The Empowerment Of Love

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 2 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV) 

Those of us with chronic afflictions have hopefully learned by now to avoid such things as: contention, strife, endless arguments, and a pessimistic outlook on life. Such things drain us and bring no good fruit in our lives. But not only must we avoid negative things in life when possible, we must focus on the good things of life, and at the top of that list is Love. 

God is love. It is the essence of His being.  When we love we draw near to God. Love is a spiritual force, and I’m not talking about the kind of love that is fickle and maudlin, but the powerful thing called godly love that transforms outlooks, hearts, and lives. 

For those suffering affliction, we can never go wrong by keeping love foremost in our heart. To be like God is to live a life filled with love. We must love others, but we must also love ourselves, care for the spirit,  soul, and body that God has entrusted us with. When we have a proper affection for ourselves, we can properly love others. If we are filled with self-hate and self-loathing, we will not be able to properly love others. 

Walking in love is a spiritual approach to life. It empowers us to look at ourselves and others through the eyes of God, and that is no small thing. We need God’s help and guidance to live in this way, and the more we grow as Christians the more we will love. 

Show me a bitter and judgmental Christian and I will show you a Christian baby who has not learned how to love. Love is powerful enough to overcome our weaknesses and to enable us to look beyond the weaknesses of others to see someone who Christ died for. 

We are all still learning in this life, and the most important thing we learn is how to love. If you are struggling with a chronic illness you will need to draw upon God’s love to empower you to live each day, to endure each day, to survive each day, and to thrive each day in love. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, every day living in Your love is a good day. Help us to live in Your love. Amen. 

Karlton Douglas  

Copyright 2017