What is love?

What does it REALLY look like?

A lot of people talk about it, say you have to walk in it, that you should tell people that Jesus loves them, etc.

But do they really know what it means to walk it out?

Love is not all about emotions.  Yes,  there are romantic feelings and such, but I’m talking about agape love–unconditional love which is compassion in action.

Love is not about “I like you” therefore I help you.  It’s not based on emotions and feelings.

Do unto others as you would have them do to you.

If love and compassion are really in your heart, you will do something.  Pretty simple aye?  It’s just an overflow of your heart.

It’s the love of Christ that compels you.

1 John 3:16-18 says, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.“

Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

I’ve been thinking about this phrase a lot lately, “Love looks like something.” Heidi Baker talks about it.

Here are some quotes from one of her messages:

“There’s something about the Good News that is tangible.  Love looks like something and we need to know what love looks like.”

“We need to carry radical love.  We don’t just jabber…who wants to hear jabbering?  Unless we’re carrying the love of Christ Jesus, we’re not carrying anything that means anything.”

“People don’t want to be handed a tract. They want to know what love is. The whole world is looking for love. They want to know what it means to love and be loved. They want to know what it means to know that God is their Papa, that they are His Beloved.”

“Here’s Jesus—he saw the crowds. What does that mean? He looked at them in the eyes.  He didn’t just see a big multitude and look above them all and just speak.  He saw their faces, he saw their pain, he saw their need, he saw their anxiety, and he saw their sin.  He had compassion on the crowds.  He had authority to do something.  Compassion without power is a very sad thing.”

So, what was the love of Jesus Christ?

Action.

Yes, he preached, but he also demonstrated power and compassion.

There’s a lot of people out there who could care less about doctrines, opinions, “turn-or-burn” or “pro-life” signs with dead babies on them, etc.  There’s a lot of people, young people especially, who really don’t care much about church because there’s nothing there for them.

It’s been dry, uneventful, powerless, condemning, and full of man’s traditions.

I don’t blame them for not going.

They are looking for something tangible, not just words and religious traditions.  And they don’t really care what you have to say.  It’s meaningless unless you can back up your words with action and demonstration. If you’re going to talk about the Kingdom of God and his goodness, you better be able to back it up with tangible proof and action.

I know too many people who stopped going to church altogether and who would rather associate with being agnostic or atheist because there was too much hypocrisy in their church and not enough people actually acting like Jesus and doing what he said to do.

During the spring semester of my sophomore year at a Catholic University I was miserable and wanted to quit school.  I told God, “There’s got to be more to my life and my faith than this.”

I got healed of depression right after that and then I got saved and started searching Him out. There was a lot missing in my walk with Jesus and I was determined to find out what it was–I was looking for something real.

I was looking for the REAL Jesus, not this distant guy I heard stories about for 15 minutes on a Sunday morning.

People are looking for something real too, and Jesus has empowered US to show Him to them.

If people are thirsty, love looks like water.  If they are hungry, it looks like food.  If they are homeless, it looks like shelter.

If someone needs a friend or someone to talk to, it looks like quality time and a listening ear.  If someone is messing up, it looks like correction and advice.

Love doesn’t always feel good.  If you were crossing the street and a truck was coming towards you and I ran and pushed you out of the way, it would probably hurt.  You might even break a rib or two.  But I just saved your life.  Why?  I care more about the preservation of your life and those who care about you than I do about whether or not you will enjoy the method in which I just saved it.

And sometimes love corrects, rebukes, and even gets in your face and says, “HEY! You’re better than that!”  Or  ”Hey, those are lies you are believing, let me show you the truth.”  You may not like what I have to say, but you’ll thank me later.

If someone is sick/diseased or injured, love looks like physical healing.  If they are being emotionally or mentally tormented, love looks like deliverance.  If they’ve died prematurely, love looks like being raised from the dead, etc.

Jesus went about, setting everyone free (Acts 10:38), and He said, “Now follow me.”

1 John 2:6 says, “He who says he abides in Him [Christ] ought himself also to WALK JUST AS HE WALKED.”

God has empowered you to deal with sickness, depression, financial circumstances, etc.

You are royalty and have been given dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:26-28, Luke 10:19) and over your life to live like Jesus and treat people the way you would want to be treated.  Jesus came for us to be reconciled to him and the Father.  And it’s vital to let people know who don’t know yet!

If you’re not excited about Jesus, what he did for us, and what he empowered you to do on this earth, I suggest you figure out why that is.

What have you been taught?  That you need to do a ton of stuff to get God’s love if you are a Christian?

That’s a lie.

You are a saint, completely righteous and holy.  God doesn’t remember your sin (2 Cor. 5:19) and there is nothing you could do that would separate you from his love (Romans 8:38-39).

His love is unconditional.

‎2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

What else…that healing and miracles don’t happen today?

1.) That’s not what Jesus said (Matthew 10:1-8, Luke 10:8-9, Mark 16:17-20, John 10:37-38, John 14:12)

and

2.) I’ve seen them happen over and over.

Why? Because I believe God to be who He says He is and I don’t let situations override his promises.

He’s taught me who I am and that through my hands and faith, He heals.

So many people ask, “Why would Jesus heal people then but not now?” They ask it because they’ve had situations in their lives that make them feel like God either doesn’t care, that he allows it, etc.

And all it really boils down to is that Christians stopped following Jesus.

In Matthew 10:8 Jesus says, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”

Matthew 28:18-20 says, “And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”

Mark 16:17-18 says “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they WILL recover.”

These signs will FOLLOW those who believe–if you are a Christian (yes, this includes Catholics too), you should be looking like Jesus in everything he did.  He cared for the poor, He spent time with people, He healed people, He taught and discipled people, He delivered them from tormenting spirits, He raised the dead.

Jesus is LOVE personified.

James 5:14-15 says, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer of faith WILL SAVE the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.”

Remember, you have the spirit of the living God LIVING inside of you!

If the ‘elders’ in your church aren’t doing this, perhaps you might want to bring up that passage of Scripture in James to them and find out why?

Romans 8:11, “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

You have been equipped to be a solution for every problem people face because it is no longer you who lives but Christ who lives in you (Gal. 2:20) and you are now one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17).

Love looks like us being just like Jesus to all of those around us and showing them every aspect of His life through us.

So GO!  Set people free with the power and love of the resurrected Christ in you!

“In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Him.” – 1 John 4:17

If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating.

---

Maintaining this site and everything it is connected to takes up a lot of time and we greatly appreciate any and all help that you can extend our way!

---