Walking in Love Every Day
For a season, my sweet Pastor husband and I lived in a house with more space than we needed. Consequently, we often hosted friends and family who were passing through our small town on their way to someplace else. I remember one weekend we hosted a young man who is one of my son’s lifelong friends.
Weekend Visitors
The young man and his wife were traveling to their new home on the other side of the state. They were starting a new life with new jobs. As a result, they arrived with their moving truck, two cars, two fathers and a dog. We ate dinner together, watched a bit of TV, chatted, slept, and finally enjoyed coffee and breakfast before they got on the road.
I was quick to open my home for our friends. After all, hosting the young couple and their entourage didn’t cost me anything. Admittedly, I spent a bit more time cleaning my house before they arrived than I had planned for the week. Plus, I spent an afternoon preparing food, and I got up a bit earlier than normal on the morning they left so there was plenty of coffee brewed.
The Day After
I spent the day after they left washing sheets and towels, returning my house to its normative state. As I put clean sheets on the beds, I caught a whiff of freshness. In addition, I felt the warmth of the sun as sunlight streamed through the windows. Consequently, I experienced satisfaction and peace.
I offered myself available, and I gave from what I had. The few things I thought “had to be done,” but which I set aside to honor my guests, lost their urgency. I would get them done when they got done.
Opportunity for Obedience
I enjoyed the opportunity to serve, and God blessed my spirit. I didn’t hear a chorus of angels singing and I knew a prize control company wasn’t coming to my door to offer me a truckload of money. Furthermore, I hadn’t unearthed a new talent or discovered a cure for a horrific disease.
Instead, I chose to be momentarily dedicated toward accomplishing a very particular task God had placed in my realm of possibilities. I chose to be flexible and open. I chose obedience.
Walk in Love
The Biblical authors talk often about obedience and serving others. In his second letter, John states it very succinctly.
“This is love: that we walk according to his commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: that you walk in love.”
2 John 1:6, CSB
We are to choose obedience and walk according to God’s commands because we love Him. Moreover, God’s most basic command to us is walk in love. When we walk in love, we choose to see the value of another. Specifically, we treat others with kindness and consideration, acting in ways that are for their best.
Everyday Acts of Love
When I opened my home, I exhibited love. I acted out the words, “You are of great value.” God gives us many opportunities to walk in love every day. Consider the examples below.
- Speak kindly to the checker at the grocery store
- Rake leaves for an elderly neighbor
- Check on a friends pet when she goes out of town
- Deliver a meal to a family in need
- Run errands for someone who just had surgery
- Send a handwritten note of encouragement
- Bless someone with a balloon bouquet, just because
- Express specific and sincere gratitude to a restaurant server
- Pick up children from school for a busy mom
We can offer value to others in remarkably simple ways, and the cost to us is minimal. For this reason, each of us must choose to slow down and see each person as a precious individual worth investing in for the moments we share with them. We need to open the door of our availability and listen to what God’s Holy Spirit asks of us.
God whispers to us to release our grip and share what we have. He calls us to obedience and thereby to walk in love. We may find ourselves inconvenienced at times, however we are filled with a sweetness that refreshes our souls.
Your Journey:
Describe a time someone did something for you that told you “You are of great value.”
What small thing(s) do you already do to express love and value to someone else?
How do you find living a life of love difficult?
Read 2 John. What phrases jump out to you and why?
What do you learn about God?
What do you learn about yourself?
Take a moment and listen to God’s Holy Spirit. Generate a list of ways God gives you to express value to those in your circle of influence. Challenge yourself this week to do one simple act each day, walk in love and give value to someone else.
Biblical Love Photo by Emmanuel Phaeton on Unsplash
Love this! Reminds me of the verse that encourages giving a cup of cold water in His name. So simple, yet needed.
When we were rebuilding after the flood we had many deadlines to meet. In order to meet one of these we reluctantly decided to spend the Friday & Saturday after Thanksgiving putting insulation between the joists under the gloor. An easy, but time consuming project. We we’re slightly discouraged, as this meant giving up one of our family traditions of shopping, eating lunch out, and going to the movies with our boys on Black Friday. We had already cancelled our vacation and most outings as rebuilding the house was a pressing, urgent need.
We were delightfully surprised when a family of four showed up to help us. We finished in one day and got a much needed family day on Saturday.
Although we thanked them profusely, I doubt they realize how much that encouraged us!
Thanks so much for sharing your story. What a wonderful example of showing Christ’s love in a simple yet expansive way!