Love Your Neighbor: Outreach, One Step at a Time Sample

 Do It All with Love

By learning to follow God’s nudges to reach out to others, we create life-giving experiences wherever we go. Our hands are like Jesus’ hands on earth today, lovingly serving other people with His love.

Jesus was not ashamed to be seen with needy people. He did not worry about His reputation. He came in the form of human flesh as God incarnate, and He loved everybody. He lived a free kind of life and He never cultivated unhealthy attachments to people, wealth or status.

Our Savior was completely willing to go the extra mile (see Matthew 5:41). We can be like Him. You may be a schoolteacher and one of your pupils is troubled—you can go out of your way to help him or her. You may be a student who can simply sit down next to another student who is friendless. Later today you may decide to pay for a stranger’s coffee. On your way to work in the car tomorrow you may yield the right-of-way to another driver on the road. Sending a simple text message reading “I love you” can raise your friend’s spirits like nothing else. Whatever you do can extend God’s love in some way to the people around you.

Loving others should not require an explanation or justification. You can step free of the meaningless quest to fit into the world’s mold and never allow it to determine how you show God’s grace to others.

Even when you feel empty yourself, you can reach out to others in simple ways. Before long, you will start to feel happier and more complete. It is not difficult to do everything with love, once you have God’s Holy Spirit living inside you.

To pray about: Doing every little thing with love makes all the difference in the world. Serving others even when you need help yourself will enable you to reach the Ph.D. level of the Christian life.