I had the opportunity today to contribute to the #loveis series over on the Facebook page for Sweet to the Soul Ministries . So thankful to share alongside some lovely ladies who have taken time this month to consider what the scriptures say about this thing we call love. My focus was on Hebrews 10:24:
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds…
The entire book of Hebrews has something to prove. The author was worried that his audience was waffling in their faith. He implored them not to go back to the old, comfortable way they’d always known, approaching God by routinely making sacrifices, checking off a spiritual box. He went to great lengths to show that Jesus is our high priest and no other sacrifice is needed.
God is really really smart, y’all.
He knew that even when we came to understand that Jesus is our center, it would only be a starting point. Our faith is a lifelong process of trusting and learning to love like Jesus did. He knew we would get discouraged easily. He knew we, too, would waffle back and forth in our faith at times.
He knew we would need some strategies for sticking with it, for moving forward in our faith when life got harsh. For when it seemed too difficult to center our lives around a Savior who was all about showing love in practical ways.
So what did God give us as an answer to these difficulties? Two things stick out to me from Hebrews 10:24:
First, He gave us other believers. The verse says: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Us. We. One another. The words used here don’t signify any of us being an island. We need each other to keep the momentum of love & faith going. We need to encourage each other to put God’s love into action.
The second thing God gave us is creative minds. Other translations of Hebrews 10:24 tell us to “think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works” and to “see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out”.
Oh, I love that. What a challenge! He wants to see just how out-of-the-box we can get in demonstrating love toward others.
So friends, let’s take on that challenge. Let’s just get all kinds of creative in how we show His love today. Forget about how we will be perceived because of it. And let’s not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by how difficult life may feel at the moment. God knew it would happen, and He’s given us one another to figure out how to creatively persevere in showing His love to all people.
I’d love to hear what you think about this. What comes to mind when you think about God asking us to be inventive and creative in love? Who is a person in your life who spurs you on toward love and good deeds? How do they do this? Tell me about all it! Your thoughts will spur even more of us on toward encouraging love and good deeds today.
To Be More Free 
This made me think of our message in church today. The pastor talked about using God’s love to forgive. He said that choosing to forgive is one of the hardest things to do because often times, in human opinion, forgiveness goes against human nature to seek justice. He went on to say how powerful forgiveness and the choice to forgive really are. It really made me think about how Jesus said (when being persecuted) “forgive them, for they know not what they do”. (I was paraphrasing there, but hope I got the gist.) I will be making much more of a conscious effort to forgive and to LOVE in the future.
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Surely forgiving someone is THE most creative way to express love. It requires so much of us and can be utterly exhausting. On top of that, it doesn’t necessarily “feel” loving to us at all. And I agree with what your pastor said… we have to use God’s love to forgive, because we just don’t have that in us. Thanks for sharing your heart!
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