Monday, July 6, 2020

Showing Love

 

[Photo of children embraces]


When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him, he will
sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
All the nations will be gathered before
him, and he will separate the people
one from another as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats.
He will put the sheep on his right
and the goats on his left.

Then the King will say to those on
his right, “Come, you who are
blessed by my Father; take your
inheritance, the kingdom prepared
for you since the creation of the
world. For I was hungry and you
gave me something to eat, I was
thirsty and you gave me something
to drink, I was a stranger and you
invited me in, I needed clothes
and you clothed me, I was sick and
you looked after me, I was in prison
and you came to visit me.”

Then the righteous will answer him,
“Lord, when did we see you hungry and
feed you, or thirsty and give you
something to drink? When did we see
you a stranger and invite you in,
or needing clothes and clothe you?
When did we see you sick or in
prison and go to visit you?”

The King will reply, “I tell you the
truth, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers of
mine, you did for me.”
—Matthew 25:31-40

“Love” can sometimes seem like a hard thing to talk about.

If I cup my hands together and hold them up high, I could tell you that I am holding some “love” in my hands. But, because you can’t see “love” the same way you can see one of your most prized possessions, you can’t really tell whether I have “love” in my hands or not.

But, do you know what? We actually can see “love” every day. That’s right. Every single day, each one of us sees examples of “love.”

Last night, or early this morning, when we finished our bath or shower and grabbed a nice soft towel to dry off with, did we realize, when someone washed that towel and placed it there for us to use, that was an example of “love”?

This morning, when someone made a nice breakfast for us, did we realize that was an example of “love?”

Even if we did these things for ourselves, they were acts of “love.”

When we attended church this last weekend, and we sat down in a freshly dusted pew, or walked along the hall with a nice clean floor, the fact that one of our church’s staff members, or maybe a volunteer, had carefully cleaned the church so we could worship there, that was an example of “love.”

Everywhere we look, we can see examples of people’s “love” for us. Every act of kindness, every carefully prepared meal, every single thing anyone does for us that helps us, these acts all show us “love.”

Likewise, if we have an opportunity to do something for someone and decide not to do it, that decision keeps us from showing “love.” When someone asks us to do something and we decide not to do it, in that moment at least, we decide not to show “love.”

Now in many cases, it may seem that showing “love” is really hard. But, all we have to do to show “love” is to do whatever that person asked us to do. So, showing “love” really isn’t that hard at all.

God has shown His love for us, by sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be our Savior. God expects us to show Him our love, by giving our “love” to others. When we say a kind word to someone, we show them our love and God’s love, too. When we help someone, we show them our love and God’s love. When we gladly do what someone asks us to do, we show them our love and God’s love.

So, the lesson for today is that God expects us to show Him our love, by showing love to others.

 

Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.