- Herausgeber: RWG Publishing
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
One of the greatest things we can do in this world is to love one another. But love can mean many things to different people. The Bible says God is love. So, the ultimate goal is to love the way God loves us. But what does that look like? How do we learn this?
In this short book let me share 10 ways that you can love, and in doing so shine the light of Jesus. The world does not need religion—it needs genuine love expressed in every area of life. Love is not always easy. Get ready to be encouraged, confronted, and given helpful solutions to your struggles when it comes to loving the way that Christ Jesus modelled for us all. Everyone will be better off when you apply the simple and effective lessons in this book. Enjoy!
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10 Ways to Love:
Loving Others in an Effective and Wholesome Way
Matthew Robert Payne
THIS BOOK IS COPYRIGHTED by Matthew Robert Payne. Copyright © 2022. All rights reserved.
Any part of this book can be photocopied, stored, or shared with anyone for the purposes of encouraging people. You are free to quote this book, use whole chapters of this book on blog posts, or use this book to spread the message of Jesus with this world. No consent from the author is required of you. If multiple copies of the paperback are needed for outreach, please contact the author for wholesale rates.
Please visit http://personal-prophecy-today.com to sow into Matthew’s writing ministry, to request a personal prophecy or other prophetic services. You can read up to forty books online for free written by Matthew Robert Payne at https://matthewrobertpayne.com.
Cover designed by akira007 at https://www.fiverr.com.
Scriptures taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT), copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. All rights reserved.
[Scripture quotations are from] Common Bible: Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1973 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of RWG Publishing. Published by RWG Publishing. RWG Publishing is committed to excellence in the publishing industry. Book design Copyright © 2022 by RWG Publishing. All rights reserved.
For the sake of convenience, the author uses male pronouns, like he, his, etc. This book was written for everyone and the author does not imply any preference to gender.
God is love, and as pure love, He is always inclusive, and I believe that we should be, too.”
– Mary Vasquez,
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Give without Expecting Anything in Return
Chapter 2: Trust without Wavering
Chapter 3: Forgive without Punishing
Chapter 4: Listen without Interrupting
Chapter 5: Enjoy without Complaint
Chapter 6: Answer without Arguing
Chapter 7: Keep your Promises
Chapter 8: Speak without Accusing
Chapter 9: Be Patient in all Things
Chapter 10: Learn to Let It Go
I’d Love to Hear from You
How to Sponsor a Book Project
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Introduction
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)
This is what God commands us to do. And we try to obey in humility as we respond to His abiding love for us, a love so great that it includes the supreme gift of Jesus’s self-sacrifice of dying on the cross.
This book presents fruitful and meaningful ways through which we are called to demonstrate our love for God and for others. These ways to love are inspired by verses in the Bible—by God’s own Word.
We echo Psalm 40:8 as we say, “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” (ESV) We are strengthened by the certainty that the Holy Spirit dwells in us and enables us to love in ways that are pleasing to God. We love with the fervent hope that Jesus’s love and light will shine through us.
Chapter 1: Give without Expecting Anything in Return
The Bible tells us to find joy in giving, for this is how we know what love is.
“All day long he [the lazy person] craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.” Proverbs 21:26 (NIV)
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (NIV)
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:16-18 (NIV)
The Holy Spirit in us moves us to give with joy in our hearts for many beautiful reasons.
Giving to others with a cheerful heart is a way of giving thanks to God.
God gave us His only begotten Son to die for us. He did this out of incomparable love for us. He did this so that we may have the glory of eternal life with Him.
We are humbled by this love that has no equal. And we are moved to return that love in whatever simple ways we can. We try to express our thankfulness by asking for the grace to be able to give as generously as we can.
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” 2 Cor. 8:9 (NIV)
God gives with unbelievable grace. We try to emulate this unparalleled love and generosity by expressing our unending gratitude to Him.
We give to help our neighbor.
Jesus teaches us to mirror the kindness of the Good Samaritan and be kind to our neighbors. And we are to regard every person we meet as this ‘neighbor.’ (See Luke 10:25-37.)
Love is at the heart of being a Christian. And we show this love best when we take action and give to others without thought of getting back what we have given.
We follow Jesus by giving of ourselves.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV)
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 (ESV)
Jesus gave Himself up for us as a pleasing sacrifice. He covers us with His righteousness and empowers us with God’s grace to do good works. He enables us to follow Him and to love others without condition. He makes it possible for us to give of ourselves, just as He did for us, fully and generously.
We often struggle with self-centeredness. However, we rest assured that we have the capacity to walk in Jesus’s path and to share fully of ourselves. We get the power and strength to do so from Jesus Himself and by focusing on His example.
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 (ESV)
Jesus’s sacrifice gives us the strength to live lives that are pleasing to God. By faith, we are now able to give of ourselves and, by so doing, honor God.
We glorify God through our giving.
As children of God, we are moved to give glory to our Creator. Through acts of kindness and service to our fellowmen, we give of ourselves in a way that honors God and glorifies His mighty name.
The Right Way to Give
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 (ESV)
