Chapter 20 The most important thing on the sixteenth day

The most important thing on the sixteenth day No matter what I say, believe or do, Without love, I have nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:3, Msg) Love is living the way God has commanded us to do. As you have heard the command from the beginning: live in love. (2 John-Chapter 6, NCV) Life is all about love. Because God is love, the lesson that God most wants us to learn in this world is how to love.We are most like him when we love, and therefore love is the foundation of all God's commands to us: "For the whole law is summed up in one command: Love your neighbor as yourself."

Learning to love unselfishly is not easy because it goes against our self-centered nature, so it takes a lifetime to learn.God wants us to love everyone, but He especially wants us to love those in God's family, which is our second purpose in life.Peter said, "Especially love the brothers and sisters who believe in the Lord." Paul responded to this comment by saying, "We should help others as soon as we have an opportunity, but special care should be given to believers in God's family." Why does God insist on our special love for other believers?Why should we love them in the first place?Because God wants His family to be known for its love.Jesus said our best witness to the world is not the dogmas we believe in, but our love for one another.He said, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

In heaven we enjoy the family of God forever, but first we need to work hard to prepare ourselves for that eternal love here on earth.God has given us some "family responsibilities" to train us, the most important of which is learning to love one another. God wants us to learn the art of love through frequent, close fellowship with other believers.You can’t learn to love away from people, you have to be in the middle of it—with boring, imperfect, frustrating people to learn.Through fellowship, we learn three important truths. Love is the best app in life Love should be your highest priority, your most basic goal, your greatest aspiration.Love is not the "nice" part of your life, it's the "most important" part.The Bible says, "Make love your greatest goal." It's not enough to say, "One of my goals in life is love," which makes it sound like love is just one of your top ten goals.Relationships should be number one in your life, why?

life without love is worthless Paul pointed out, “No matter what I say, believe or do, I have nothing without love.” Too often we treat relationships as if they were optional.We talk about finding time with our kids or taking time out to see friends.It sounds like relationships are just one part of the many calendars in life.But God said that relationship is the most important thing in life. Four of the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship with God, and the remaining six deal with our relationship with people, but all of the Ten Commandments are about relationships!Jesus summed up the most important things of God as "love God" and "love people".He said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it, and this is to love your neighbor as yourself. These two commandments are the law The sum total of all the teachings of the Dhamma and the Prophets." Learning to love God (worship) and then learning to love other people is your second purpose in life.

The most important thing in life is not achievement or wealth, but relationship.So why do we often allow our relationships to be sacrificed?When we are busy, we omit relationships and spend less time, energy and energy on loving relationships.What God considers most important has been replaced by other urgent matters. Busyness is the greatest enemy of relationships. Our lives are often packed with livelihoods, work, bills, and goals. It seems that these things are the focus of life, but the focus of life is to learn to love—to love God and love others!Life minus love equals zero. love lasts forever

Another reason God wants us to put love first is that love endures forever. "Faith, hope, and love are common today. The greatest of these is love." Love survives posterity; how you treat people, not your achievements or wealth, is the most lasting impact you can make on earth .Mother Teresa said, "It's not what you do that counts, but how much love you give for it." Love is the secret that lasts forever. I've been with many people through their last moments, when they faced the brink of eternity, and I've never heard a single person say, "Here's my certificate, I want to see it more. Take my old awards Give me gold medals, gold watches.” When life is coming to an end, what people want is not to be surrounded by things, but to be surrounded by people—people we love, people we are related to.At the last moment of our lives, we all understand that relationships are what life is all about.He who knows how to learn this truth as soon as possible is a wise man.Don't wait until your dying day to realize that relationship is the most important thing.

God evaluates us by how we love A third reason for making learning to love a life goal is that God evaluates us by how we love.One of the ways God evaluates our spiritual maturity is by the quality of our relationships.In heaven, God doesn't say, "Tell me about your job, your bank balance, your hobbies." He will examine how you treat people, especially those in need.Jesus said that to love him is to love his family and take care of their practical needs. "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me." When you go into eternity, you have to leave everything behind, and all you can take with you is your character traits.That's why the Bible says, "The only thing that counts is faith expressed in love."

That being the case, I suggest you get up early every morning, kneel or sit by the bed and pray, "God, no matter what I accomplish today, I want to make sure I spend time loving you and loving people, because that's the most important thing in life. , I don't want to waste today. If you will waste it, why should God give you an extra day? The best way to express love is to give time The importance of something is measured by how much time we are willing to spend on it.The more time you spend, the more important and valuable that thing is to you.If you want to know what's important to a person, just look at how they spend their time.

Time is your most precious gift because you only have so much in one lifetime.You can earn more money, but not more time.So when you give someone your time, you give him a piece of your life that never comes back, because time is life.So, time is the greatest gift you can give someone. It's not enough to just say "relationships matter," you have to spend time on relationships to prove that words are useless. "We love each other, not just in words and tongues, but in deeds and honesty." Relationships take time and effort, and the best way to express love is to give time!

The true meaning of love is not what we want or do or provide for others, but how much we give ourselves?Most men don't understand this. Many people said to me, "I really don't understand my wife and children. I provide everything they need. What do they want?" What they want is you!Your eyes, your ears, your time, your care, your presence, your focus!There is no substitute for this. The most coveted gift of love is not diamonds, roses or chocolates, but focus.Love is so focused on the other person that you forget you exist for a moment.Focus is the same as saying, "You are so precious that I would give you my most precious asset—my time." Whenever you give your time, you are making a sacrifice, and sacrifice is what love is all about.Jesus set the example for us: "Walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a sweet offering to take away our sins."

You can "give" without "loving", but you cannot "love" without "giving". "God so loved the world that he gave...", love means giving up, giving up one's preferences, comfort, goals, security, money, energy or time for the benefit of others. The best time to love is now Procrastination is sometimes the best way to deal with little things, but because love is what matters, do it now.The Bible emphasizes again and again: "When you have the opportunity, do good to everyone", "Use every opportunity to do good", "If you have the power to do good in your hand, do not refuse, do it to those who deserve it. If you have Don't tell your neighbor what you have ready, "Go, come back tomorrow, and I will give it to you." Why is now the perfect time to express your love?Because you don't know how many opportunities there are.Circumstances change, people die, children grow up, and you can't guarantee a tomorrow.If you want to show love, you better do it now.Now that you know you will stand before God one day, you have to seriously consider the following questions: How do you explain those times when you value a business project or something more than a person?Who is the person you need to spend more time with?What would you like to remove from your schedule to make it possible?What sacrifices do you need? Love is the best application in life, the best way to express love is to give time, the best moment to love is now.