A New Way to Love Your NeighborSample

BE REAL: Love is Honest

No matter what type of power or influence we have, the reality is the human condition—which we all inherit and experience—is by default set against the sacrificial love that God calls us to.

What must we do with that? How do we wrestle with the reality that our nature is in opposition to the kind of sacrificial love God calls us to express every day? We know our love for others should be curious, free, brave, and resilient. But what do we do when our own internal nature fights against being those very things?

We do this: we get honest with God and ourselves, which leads to humility, and we confess.

What do I mean by honesty? The kind of honesty that admits that even on our best day there is a darkness in our heart that naturally leans toward any opportunity to come out ahead. Honesty that admits that we often have personal agendas and hidden motives that hinder us from loving well. Real honesty comes from asking yourself (and God) hard questions and receiving his grace rather than walking in shame. Have you ever gotten that honest with God? Or yourself? When you do, you end up becoming something that the world can’t make sense of: humble.

God’s Love is Possible with God’s Help

I hope it’s become clear by now: You can’t love well without God (and neither can I). You cannot be curious, free, and brave, and resilient in the way you love others by your own strength. You’ll burn out. You’ll end up resentful or jealous because others aren’t doing the same for you. You’ll get annoyed and you’ll start keeping score with others around you because they aren’t responding the way you want them to.

All in all, you cannot love according to God’s standard without God’s help. This should make you feel unqualified and relieved at the same time. Unqualified in your own flesh—because you just can’t love people well on your own. But relieved, too—because now you don’t have to keep trying to muster up the strength to do it by yourself. You’re not expected to do this by yourself. God expects you to need him in this work of loving others because God’s the only one who can actually love like this. And he has all the empowerment you need, if you’d only come to him for it.

Divine love can flow through you toward others—it really can. Even toward those who don’t deserve it. The question is this: will you lean into him to produce this new kind of love?

Thank you for reading!

This plan was adapted from A New Way to Love Your Neighbor by Jada Edwards. Click here to learn more or purchase your copy.