The love shown to a brother is not one of feeling, but one of sacrifice. How do you love another? In receipt, there is no love. Loss to another, willed against the natural man is the highest gift. The old man, before My Spirit enters, thinks only of self. He may appear generous, but only to receive that which is deemed more. Not so with the man of God. It is by My Spirit he is enabled to give deeply from his own need, to bless another. This sacrifice to another is the love of your God manifest. You may recognize My Spirit at work within you, as you find yourself giving freely to those about you. Love expects no return, and rejoices in the loss, that another may gain. Beyond man is this love to a stranger; one in need with no ability to repay. I lay down My life, even that those with enmity of My Father would be saved. I call you to this love, even to he who toils for self, that in your love, his heart may be softened to My Father’s call through you.
Luke 14:12-14 (ESV) – He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Bottom Line: It is real sacrifice to give your time, monetary help or blessing to those who seem distant or unappreciative. Those whom you work with may come to mind. The love of God in us shows itself when we sacrifice for them. It may seem as foolishness to them that we would do such a thing, but then again, it may be the strongest sermon they will ever experience. Love is not a feeling, but an unselfish action. Who does God want you to bless today? Ask Him. Love them.
