should love one another: "Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." The world's perspective is backwards; we should desire to share God's love with others, and help them seek Him. We are placed on this earth for one reason, and that reason being that we may honor God through serving others, not ourselves. 
         1 Peter 4:10 tells us, "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully adminstering God's grace in its various forms." Passages like this are extremely encouraging for me, because my love for others is hindered through jealousy. I am competitive by nature, and too often compare myself to others. 1 Cornithians 13 is basically a guide to love, and lo and behold, envy is not an act of love. By comparing myself to others standards, I am thinking solely of myself, and I am not allowing myself to be happy for what others have received, but what I have not received. When I catch myself becoming jealous I remember one statement in The Kingdom Experiment, which brings me back to terms of how I need to love. In everything we endure, it should not be about the results or the recognition, because often things do not go as planned, but instead, life should be about honoring and glorifying God in ALL you do. Whether I am top of my class or not, whether I am the star basketball player or the benchwarmer, my goal in life should be to concentrate on the true meaning behind everything I do, serving God and others before myself.
       I challenge you, as well as myself, to study 1 Cornithians 13, and choose one way in which we can improve our love for others, consequently sharing the Word of God. Find honest contentment and joy in what he has to say to you, and remember God calls us to be uncomfortable sometimes. Pray to God about your concerns, and also, thank Him for what He will do in your life.

      Let us resemble salt, preserving for His Kingdom and enchancing life for others. -Mark Driscoll

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnGQ4ePZcj0
            
            <3 Abby