Loving others well

By Serena Jeypaul

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

– 1 John 4:7-8 (ESV)

Though it hasn’t even been a full year at The Master’s University, I’m already learning so much more than what I was expecting so far. God has been so kind to soften my heart in small yet big ways through helping me recognize specific sin in my life. 

One way God has gently been redirecting me lately is through showing me how I haven’t been loving others well. 

Entering this 2023-24 school year, I was so concerned with developing my reputation. I wanted to be known as a nice person who showed God’s love and was an encouragement to others. While this doesn’t necessarily sound like a bad thing from the surface, what God has been helping me realize is that my intentions behind this were so selfish – I was more concerned about having the reputation of being a kind of person than I was with truly reflecting Christ’s love and spreading it to others. 

What I’ve come to understand though is that my well dries out fast. Performing actions that appear to be loving, but aren’t truly rooted in Christ’s love first, only lasts for so long until they begin to feel burdensome and fruitless. The reason is because these actions stem from a hopelessly unsustainable source – me. 

However, when love isn’t performed as a show, but is a true and genuine fruit of obtaining the love that God gives us through His Spirit, everything changes. He sustains our love for one another because this new source, His Love, is perfect. 

Throughout this semester, I’ve been realizing that loving others really isn’t something you can “fake until you make.” When it feels hard for me to love someone else, I need to ask myself why, and then come to the Lord for His help and forgiveness. 

Love has to be complete, and it can only be truly given when it’s a natural extension of loving God first and understanding His love for us.

Learning about God’s love will take forever – literally. I know that I won’t ever be able to fully comprehend it or perfectly embody it while here on Earth. For now though, I’m grateful for how God has been so kind to grant me a glimpse of His love as well as the joy it is to share that love with others. And, it’s important for me to not only pray that He grows my desires to live a life that’s an outpouring of His love, but also continues to grow my love for Him so that my well may never run dry.