The Family of Christ - Giving Your Best [In Love]

John 3:16 says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God gave his very best-his son. He does not ask us to sacrifice our children, but he does ask for our best

We live our lives trying so hard to please everybody, and the truth is we will never be able enough to please everybody. We can never fully please the people around us, that we have to live with, or that we meet in our lives. Matter of fact is we do our best for other people trying to get some if not all of their attention thereby being attention seekers which is actually very dangerous and we always get disappointed because that is just the nature of people. Instead of trying to give people our best we need to give it to God who not only demands it but deserves it! Malachi 1:6-14 We are the family of Christ and in everything that we do, we should give our best and our best is grounded, founded, established, and centered on Christian love!

Christian love is Christ’s commandment

What is at the heart of Christian love? Jesus said by this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another (John 13:35) John inspired by the Holy Spirit once wrote we know that we have passed from death (spiritual) to life because we love the brethren he who does not love his brother abides in death (sin) (1 John 3:14) And by this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments for this is the love of God that we keep His commandments and His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:2-3) when we love our Christian family members we give them our best; this is not an option it is a commandment.

Christian love is not a feeling it is a lifestyle

So what do these scriptures regarding Christian love really mean! Is it a warm and fuzzy feeling? I have a friend who is always kidding me about my warm and fuzzy feelings but you know what I don’t have warm and fuzzy feelings for everyone I meet Christian otherwise and warm and fuzzy is certainly not the biblical definition of love.

A Pharisee lawyer once asked our Lord Teacher which is the greatest commandment in the law?  Jesus said to him you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind this is the first and greatest commandment and the second is like it  you shall love your neighbor as yourself on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:36-40). How much can giving your best be connected with love than this! If you truly love your Christian family you are going to give them the best of you even the ones that are unlovable; the ones that you hear whispering about you and they whisper just loud enough so that you can hear it; the ones that don’t want to lift a finger to do any work in the congregation but complain that you are “taking charge”; the ones that go the other way so they won’t have to shake your hand and when they do they do it in a manner like you have a fatal disease that is transmitted through your hand, or what about the ones that don’t like you – no reason, just because. Well you still have to love them you sill have to give them your best, the best of your joy, your laughter, your kindness, your hospitality, yourself. Christian love is a lifestyle that is demanded by the Lord – Matthew 7:12: forgive one another-Colossians 3:13; accept one another-Romans 15:7; honor one another-Romans 12:10

Christian love is a selfless and giving love

Christian love is giving to others those things that you would want them to give if you were in their situation-and it’s doing so even if they can’t pay you back. In fact it’s dong so especially if they can’t pay you back! Christian love is respect for others. It’s mercy. It’s charity.

When King James' translators came upon the Greek word agape (God’s love) in addition to using the English word love to transliterate it they often chose the word charity. This was meant to reinforce the idea that agape is a selfless, giving love. God’s love is unselfish and unconditional. Now we know what is meant by Christian love. John 15:13 tells us greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. We don’t mean the literal translation, but just think about loving your Christian family members so much that you will put your needs aside to assist them. In John 10:11 Jesus said I am the good shepherd the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Again you are not commanded to die for someone but to stop being selfish, uncaring, unkind and egotistical because I tell you you are just not that important!  But God demonstrates His love for us in this while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8) Best is defined as most excellent and that truly fits Christ – the most excellent, the highest, the greatest, the all, the everything – my everything!

I am sure that all of us have and some still do, love someone so much that we want to give our best. And as humans we can have some ugly ways that make us question why we even love that person or persons and why we even bother to give our best. Our Christian family is the same way, some of us can be so ugly, and cruel and unloving, but we have to love them anyway and give them your best because Christ loves us despite us!

I like epic cartoons and watch them a lot with my six-year old granddaughter; like Tangled, and Brave, and, and the Princess and the Frog, and The Incredibles, and Monsters Inc…well you get the picture, one of my new all-time favorites is Dispicable Me. Now in Dispicable Me Steve Carrell plays the voice of the villain Gru,,,now Gru was so despicable he even sang about it!  Gru thought he was all that and wanted the world to recognize, so he decided to steal the secret ray gun so he could shrink the moon and become the stuff! So he adopted three sisters to help him carry out his plan…every time he had this brilliant idea, he would cry “light bulb” now I love Gru, you know why, because after a while he lost himself in his self-made family and begun to really love those little girls, all at the expense of his own plans…he learned how to give his best! We are family, let’s give our best – stop hating on one another, start living in unity – forgive one another and always love – give your best! God gave His best in his infinite awesome wisdom He gave-we should not do less! Light bulb! The choice is up to you!