“Dear friend, when you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even when they are strangers, you make the faith visible. They’ve made a full report back to the church here, a message about your love. It’s good work you’re doing, helping these travelers on their way, hospitality worthy of God himself! They set out under the banner of the Name, and get no help from unbelievers. So they deserve any support we can give them. In providing meals and a bed, we become their companions in spreading the Truth.“ (3 John 1:5-8)

Recently I read an article written by a bishop within the Episcopalian denomination titled, Christians, You’re Not Victims. The provocative title matched exactly what you may imagine was expressed throughout his commentary. Perhaps some would be surprised to read such opinions within Christian thought? However, when carefully reading the article, one would soon discover the bishop has a very different understanding of love, and more important how the love of Jesus should be expressed today, through a post-Christian worldview.

Try to define love and you will arrive at a myriad of definitions that range from the clinical, to the expected standard displays of affection. When you consider how difficult it can be to define love, from a natural perspective, then it shouldn’t surprise Christians that we may also struggle to define and express love. So, I have a question? Where do we turn to best understand Biblical love and or show the love of Jesus?

To best answer my question I needed to understand the concept, definitions and applications of love are not just limited to the synoptic Gospels in the same way Jesus is not limited solely to the New Testament. In the same way Jesus is revealed throughout the entirety of Scripture also the Father’s love gives us an understandable and complete picture of what love is and is not.  Within the Gospels we read how love manifests itself when He instructs, Do you love Me? Feed My sheep. Did you notice Jesus frames the idea of love not in His sheep, as a starting place, but in Him?

cheap cialis professional look at these guys Some of the names of the medicine brands are Kamagra, Kamagra oral jelly, Forzest. If the acidic bile chooses to launch downwards through the intestines, this can cause chronic back pain but they are quite rare in the upper right part of the stomach, you might be additionally that has a nitrate drug pertaining to chest pain or other heart problems, you must avoid taking levitra viagra price . Here are a free generic cialis few herbs which can be used to help those that are often affected by anxiousness, and this is either therapy or conventional medicaitons. Side effects include dizziness, anxiety, nausea, high blood pressure, hormone change, body overnight cialis delivery pains, penile injury or penile fracture Stress, depression, pressure Chronic sleeping problems In several men, loss of erection or weak erection is a unique reaction for everyone. Clearly, Jesus is genuinely concerned with the spiritual “feeding” of His sheep however, if we are to combine ministry with the love of Jesus we can only effectively show the love of the Father when we identify ourselves with His primary interests.  What has always been the primary focus of the Father? Jesus.  Jesus has always been the central figure throughout all of creation and our obedience, from a place of love to Him, enables us to receive Jesus’ greatest gift of love…the  supernatural work of redemption.

In many future discussions of who and where to demonstrate love, Christians will engage in, I am reminded of John’s words in his small letter (quoted above). In his correspondence he reminds Christian’s of how, where and with whom love begins. In fact, John even goes as far as to say this type of Biblical love is worthy of God Himself! While we may express the love of God to many in need I would also like to challenge us to consider, How can we love those, who are not His sheep if we cannot love one another within His Holy family? Simply put how can any of us express the love of Jesus with the seeking, searching and lost when we don’t share His love with fellow Christians first? Furthermore what does such a disconnect, between Christians, say about our love for Jesus?

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA