Loving Others

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November 12, 2018

By Steve King

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to connect with family and friends. Yet this time together often leads to relational difficulties! Wise people decide in advance to love all the people they will encounter. However, loving others is not just an act of the will, it is an act of faith. Have you learned to love by faith?

Jesus declared that the core command of the Scriptures is to love God and people above all else (Matthew 22:37-40). The good news is that Jesus makes it possible for us to obey this command. When we place our faith in His death for our sins and resurrection from the dead we are reconciled to God and the Holy Spirit comes to permanently reside in us (1 Corinthians 15:1-10; 12:13; John 14:16). The Holy Spirit is God and ever on duty to empower us to love God and others.

Consider the love-empowering truth of Romans 5:5: “the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” The Holy Spirit perfectly loves others and permanently resides in us. Therefore, if we do not love others, we are resisting the Holy Spirit! Loving by faith means that we claim the love of God for others by faith and depend on the Holy Spirit to empower us to do so.

Our mission is to be and make disciples who love God and people above all else. Let’s lean on the Holy Spirit and join God in His mission this Thanksgiving season.

P.S. Please make it a high priority to attend our Members Gathering this coming Sunday evening, Nov. 18. This is our annual Cherrydale Thanksgiving gathering—worship and fellowship around a smoked turkey meal; welcoming new members; commissioning one of our missionaries; voting on new missionaries, new deacons, and elder; and important updates on our lead pastor transition process and Focus for Four. Deadline to sign up is midnight Wednesday!