“Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the other commandments are based on these two commandments,’” Matthew 22:37-40
There are relationships we each have to face in life…the relationship with God and with others. We will never be able to truly fulfill them unless we look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. For there must be appropriate love in these relationships if we are to fulfill the design and purpose of God. After all, it is Him we serve and His Kingdom we represent. It must be done on His terms and for His sake. We are not our own, but have been bought with a price. He sets the standard of love, and He changes not. The proof of maturity is the relational evidence of His standard of love found in our lives. Jesus said that the world would know that we are Christians, by the love we demonstrate. That is what we are distinguished by, for love never fails; and His standard has never lowered.
THIS demonstration of His love is Christian maturity. THIS is definitely looking unto Jesus and following in His footsteps. His was a life and ministry of honest, honorable humility. His character was pure. His behavior was characterized by integrity and holiness – full of grace and truth. His actions were timely and marked by wisdom that is from Above.
His expression of love honored and welcomed others. His life was one laden with the fruit of righteousness. He was holy in all His conduct. This is the one we are to look unto. He called His people of old to this, and He calls the same things to us today; for Jesus Christ is the same……yesterday, today, and forever! (Hebrews 13:8)
Maturity is not age, an amount of knowledge, nor a grasp of factual information. Rather it is how we live our lives in relation to God and people – the most precious of all God’s creation.
Do we live it in the fullness of His love and purity, or do we live it unchanged, selfishly pursuing our own desires and dreams apart from Him? Search your heart. Honestly see where your choices and commitments have positioned you. Are you looking to self and success in the culture around you, or are you looking unto Jesus?
It’s my constant prayer that my love would increase and abound toward others … to have the love of God flowing through me and to others.
His love is far more pure and perfect … and the more I learn of His love and experience the more it amazes. As as whole we have far underestimated the love of God toward His creation.
Thanks for this wonderful post.
Rachel
By: Rachel on September 13, 2011
at 3:32 am
Great reminder! We all need to grow in maturity in our faith. Another way that you know you are growing is that you are able to trust that God is enough in the storms of life. You realize that you don’t need to see him or touch him to know that he is near and working out his purpose for your life.
By: Marianne Lordi on September 14, 2011
at 1:11 am