I’ve been contemplating Love. The Scarlet Hope team needs lots of it to carry out our ministry. We know that “God is love†(1 Jn 4:8). And we’ve been told that “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us†(Rom 5:8). This truth is truly astonishing, but God’s love seems clear. It gets a little fuzzy when it comes to how WE love.
Jesus says the greatest commandment given to us is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind… and the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:37-40). But how can I love God with everything I am and also love my neighbor?
And what does our love actually look like?
I’ve recently been reading the book Concentric Circles of Concern by W. Oscar Thompson, Jr. In it, he says over and over again: “love is meeting needs”. Not sweet feelings of affection, but willing, unselfish action. OK, so we kind of know how to do this with others, but how do we meet God’s needs? Does He even have any?
Matthew 25:31-46 answers:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 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, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’â€
No, God doesn’t have any needs except that WE continue to meet the needs of others. I show my love for God by meeting the needs of the people He puts in my path. It can be as simple as feeding the hungry belly with food, and as profound as feeding the hungry soul with Truth. He has chosen US to carry out that awesome task.
As I accept responsibility for meeting those needs, God’s love and provision is able to move through me to them. If I stop looking for ways to meet needs, try to meet needs from my own resources, or meet needs without addressing a true ultimate need for Jesus, I will quickly give up and dry up.
God deserves my love, and He deserves yours! You may not spend time around dancers, but I guarantee He has placed people around you who need Jesus just as badly. So, I’m starting to pray for God to show me needs to meet. Not so that I can swoop in like a superhero, but so that GOD CAN. He’s been faithful leading me so far.
Can you trust Him to lead you, too? Please keep praying that our deepest desire be to love and obey Him more.
Written by: Laura Henderson
