May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Ephesians 3:19 NLT
You can’t love from an empty tank.
The Holy Spirit shared that with me yesterday when I was praying for someone.
I looked it up online and sure enough, there’s a whole field of study on keeping your love tank full. While all their suggestions may be helpful, it’s best to connect straight to the original source of love, God Himself.
Let God fill your love tank. Then, you can’t help but love people. Friends, enemies, strangers, doesn’t matter. If your love cup is overflowing, you can’t help but pour out love into the lives of others.
That’s the best way to make disciples, draw lost people into redemptive relationships, enjoy your friends and family, and generally conduct yourself in public.
How’s your love tank level? Are you running on empty? Busyness does not equal holiness. In fact, the greatest struggle we seem to have is slowing down enough to be able to hear the Holy Spirit.
We “know” that God loves us. We accept that as head knowledge. Yeah, God is love, that’s what He does and if He’s in my life, then He’s loving me. Okay. Now what?
The problem is experience. What’s your experience with a father’s love? Our fallen human nature doesn’t create the best image of what a loving father is. I’ve met a few very blessed individuals that had loving and affirming fathers, but they are the exception to the rule.
Our view of God is affected by our view of our earthly fathers. Whatever you felt about your father, if he was in your life, is how you tend to initially think about God.
Is he always angry? Is he a stern task master? Is he absent? Emotionally unavailable? Abusive? Do you have to perform to earn love? Whatever the case may be, let me help you.
Our earthly fathers did the best they knew how to in the circumstances they found themselves. Who taught them to be a good father? They just didn’t know any better. Perhaps they were intentionally cruel. Forgive them anyway.
Forgive those who hurt you. That’s the first step in healing.
Then, let God love you.
Let the people of God love you. That’s our specialty.
Love is the fertilizer that makes the seed grow. Keep fertilizing the soil. It doesn’t matter what kind of soil it is. Don’t discriminate. Love everybody. We all need love.
Over time, God will heal all the trauma of your past. You’ll form new memories of being loved unconditionally as people display grace as you confess your sins one to another and pray for one another to be healed.
God started the process.
Do your little part.
Be love.
Father in Heaven, may we all experience Your love right now. Fill us up with the Holy Spirit until we overflow. We give up control and yield to Your leading. Be glorified in me. Let me be the start of a movement. The movement to love people like God does. Let us be obedient Christians led by the Spirit of God. Amen.
Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
Ephesians 4:14-16 NLT
For further study: Read Ephesians 3 & 4
Igniter Ministries 