The Power of Love

Give a helping hand in time of trouble.

by Steve Ferber

Love… that topic brings a variety of responses from people, emotionally and mentally.  There are those that use love to manipulate others so that they have power over them. It seems that in our Western culture we are obsessed with power and love, it is part of how we define who we are and how we react to others. In recent years my journey with God has taken me down paths I would not have imagined. These paths were in areas of my life that I thought I had together. Well, I was wrong! There is an old song that says it pretty good, “I got a new attitude”. It says in that song “I never knew I had such a lesson to learn”.  I’ve been living that for several years now, learning a lesson that affects my outlook on life, that is my attitude towards things. Who knew I was lacking so much… I sure didn’t have a clue.

That’s what the Holy Spirit was sent for; to help me become more like Christ and less like me. One of the “biggies” for me has been love and compassion. I have come to learn that without genuine compassion that you really don’t know how to express love to others. And that compassion is not driven by self-interest but by caring about others. 1 Corinthians 13 talks about what love is and is not. Verse 5 says that “love is not rude, self-seeking or easily angered… it certainly keeps no record of wrongs”. We Christians often become servants to our spiritual gifts and ministries instead of servants to the Father and our fellow mankind. Our actions and attitudes reflect more on our need to express these gifts and build these ministries than the needs of others. What does it mean, “love is not self-seeking”? Is it that God gives us gifts so that we may help others… it is about them, not me or my gifts. Paul said that he became all things to all men so that some may be saved. He died to himself and met them “where they were”, showing compassion to others so that God’s grace would be offered to them.

It is said “they will know us by our love, one for another”. Is that the Power of Love? Not that I love you with the love of Christ; rather my love for others comes from my heart,  genuine caring and compassion for the lost and those who are weak or in need. My deeds will reveal what is in my heart; James 2:14-17 states it very clearly that even though we may pray for someone,if we do not provide for their physical needs what good is it. If faith is not accompanied by action it is  dead.

I believe that the Power of Love comes from a changed heart. One that has submitted itself to the inward works of the Holy Spirit. I have seen it in a few men, the look in the eye and shaking in the voice when they are aware of others suffering. I hope to one day join the ranks of these people. As I continue on this journey, clinging to the life changing fire that the Holy Spirit brings, I will die enough to self to attain this compassion in my life.

A mental picture of what the Power of Love looks like? Deeds that come from a heart that seeks no recognition of its own, rather just to help others. Therefore let us continue on in Christ, dying to self so that we may become who God has created us to be. Able to do the works of He who sent me.