“Let all that you do be done with love.” 1 Cor. 16:14…………
It was about five in the morning. I was tired enough to go back to sleep for hours but had chosen to wake up, pray briefly, and spend time with the Lord which I do each morning. There’s no better way to start the day than with the Lord. I took one of the dogs to go to the bathroom as I’d learned she couldn’t wait for as long as the other dogs. Then I came back in, did a super quick email check, and figured I’d sit down on my bed and start studying the Bible. But I discovered paralyzed dog Mr. Simeon had been trying to take the protective covers off the massive dog bed he shared with paralyzed Miss Mercy and sometimes another dog. I knew I needed to take care of this first – before a problem ensued. As I started to put the covers back in place, I noticed his belly band diaper was leaking urine. I knew a disaster was impending. I needed to express his bladder and get rid of the sullied bedding. More delay to my time with the Lord. I was on the verge of a still groggy temper tantrum. My heart was not filled with love. I was cranky and irritable and self-pitying and complaining. I wasn’t in the mood for love.
That’s when the Spirit of God didn’t just convict me of my sin of not walking in His love, but showed me there was a message in this. Not about the dogs. Not about me. But about Him, about all of us, and about love. The Lord commands His followers to be people of faith, in Him as Lord and Savior, and people of love, of His love. We are to be filled with His Spirit, filled with His light, filled with and bearing the gifts and fruit of His Spirit, and to above all else walk in Christ’s love and reflect, display, and share it with the world around us. We are to love Him with all our hearts, others as ourselves, and to show love to His Creation animals included. He supplies us with His love through Christ to be people of faith – and love. Faith in Christ and love from Christ and for Christ and love through Christ for Christ work hand in hand.
For Christ’s followers, love isn’t about being in the mood to be filled with His love and to speak and act in His love. It’s about receiving God’s love for us, loving Him in return, loving others in His name, and loving His Creation as He calls us to. When we find our hearts, words, and actions filled with sin instead of love, we need to repent as I needed to do that day and to get back to loving in Christ’s name. For the glory of the Lord God almighty, hallelujah!