What Matters Most~
Learning to love others as yourself; a task not easily done but is required to be a follower of Jesus. In Galatians 5:14, it states that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. We are, by nature, self-centered beings. Giving of ourselves can be one of the hardest things one can do. We should even give special attention to other believers (Galatians 6:10). God wants others to know His children to be those that love others like Jesus loves them. Being a disciple means loving others as you. John 13:35 says, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Being in fellowship with other believers actually provides the hands on training you need to learn to love those in the faith as yourself. Being around hard to love people give us the opportunity to refine this requirement of loving others.
Rick Warren states in his book The Purpose Driven Life, “Life without love is worthless.” If love is to be our greatest aim in regards to others, surely relationships are important to Him and should be to us as well. Fitting people into our busy schedules just doesn’t cut it. When people are important to us we make time for them. Building relationships involves sacrifice, time and effort; all of which can be spent on appointments and tasks that amount to very little. Life without love is meaningless.
Love is eternal. This is why loving is vitally important. Loving others must be a top priority in our lives. “Love leaves a legacy,” says Rick Warren. How you treat others and care for them creates eternal rewards. When people are on their deathbeds, they want to surround themselves with those they love and have loved them. They don’t care about the accomplishments they have achieved, the diplomas they have earned or how much they have in their banks. What is truly important in the last days of life, are relationships obtained. Waiting until you are on your deathbed to find out what matters most to you and to others.
Loving others will be one of the things we are evaluated on in regards to eternity. What we do to one another reveals what we would do to Jesus. Matthew 25:40 states, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, inasmuch you did it to me.” Rick Warren says, “The importance of things can be measured by how much time we are willing to invest in them. The more time you give to something, the more you reveal its importance and value to you. If you want to know a person’s priorities, just look at how they use their time. The greatest gift you can give someone is your time. It’s not enough to say relationships are important; we must prove it by investing time in the.” The Bible says in I john 3:18, “Children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” Often men and fathers cannot understand why their wives’ tell them they don’t feel loved by them. Love is time and focused attention. Nothing can take the place of this commodity. Wives’ want their husband’s focused attention; children want their father’s presence. This is the biggest gift you can give your wife or children, is you. True love concentrates so intently on other you forget yourself, as mentioned in The Purpose Driven Life. The perfect act of sacrificial love is when Jesus gave His life for sinners. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
Now is the best time express love to others. You are not promised tomorrow so don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today. The Bible says, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those of the faith.”
When you stand before God, which we all will one day, what answer will you give for squandering your time worthlessly? Who might you need to show love to now? What changes need to be made in order to spend your time wisely? There’s no reason to wait, do it now.
