Increasing Love

“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.” 1 Thess 3:12 (NIV)

How do you make your love for others grow? You place the same value on others that God does. If we could ever fully embrace God’s perspective on people, then our love for others would increase. Our tendency is to judge people based on externals while God evaluates the heart. We tend to overemphasize the outside and underestimate the inside. God has planted unlimited potential in every human being. The key that unlocks potential is an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ.

• “‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.'” John 15:5 (NIV)
• “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.” 2 Thess 1:3 (NIV)

Increase your love for others by serving them, praying for them, and viewing them from God’s perspective. Sometimes our expression of love for others is inhibited by busyness. Often our love for others is stifled by our self-centeredness. It’s difficult to increase our love for others when we become consumed with ourselves.

Read through the Gospels and notice how Jesus had a perfect balance of guarding His love relationship with the Father and meeting the needs of people. As your love relationship with your Heavenly Father grows, your love for others will increase in proportion.

Pursuing God,

Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell