The Secret To True Love

True love is an act of the will – a conscious decision to do what is best for the other person instead of ourselves. ~ Billy Graham

We were created to love and to be loved.

Movies, books and celebrities have, however, distorted what true love is. We are living in a world where we are led to believe that love is about satisfying our own needs and desires and/or about how we feel.

We were created for a deeper, more intimate love.

We were created for true love, the love that is modeled through Jesus Christ. We are most satisfied in our relationships when we can love others as He does- sacrificially.

As a follower of Christ walking in love is God’s highest calling for you. More than anything else God wants you to love well.

The secret to true love is dying to your own selfish desires and living sacrificially for others.

God wants you to show sincere love to others and He wants you to be able to love deeply and with all of your heart (1 Peter 1:22).

So, how can you and I love like this? There’s only one way-  through the power of God. It is impossible to love deeply without the Holy Spirit’s power in us (1 John 4:7-17).

Loving like Christ is not easy because it takes self sacrifice.

First of all, you must have the desire to love others like Christ, and then you must ask Him to help you.

Ask God for patience when your teenager continues to make bad choices and doesn’t seem to be changing, for love is patient.

Ask God for grace when your boss consistently speaks disrespectfully to you, for love is kind.

Ask God for self control when you feel envious of your sister and you are tempted to compare your life with hers, for love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.

Ask God for gratitude when all you want to do is run away from the daily tasks of taking care of the home, for love does not demand its own way.

Ask God for understanding when you are with that person in your life that talks a lot, for love is not irritable.

Ask God for forgiveness in your heart when you feel hurt again by your friend, for love keeps no record of being wronged.

Ask God for hope when your marriage feels like a lonely dead end road, for love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

This is true love.

True love is when we love like Jesus by thinking of others first (tweet this).

He was thinking of you when He was persecuted, whipped and beaten.  It was His love for you that motivated Him to die on the cross.

May Jesus’s love for you motivate you to love others sacrificially.

True love is intentional and self-less.

You and I are the instruments God can use to change the deception of love in this world. May the world see Jesus in you because of your selfless love. And may people desire to follow Him because of His amazing love reflected in your life.

Ask Jesus to help you and then be willing to do your part of walking in obedience in every situation and with every person you interact with.

Thank You Jesus for showing us what true love is.

I’d love to hear from you on which area you need to ask God to help you with so you can love like Him?