One of the commandments given to us by Jesus is to love God first and then love your neighbor as yourself. God is a jealous God and He cannot share His glory with any man. The second is loving your neighbor as yourself. I will take each of them at a time.
Loving God
Men that put God first in their lives know exactly what they gain by doing so.
An example of this is seen in 1 Corinthians 2: 9 which says;
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
God knows those that love Him and His love comes with proofs not merely words alone.
Proofs that you love God
1) By loving what God loves which is the souls of men (John 3: 16). This is done by praying for souls to be saved and reaching out to them i.e soul winning.
2) Helping people around you, whichever way you can.
3) Living a righteous life, a life full of all the fruits of the Spirit. When people see this godly attitude oozing out of your life, they become naturally drawn to you, wanting to serve your God. It’s this that makes you an Ambassador of Christ on earth.
Furthermore, a lifestyle of humility is the lifestyle of God. Be humble and always remember to acknowledge God in all your ways.
Loving your neighbor as yourself
In order for you to love your neighbor, you must learn to love yourself.
What do I mean by loving yourself?
Quite a number of people would prefer to be what another person is. They don’t really like themselves and the reasons for this vary. Some want to talk the way a particular person does, some want to do kinds of stuff as this other person does. They prefer to copy others than to be their real selves. You can’t love your neighbor if you have these qualities.
It is important to love and develop yourself. Each and every one of us is unique in our own way. Finding your calling, personality, uniqueness and taking a conscious effort to develop yourself makes you become attractive both to yourself and others around you.
Qualities such as quietness (meekness), humility, honesty, not being bothered about what people say about you (because everybody is entitled to their own opinion and what counts is what you think about yourself), makes you attractive, confident and raises your self-esteem.
It is important to have this at the back of your mind that not everyone will like you, irrespective of how kind or loyal you are. With this at the back of your mind, you can say the truth at all time without trying to please anyone nor twist the truth in favor of someone else. Even the Bible warns against eye service (Ephesians 6: 6-8)
Develop Godly character
By the time you start developing these godly characters by the help of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit starts to manifest in your life, it’s only natural that you’ll begin to love who you are. You wouldn’t want to change it for anything rather, you’ll want to develop yourself.
Once all these changes begin happening in your life, people get attracted to you. At first, they may dislike you because of your bluntness, honesty, and integrity but at the end of it all, they would see who you really are.
It’s only until you get to this stage that you will be able to love your neighbor effectively as yourself.
Remember you are unique in your own way, be contented with who you are and what you have, don’t try to be someone else or envy your neighbor because everyone on earth is different and so is our timing. We all have different purposes in life and no one’s purpose in more superior than the other.
Find your purpose on earth, feel comfortable in it, bring out the best in it and help people around you. I guarantee you that if you do this when your friends and others show you how things are going well for them, you will rejoice with them because you are aware that your own change is coming. All is a matter of time and remember that our paths in life and destiny differ. Therefore, maintaining your lane, not moving into another person’s lane i.e staying focused, is what makes your light to keep shining.
Learn to forgive
Another thing to keep in mind as you love your neighbor as yourself is forgiveness.
If someone offends you, paying that person in his own coin does not differentiate you from an unbeliever. What makes the difference is love.
If someone speaks to you in a way you don’t like, it’s better you leave and hand the case over to God than to reply in a manner you might end up regretting later.
I tell you, the part in the Bible that says to pray for those who despitefully use you is real. In order words, you know very well what these people are up to, something. They smile in your front and stab you at the back. Praying for them and handing the battle over to God is where your victory lies.
Learn to Love
When you truly hand over the battle to God without any iota of hatred in you, most times one is privileged to see how their evil plans blow right up in their faces without one lifting a finger. Playing your part by having a forgiving heart and believing God the righteous Judge to take over your battle is what makes one have this kind of results.
Love also breaks people’s hearts i.e softens the heart of men. When people do all manner of evil against you and expect you to retaliate but you show them love instead, it breaks their hearts.
In summary, putting smiles on people’s faces, helping people in whatever Godly way you can, showing love to the least person around you really pleases the Father. Also, remember to be an Ambassador for Christ on earth and expect to be rewarded.
If you are ready to accept Jesus into your life, join me in the salvation prayer.
SALVATION PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I come as a sinner, forgive me all my sins, cleanse me with your blood. I accept you today as my personal Lord and Saviour, I am free from all powers of sin, to serve the living God.
Welcome to the family of God dear friend I would love to keep in touch with you. Contact me @ oluchinwoha@gmail.com. and Tumblr
God bless you.
I hope you’ve been blessed with this little story of mine and I would really love to hear from you. Stay tuned for the next post and you can access the last post here.
Chidinma Oluchi.
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